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i bought 4 freshwater shrimp from my LFS. don't even know what they are actually, they're young, 1 cm long, grow to double that, red with white bands.

they are incredible! i have them in a mature 40 litre aquarium which previously housed livebearers. it has a large log of driftwood covered in anubius, and a very fine (1cm) layer of black gravel on the bottom. there are no tankmates.

these 4 bubs have captured my attention entirely - i've been glued to the glass, cos they're hard to find and very small, but they way they interact and behave is great.

some notes:

they eat the whole time they move, ie their little feelers are always bringing things to their mouth, and they pretty much poo the entire time they eat! they're just pure filters!

i've noted very intricate cleaning procedures too, which include some pretty dextrous footwork over eyes and feelers, and also watched in amazement as two of the shrimp sidled up to each other side on from a distance of about 3 cm, and then stood side by side, bumped head to tail three times, then stood completely erect but as still as stone for about five minutes. it looked like either courtship or challenge, no idea which. i could see it so well because they did it on the side of the driftwood, so i had a "bird's-eye" view.

also, they take cover under the overhang of the anubius roots and guard little territories, but not consistently. it's almost like while they use it as a rest area, they guard it, but once they move on, they move on.

anyways, they're just great - thanks for reading my little rave.

justin

Sounds interesting. Be careful, shelled critters are totally addictive.

Are they red crystal shrimp?



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

lso, they take cover under the overhang of the anubius roots and guard little territories, but not consistently. it's almost like while they use it as a rest area, they guard it, but once they move on, they move on.

thats an interesting behavior... I have yet to hear of RCS being territorial... but the description does match them... sounds like you have some real movers and shakers!

I also think that they are red crystal shrimp. Can you post a few pictures, please?.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

yep, they are red crystal shrimp. the young dude at my lfs (new guy, i've been keeping fish much longer than he's been alive) was harping on about how delicate they are, specialised feeders, etc etc - but i have to say, these guys are great! they love eating the small snails i crush on the glass, brine shrimp and bloodworms, plus a tiny bit of commercial shrimp food. two have recently sloughed their skin and are noticeably bigger, and they generally ROCK!!

unfortunately pics are not a possibility - my camera can't deal with stuff this small - i have trouble photographing my various apistos! might be upgrading, so maybe in the future.