Killer Shrimp?

mduros

mduros

AC Members
Sep 20, 2005
334
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Chicago, Illinois
www.maryduros.com
Hi y'all. Not sure if I'm posting in the right place, cause I don't think I'm exactly a "newbie" anymore, but here goes. My local fish store is closing. I snatched up 4 "misfit" fish from them the other night. I use the word misfit because all that was in the tank was a horseface loach, large albino bristlenose pleco, a bleeding heart tetra, and a shrimp. Since the tank was unlabeled I don't know what kind of shrimp it is. I was assuming a glass shrimp. The guys said that he would do fine in my 55 gallon with the smaller fish and two aquatic frogs, and that he was big enough that the larger fish would probably leave him alone and he wouldn't bother them.

Well, I came home last night to the horror of him chomping on a still living neon tetra. I made him drop it but the tetra had his tail munched off to the spine and the other fish killed him instantly. I quarantined the shrimp in a ten gallon for the night, but it is not cat proof and my kitties were way too interested in this magical being swimming around that I put him back in the 55 gallon this morning. I am just hoping that the fish was on his way out and that is why the shrimp had him.

I am posting a couple of pictures of the culpret and any help identifying him and what kind of behavior I can expect will be appreciated.
Take care,
Mary.
 
It looks like a ghost shrimp although it seems to have some red features that I've never seen on a shrimp of that type. What size is it?

I can't imagine a ghost shrimp would be able to hold down a healthy neon. Yes they are scavengers and opportunistic, but not hunters of active fish. I think it more likely that your neon was already on the way out and the shrimp found an easy target.
 
neons are cheep and killer shrimp are fun!

but yea neons can be delacate, although some (like mine) can live through anything (except for large catfish, that are now gone)

could the unknown red have come from the fresh kill?
 
Hard to tell, but is there a 'spike' coming out of it's head, between the antannae? If so--it's not a ghost shrimp at all.
 
Glass shrimp ??? ...they aren't the same as ghost shrimp..have a bit of color in them. Someone posted a link to a shrimp site for me just a few days ago....I'll have to see if I can find it. Had some really good pictures and info of some very neat freshwater shrimp and that one was on there...just can't remember what it was called.
 
I brought home an identical shrimp that was mislabled as a "blue crayfish". The beast grew to 5 inches so we moved him into a 10 g with 1 male betta. After 2 hours I went to see how it was settling in to its new home and the betta, minus the later half of his body, was laying on the bottom being eaten. He was still alive! B**tard Shrimp :mad2:
 
The pictures were taken the night before he got the tetra. He definitely has red front legs with black pincers and white tips and a red head spike. He's only about an inch long. I asked if he was predatorial and they told me that he would leave the tetras alone, and that he wouldn't be in danger from my larger fish (a couple of bigger opaline gouramis).
 
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