# Am I the only one with vampire shrimp?



## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

As far as I can tell, no one else seems to have vampire shrimp in their tanks. Whenever I make a post looking for some 1st party information, I get the forum equivalent of blank stares. I would like to talk to an expert, but as it turns out, just by having them, I AM the expert. :tongue: 
Anyway, I thought I would check and see if anyone else DOES have any or if they have had them in the past. Mine seem to be doing great, but I worry about getting enough food to them in a 75 gallon fully planted tank with dozens of various shrimp and a dozen zippy rainbows that eat anything I throw in there long before it can hit the bottom of the tank. Anyone else have them? How long have you had them and how well are they doing? Do you give them any special treatment as far as feeding? Mine seem to think the worst thing that could happen to them is to have a big turkey baster with food in it pointed at them and run away clumsily, while my weather loach is fully prepared to swim right into the baster if he can.
<prepares for the blank stares>
-Aphyosemion


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## Crs2fr (Sep 22, 2004)

i'm running a 72 bowfront and i have a vampire shirmp.. i've had him for about 2 mths. and he's doing great. they are filter feeders... so what i do is use frozen cubes, brine shrimp and blood worms.. i crumble and rub them between my fingers and it creates a kind of cloud of really small particles.. and i'm guessing he's filtering that out of the water. or thats what i'm trying to get him to do.. he' looks healthy, so i'm assuming its working.. you might see him pawing the ground too.. i'm thinkin he does this cuase there is nothing he can filter from the water... so i've heard.

chris


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

My set up is a lot like Chris, 72 gal w/3 vamp shrimp. I feed them cyclop-eeze. It's basically powdered. I toss a scoop in to the spray bar and let all the shrimp find them three times a week. I don't know how long I had them. 

I guess they are happy, they really don't do much. But sit there watching you, watching them.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

I have had mine about 3 months. I originally put first bites fry food in the tank with the intention that the vampire shrimp would filter them out, but I wasn't entirely sure that they were getting any. Whenever food hits the tank the fish go crazy, the ghost shrimp try to steal it away from the fish, the amano and green shrimp couldn't care less, and the vampire shrimp run for cover.
-Aphyosemion


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## fishwife (Apr 11, 2004)

I just got one of these guys for my 20 hex. I've had him in there for about a week. He's hiding now, so I only occasionally get a glimpse of him. There's a really big piece of wood in the tank, so he doesn't feel the need to come out and be seen. Are yours shy? I wonder if getting another one would help. There's nobody in there that should be bugging him - just cherries, amanos and four little tiny spotted blue-eyes who mostly stay at the top of the tank.


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## fishyface (Oct 7, 2004)

i've had 3 of them for about the last 6 months or so. if you have shy shrimp what you can try to do is adjust your filter outlet so that it's aimed into the center or open area of your tank. mine always seem to be vying for the spot with the most water movement...so i can see them almost all the time. no special feeding either that i know of.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

Mine hang out in the more densely planted areas of my tank, but there is nowhere for them to be completely out of sight. It is hard to spot them in the dense clump of Rotala Indica, but other than that they are always viewable from me. 
I actually have my spraybar in the center of the tank, pointed towards the surface at an angle. I discovered I needed a little surface agitation so that I didn't get that crappy white crust.
By the way, last night I scraped the algae off the glass of the tank and threw in some first bites for good measure and the vampire shrimp seemed to be busy filtering, so I am guessing they got a decent feeding. Kinda hard to tell how much, though.
Oh, another thing. I was looking for information on them last night and read that if they are attacked by fish, they use their front legs for defense by "stomping" on fish. Sounds pretty effective, though I have never even seen mine raise their legs in a threatening manner, though my weather loach will run into them all the time on his way to somewhere.
-Aphyosemion


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

I have 2 boys and they keep themselves entertained ... the Alpha usually picks on the non-alpha and they usually mind their own business, I have them in an all shrimp tank only; they are with about 100 Red Cherry Shrimps.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

Whoa, care to send me about a dozen cherry shrimp? It is one of the shrimp I am looking to get my hands on in the near future.
-Aphyosemion


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Sorry, I don't ship but you could drive up here and have the choiciest picks :wink:


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

Surrey? Where is that? Is it near Minneapolis? 
-Aphyosemion


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## fishwife (Apr 11, 2004)

amber2461 said:


> I have 2 boys and they keep themselves entertained ... the Alpha usually picks on the non-alpha and they usually mind their own business, I have them in an all shrimp tank only; they are with about 100 Red Cherry Shrimps.


How do you sex them?


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Aphyosemion said:


> Surrey? Where is that? Is it near Minneapolis?
> -Aphyosemion


Sigh ... alas, no, it is in Canada
:wink:


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

fishwife said:


> How do you sex them?


The males have larger front legs.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

I don't think the females develop the large "vampire" style front legs. Theirs are smaller and not so vicious looking.
-Aphyosemion


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

No, they don't but I love them anyway. :tongue:


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## thegirlundertherainbow (Aug 12, 2004)

*never*

even seen them. Course, i live in a small town.. but is this the shrimp you're talking about?
http://www.petshrimp.com/africanfiltershrimp.html
pretty weird looking.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

Yep, that's the one. I even have that pic as my avatar on Yahoo IM. 
-Aphyosemion


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Yup, my alpha is almost that dark .. give him time, he will darken nicely .. roud:


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Anyone else keep vampires?

Mine has gotten real cozy with my bamboo shrimp and has been following him around everywhere in the tank... guess filter feeders unite


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