Return of shrimpzillia

[Orion]

So we had to make a trip to wally world last night and of course just wanted to browse by the fish. They normaly have ghost shrimp in the tank, and they did along with some monsters.

They looked like ghost shrimp, only on steroids. These suckers were an easy 3 inches. I've heard of such 'ghost shrimp' before but never actualy saw any. They were wild looking.

There was a post a while back that someone here had one of these monster ghosts. There was some talk that they were actualy a different species than what's normaly sold as ghost shrimp. Does anyone know anything about this?

I really wanted to pick some up. I would take all of the big ones for only $.26 each. Since we are in the middle of moving I don't have any of my spare tanks at the house. BUT, if they still have some next time we go I will deffintaly get some.

They were so big they actually were kinda creepy looking...

 

[Lotus]

Don't forget that the person who had those was also losing fish

 

[Orion]

lol, I forgot about that but they sure were!

heh, I still think it would be neat to have a mutant shrimp only tank.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

heh, I still think it would be neat to have a mutant shrimp only tank.

Agreed. I mean how often do we hear about shrimp being fed to fish as food? Lots. Why not feed the shrimp some fish every once in a while. I think the "mutant shrimp" would really enjoy some dime a dozen guppies as snacks. Isn't that similar to what they'd eat in nature anyway.

 

[mudracer06]

Local Petsmart had some of these too this week. Was cool to buy a 30 cent shrimp the same size as there $12 shrimp.

 

[Orion]

heh, took me a while but I finaly got some.

These were not as large as the first ones I saw, but still pretty good sized. The largest that I got was around 2.5 inches, with several being over 2".

Now, I'm still not sure exactly what species they are just yet. Actualy I'm hopeing that they turn out to be Glass Shrimp rather than huge prawns. About 7 are carring eggs. From what I've been able to dig up, most that are known as 'glass shrimp' do go though a larva stage for a few day's before matureing into mini-adults. The tank I put them in has a lot of micro goodies that I'm sure the young larvae will be able to eat, at least I hope. So if in a few months I start seeing baby shrimp, then it will same to assume (to me at this point) that they are most likley glass shrimp. Also from some photos I've seen of glass shrimp, some of the ones that I have have similar markings on them.

If the adults continue to grow and start to try to lift up the hood on the tank to get out, then I'll know that they are something quite different....

My wife doesn't like them. She said that they are too big and creep her out. I do agree, they are rather creepy. lol.

I was able to get a few decent pics last night and I should be able to post them sometime over the weekend. Maybe someone will be able to help more on the ID of these critters.

Eh, end the end who knows, they may just turn out to be ghost shrimp on steroids.

I've always held a facination with inverts, and if I'm able to actualy breed these guys that would be great. I would love to see more shrimp easily available to other's in the hobby.

 

[Toam]

Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[TLH]

I was in my LFS the other day and they had what was termed as "Cleaner Shrimp" about 2" long.Looked just the same as Woodies except that instead of small claws they had what I can only describe as fans or umbrellas that looked a little like tube worms.
If they're there next time I go in I'm getting a couple.

 

[ninamarie]

Oh man please post I want to see these "monter shrimp"<--- is this what you would call a oxymoron?

 

[bigredspecial]

I was in my LFS the other day and they had what was termed as "Cleaner Shrimp" about 2" long.Looked just the same as Woodies except that instead of small claws they had what I can only describe as fans or umbrellas that looked a little like tube worms.
If they're there next time I go in I'm getting a couple.

That would be, umm... 'woodies'. Wood shrimp don't have claws, they have fan-like appendages for filtering the water.

 

[ram man]

one of my lfs store carried them, these things were in a tank with baby ottos, big mistake... they were fighting over an otto that i say one chase down, pretty neat if you were to see it.

 

[ram man]

http://www.aquahobby.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=1029

let me know if they turn out like this guy.

 

[Orion]

lol, why? would you want some ram man? If they turn out like that I can forget buying a security system for the house and just dig a moat around the house and put some of these guys in it.

Stand by for pics.

 

[Orion]

well here they are. I really doubt that they are ghost shrimp, but if anyone has any idea's feel free to let me know

This one isn't the largest one, but one of the bigger ones.

 

[ram man]

they look just like a ghost shrimp, the color is the only problem, i have seen ghost shrimp with the red antennae but not brown body, and i would want some because they are unusual, if you havnt noticed i go for the unusual critters.

 

[bandito41]

Those are awesome! I want some.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

orion, yours look exactly like mine, just bigger. mine have kind of dark bodies, and a dark brown stripe across their back. weird... i had some with my puffs that were about 2 inches, but i moved them for parasite treatment.

 

[Orion]

yeah, I've asked around on a few shrimp forums and so far the general consensus is that they may be a glass shrimp. Which would be sweet because I should then be able to breed them fairly easy. I guess time will tell to see if they breed sucsessfully or not.

This is an old thread that I thought of when I first saw these guys. So no, these may not be getting anywhere near as big on the ones talked about, but I can still hope to one day run across one. makes for an interesting, and maybe even a scary read.

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18694

 

[bigredspecial]

I love that thread... thanks for digging it up!

 

[nobody]

I was in my LFS the other day and they had what was termed as "Cleaner Shrimp" about 2" long.Looked just the same as Woodies except that instead of small claws they had what I can only describe as fans or umbrellas that looked a little like tube worms.
If they're there next time I go in I'm getting a couple.

Sounds like Bamboo shrimp. Funny you say they look like Woodies because I have found that they have many names and Wood Shrimp is one of those names. There's also Fan Shrimp, Rock Shrimp, Singapore shrimp, the list can go on, but those are the names I've heard of for this shrimp. They're also called filter shrimp because of what they eat. I have two and they're doing a good job at cleaning my tank. I think my two are male and female and I'm having a hard time finding breeding info. so if anyone knows anything about raising bamboo shrimp or any websites about it, please let me know.

Cool shrimp, Orion. Too bad they eat fish, they'd be a fun addition to my tank.