# Bamboo Shrimp



## jread (Jan 2, 2004)

Picked one up tonight at Petco (didn't know they carried them). Talk about a freaky-looking creature!!! He's pretty neat, though. Hope I can keep him alive.


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## 2la (Aug 18, 2002)

So does _he_...


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## jread (Jan 2, 2004)

2la said:


> So does _he_...


LOL!

I've just heard that people don't have a lot of luck with them. He seems to be happy so far with this "pom poms" out in the current


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

They are some scary lookin critters, I was at the LFS one day and the kid that was netting a fish for someone almost knocked the customer to the floor when the "monster shrimp" as he called it walked onto his hand ... :lol:


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

That must have been a laugh riot :lol: 

I couldn't keep mine in the tank, so he's gone. I found them really interesting to watch, my wife nearly threatened divorce if he stayed (she was absolutely terrified of it), but the one I had was very retiring and didn't hang out where he could be seen much. In my tank there are lots of hiding places.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

As a joke I told my girlfriend I bought one. She got a scared look on her face and started looking for it, when she couldn't find it I told her that they like to crawl out of the tank.


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## BobbyDrake (Jan 17, 2004)

I have had mine for about 2 months now without a problem. He molted once and I thought that he was dead for a day or so. Doesn't like to come out too much durign the day though.


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## corigan (Feb 22, 2004)

I had one for awhile but he did keep crawling out of the tank on me. After I saved him 4 or 5 times he finally succeeded as his attempts to commit suicide.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

ooooooooof.... life is too short for a suicidal shrimp. I didnt know they were wanderers.


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## jread (Jan 2, 2004)

If that thing comes out of the tank and runs across my foot, I'm going to kill one or both of us trying to get away from it :shock:


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## Geo (May 30, 2003)

They are filter feeders, so if you don't keep impeccable water conditions (let actually let nature do it's work at times) they will have lots to eat. They will in fact eat stuff off the substrate if available, but I heard this is a sign that they aren't getting enough to eat otherwise.

If you could culture single-celled rotifers, paramiciums, etc that probably would work if you dropped them in the tank 

I have taken to adding frozen baby brine shrimp into a shot glass, using a small pipette to actually "feed" my guy by blowing the shrimp into his fans when he is near an area that I can get to him. It works nicely, my guy has molted once already ... actually, think it is a she. You can sex them by the size of the front pair of legs, they are extremely more developed in the males. (Think of those weight lifters who can't really move their arms when they walk because they are so big, ... yea, like that)

I now have 3 species of shrimp in my 7 gallon ... whee!


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## ichen00 (Jan 14, 2004)

I just got 2 bamboo shrimp from petco

how are you guys's shrimp doing?

any other food besides frozen brine shrimp?

at petco they were feeding them shrimp pellets....
:roll:


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## ^iMp^ (Oct 12, 2003)

I have snails and white cloud fry up the wazoo... would these ever make a decent meal for a bamboo shrimp? I doubt the fry would...but don't the snails go through some sort of free-floater phase when they first hatch?

*shrug*

I'm still debating whether or not to get one...my tank is 65 F, so I'm being cautious. Definitely not pristine water...so I've at least got that part covered. 

^iMp^


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## jread (Jan 2, 2004)

I don't feed mine anything, he just filters the water. He just molted the other day so it's good to see that he's growing


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## AfricanCichlid (Mar 15, 2004)

I am taking my bamboo shrimp back to petco, he is too shy for my likes, and for what ive experienced at the store already, i think he is a lemon.
He is now an orange color. I am 10 days atleast, into introduction of this new home of his.
I dont see him fanning out his .. filters .. or any activity at all.


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## Clone (Feb 29, 2004)

Do you remove the old shell after your shrimp molts. I have gotten confilicting info. Some say the shrimp will consume part or all of the old shell to regain the calcium, while others say simply remove it.


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## ichen00 (Jan 14, 2004)

AfricanCichlid said:


> I am taking my bamboo shrimp back to petco, he is too shy for my likes, and for what ive experienced at the store already, i think he is a lemon.
> He is now an orange color. I am 10 days atleast, into introduction of this new home of his.
> I dont see him fanning out his .. filters .. or any activity at all.



1 of my bamboo shrimp died about 2 days after he molted
he was orange color after he molted(i left the shell in the tank) from an origianl brown color...not sure of cause of death....he was in the tank for about 10 days...will be getting a refund at petco....
i have another bamboo shrimp in the tank still alive...about 10 days in tank...didn't see it molt
as far as activity...they usualy cling onto a leave on my amazon sword...don't move much...i saw the remaining bamboo shrimp today on the gravel picking up decidus to eat and not fanning to filter water....maybe my water is too clean?


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## E. Simpson (Oct 18, 2003)

I had one for about 1 month but like a few others here mine kept climbing out.I saved him a few times but late one night he got out and I didn't find him till later the next day and it was to late.

There's a picture of the one I had in the fish gallery here.He was huge probably 5-6 inches long.


Ernie


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## all4funwfish (Jan 18, 2004)

on a similar note to the bamboo shrimp...I chose a singapore shrimp over the bamboo as the color was much more to my liking...they are more of a wood color with white spots...feed the same....Mine died after a month though...very random, he was feeding and doing his thing well, then one day i came home and my shrimp was no more.


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## Clone (Feb 29, 2004)

I thought that the wood, bamboo and singapore shimp were the same. A brown to orange brown shrimp, with a tan stripe and front filter "arms".


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## dapi (Feb 25, 2004)

Clone said:


> I thought that the wood, bamboo and singapore shimp were the same. A brown to orange brown shrimp, with a tan stripe and front filter "arms".


No they aren't! They are related species but come from different locations. There are large 5-9 inch monsters from Africa, a nice peppermint variety from Sri Lanka, a species from Malaysia and mainland Indonesia and species from India, Thailand and Bali. All of these species show up in LFS and wholesalers here in Japan from time to time. the species commonly refeerred to as a Rock Shrimp with a light brown body, a skunk stripe on the back and indestinct brown stripes on its sides is by far the most hardy.


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## BobbyDrake (Jan 17, 2004)

Argh! My Bamboo shrimp decided that he had enough of my tank and took a walk. I dont' know where too eihter. He isn't in my tank, and I can't find him anywhere else around it. Maybe when I move I will find him.


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## Clone (Feb 29, 2004)

What you call the Rock Shrimp is what the LFS called a Wood Shrimp. Glad to know he is hardy as he/she is one of my favorite "fish". I will have to surf the net so I can get its scientific name. Thats the only way to avoid this kind of confusion.

Sorry about your shrimp BobbyDrake. He still may be in the tank. I have gone days without seeing mine only to find him under a crypt leaf.


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## BobbyDrake (Jan 17, 2004)

I did a complete teardown the other day to reorganize my plants, and theat is when I noticed that he wasn't there anymore. There was nowhere left for him to hide. I am not too sure how he got out though, I have a full hood on the tank. I must have left it open one day without thinking.


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## dapi (Feb 25, 2004)

BobbyDrake said:


> I did a complete teardown the other day to reorganize my plants, and theat is when I noticed that he wasn't there anymore. There was nowhere left for him to hide. I am not too sure how he got out though, I have a full hood on the tank. I must have left it open one day without thinking.


These guys like to climb and they can also jet around like a crayfish. Might have bounced himself out of the water. I have 2 that are constantly fighting with each other, mostly bluff but 1 of them bounced up and hit the cover glass with a noticeable crack the other day. Doesn't seem to have done any damage to himself (figure it's a male thing).


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## Sundewd (Mar 15, 2004)

Just wondering, has anybody succesfully breed bamboo shrimp?


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## dapi (Feb 25, 2004)

Sundewd said:


> Just wondering, has anybody succesfully breed bamboo shrimp?


I haven't but a friend in the Japan Livebearer Association (of which I am a member) has.

BTW I'd like to stress the importance of belonging to a club or organization, this is not only for the networking and trades but also important for the dispersal of information. Without the clubs and organizations a lot of really good fish, plants and invertebrates would never get into the shops or our tanks.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Bought one of them about 10 days ago at Petco ($6.50), some impressive creature! I wanted one for my 10 gal tank which was plagued with some tiny critters (Paramecium?) hardly visible to the naked eye.
After exploring the tank, the shrimp settled under the HOB outlet, fanning and filtering and eating all day. Since the hood and HOB connection has a lot of open space, I am worried it might escape one day, there is not much I can do about... Has anyone of you kept them for an extended time, or did they all just go wandering off onto the carpet?
I told my wife how scary of a creature I got, but she finds him rather cute, looking a little like a dog... The legs remind me of a big hairy spider though.


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## Geo (May 30, 2003)

Wasserpest said:


> Bought one of them about 10 days ago at Petco ($6.50), some impressive creature! I wanted one for my 10 gal tank which was plagued with some tiny critters (Paramecium?) hardly visible to the naked eye.
> After exploring the tank, the shrimp settled under the HOB outlet, fanning and filtering and eating all day. Since the hood and HOB connection has a lot of open space, I am worried it might escape one day, there is not much I can do about... Has anyone of you kept them for an extended time, or did they all just go wandering off onto the carpet?
> I told my wife how scary of a creature I got, but she finds him rather cute, looking a little like a dog... The legs remind me of a big hairy spider though.


Time to bring back an old thread!

My Bamboo Shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis for those that were looking for a latin name) is still alive and well, and should be doing better as I plan on adding arteminia or plankton to my tank every few days (stuff used to feed corals). He has molted a couple times since I've gotten him, the most recent was a few months ago. It was sorely needed, as he had turned a dark grey and had BBA and other algae types growing on him. It was pretty funny to watch my small Red Cherry Shrimp climb atop the Bamboo Shrimp to pick him clean - I wish I would've gotten a picture.

No troubles with mine trying to get out either, so he's almost been in my tank for a year now, which is great news!

I also want to mention for those that might be curious: Usually you will see two types of these shrimp in the tanks, one with HUGE front legs, and others with normal-sized legs. The huge legged ones are the males, or dominant males, and the regular are the females. Something to keep in mind if you want to attempt breeding these guys.

Anyone else have any experience with Wood/Bamboo/Vampire and other filter feeding shrimps? Right now she's the largest creature in my tank, and always seems to be getting more than enough to eat (the poop pellets are HUGE on these guys...)


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Mine is still alive and well. He molded once, interesting to see him turn lobster-red! He slowly turned back to brown, but not as dark as he used to be. I noticed that there is a problem with the skin, looks like a scale is pointing outside, not sure if it is a molding problem or an injury from rock-climbing while being soft-shelled.

He hasn't tried to escape, and found a daily rhythm of roaming through the plants, sweeping the floor, and sitting underneath the HOB waterfall. I don't feed him, and he is keeping the water clear from those little tiny white dots that occupied the tank before I got the shrimp.


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

I want one. Been looking. Can't find any. I can't find ANY shrimps at my local (pet)stores (except for one whose livestock I wouldn't let near my tank). I guess I'll have to check Petco. My local one isn't where one goes for live critters...it's too depressing....but those guys are so darned cute.


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