# Do all shrimp eat algae?



## spinjector (Mar 20, 2005)

I was at the LFS today, and while looking at a tankfull of "ghost shrimp", a question wandered into my head:

Ghost shrimp, Cherry shrimp, Amano shrimp, AE shrimp... So many kinds of shrimp, but it seems the main thing that everyone wants them to do is eat algae...

But do they?

Do all shrimp eat algae, or do they have varying diets, and/or prefer one thing over another under certain circumstances?

I do know that the AE shrimp I have in my tank *love* algae wafers. When I drop in a wafer or two, the little buggers can smell them, and they all come creeping out of the plants and start having little tug-of-wars all over the wafers, like horror-movie-zombies fighting over fresh brains... :hihi:


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

spinjector said:


> When I drop in a wafer or two, the little buggers can smell them, and they all come creeping out of the plants and start having little tug-of-wars all over the wafers, like horror-movie-zombies fighting over fresh brains... :hihi:


Damn you Spinjector, now I'm gonna think of that every time I feed my shrimp! :hihi:

Most shrimp are omnivores, they'll eat anything. Individual preferences vary.

Ghost shrimp eat algae, detritus, algae tabs, flake food. Larger ghosts have been known to take down smaller neon tetra. If you want to see them fight, toss in a shrimp pellet! :icon_eek: 

I currently have cherry shrimp. They'll pick at the shrimp pellets, but prefer algae, algae tabs, or frozen spinach.

Bamboo shrimp are something else. They're filter feeders, and snag and eat things you can't even see.

And the shrimp with large claws have more carnivorous tendencies.


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## [RK] (Aug 11, 2005)

Larger ghosts also take out smaller ghosts :S I had one larger one and about 10 smaller ones. A week later i had one larger one and NO smaller ones. I love the guy though. He is now sharing a small tank with my bristlenose. If he touches him im gonna squish the thing!


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## spinjector (Mar 20, 2005)

DarkCobra said:


> Damn you Spinjector, now I'm gonna think of that every time I feed my shrimp!


hehe :flick:



DarkCobra said:


> Bamboo shrimp are something else. They're filter feeders, and snag and eat things you can't even see.


Are these also known as "Vampire Shrimp"...? Or other names? The LFS has some kind of filter-feeding shrimp that has featherdusters instead of claws, and they don't do much but sit around waving them all day.


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## oceanaqua (Nov 24, 2005)

spinjector said:


> hehe :flick:
> 
> 
> Are these also known as "Vampire Shrimp"...? Or other names? The LFS has some kind of filter-feeding shrimp that has featherdusters instead of claws, and they don't do much but sit around waving them all day.


They are known as bamboo, flower, and fan shrimp. Sci name: Atyopsis mollucensis


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## Veneer (Jan 18, 2005)

[RK] said:


> Larger ghosts also take out smaller ghosts :S I had one larger one and about 10 smaller ones. A week later i had one larger one and NO smaller ones. I love the guy though. He is now sharing a small tank with my bristlenose. If he touches him im gonna squish the thing!


Is the species in question of the genus _Paratya_? While this (as opposed to North American _Palaemonetes_ spp.) is what Australian aquarists generally mean by "ghost shrimp," this behavior sounds far more typical of a _Macrobrachium_ sp. (cherabin) of some sort.


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## Veneer (Jan 18, 2005)

spinjector said:


> Are these also known as "Vampire Shrimp"...? Or other names? The LFS has some kind of filter-feeding shrimp that has featherdusters instead of claws, and they don't do much but sit around waving them all day.


Vampire shrimp, also filter-feeding Atyids (though, however, of West Africa and corresponding segments of South America), are usually _Atya gabonensis_.


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## Veneer (Jan 18, 2005)

DarkCobra said:


> And the shrimp with large claws have more carnivorous tendencies.


Indeed; reports exist of _Macrobrachium carcinus_ subduing water snakes. As the following images will attest, this is certainly within the realm of possibility. 


http://www.crusta10.de/templates/index.php?sideid=galerie&showpicture=1086&galerie_id=243&lang_id=1&showid=36
http://www.crusta10.de/templates/index.php?sideid=galerie&showpicture=1087&galerie_id=243&lang_id=1&showid=36
http://biocomplexity.warnercnr.colostate.edu/photos/Katie_batch_4/Macrobrachium_carcinus_Jan05b.jpg
http://biocomplexity.warnercnr.colostate.edu/photos/Katie_batch_4/Macrobrachium_carcinus_catch_Jan05.jpg
http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk/Photos/HondurasMacrobrachium.jpg
http://www.ocsbbs.com/Featured_Photo/Huge%20River%20Shrimp.jpg


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