Bamboo Shrimp Eating RCS

[ZeeZ]

Yesterday I bought three Bamboo Shrimp from PetCo and divided them up. Two into my 40 gallon where there's already another one, and one into my 10g Betta tank. Before I introduced the bamboo shrimp, the betta tank had a lot of RCS crawling all over everywhere, on the gravel, on the driftwood, plants, etc.

However, since the bamboo's gone in, virtually every RCS has vanished. This can only mean the bamboo ate them. I thought it would be safe with RCS since bamboos have fans and not claws, but apparently I was wrong. Good thing I didn't add one to my RCS breeding tank, I had actually been thinking about adding a few...

Has anyone else had this happen to them? I mean, these guys are filter feeders... I know they're opportunitists but how can it eat every RCS in a matter of a couple of hours? There were a good number of them... About 80 or so...

[acitydweller]

they could be hiding... Did you see RCS bits around the tank?

[somewhatshocked]

I don't believe the bamboo shrimp ate 80 cherries.

Is it possible your Betta went on a feeding frenzy?

I'm of the opinion that they're likely hiding in places you don't expect.

[ZeeZ]

It's a simple tank with just gravel and a driftwood that doesn't have many nooks and crannies for them to hide in and some stem plants. Water wisteria, Ludwigia Repens and one Java Fern. There isn't that many hiding places for every single RCS to just completely disappear.

My gravel is white to make my RCS stand out, and I haven't seen a single speck of red.

My betta went on a feeding frenzy when I originally introduced the RCS but he left enough to repopulate themselves. He's not even looked at one since. The RCS has been with him for about three months.

[acitydweller]

sounds like a greensboro massacre!

[Lifeblood]

I think bamboo shrimp are filter feeders.

[diwu13]

If you actually have a bamboo shrimp it cannot eat RCS. It doesn't even have claws needed to tear up flake food, let alone shrimp.

[RandomMan]

I've kept bamboo shrimp with cherries before, and never had a problem. I don't see how it would even be possible for him to eat them.

[FreedPenguin]

Did you add the shrimp with the water from the store?

I would bet that the Betta found out how yummy shrimp are. I've read that once fish start eating shrimp, they'll hunt mercilessly. That added to the fact that the rest of the shrimp are now in hiding might account for the drastic change in shrimp count.

[ZeeZ]

I have read reports of them eating flakes or bloodworms if a floating bit happened to be caught in their fans, so I would not put the possibility of them eating at least baby RCS past them...

However, I think the more likely culprit is the betta... Maybe something with the tank dynamics changed once the bamboo entered the tank. Even though he's been living peacefully with the RCS for at least three months. He doesn't look full, though, he's still begging for food. 80 RCS would definitely fill up a betta's belly fast.

No, I NEVER add store water to my tanks.

[ryc120]

Look at the betta's poop. If its red and much bigger than normal - there you go.

[jasonpatterson]

Imagine you had a fenced off field in which you kept a whole bunch of cute fluffy bunnies. And a jaguar. One day you add a cow, and the next day the bunnies are all gone. It's possible, in the strictest sense of the word possible, that the cow suddenly changed its nature entirely and ate all the rabbits, in spite of a history and feeding style that is completely contrary to that behavior. It's also possible that the jaguar got sick of seeing all the fluffy tails bouncing around and decided to do something about it. I know where I'd put my money, even if the jaguar didn't normally eat bunnies.

Just to be sure, your cow is a cow, right? Er, bamboo shrimp, I mean. Largish shrimp, filter fans for claws, mostly just sits there with its filters extended?

[Aquatic Delight]

i have never seen any evidence of my 4 bamboo shrimp eating rcs. bamboo shrimp are not carnivorous nor omnivores, however if it gets stuck in its filter it will attempt to put whatever it is in its mouth. as some said above if it is a baby it could have gone into its mouth. but beyond that their mouths are not large enough to eat anything beyond a baby.

that i can tell their two culprits that have caused this mass disaperance, and i think they may have worked together. the water at petcomart is not cared for well, they leave dead fish in the tanks for longer than they should, among many other things. so putting that water in your tank probably killed alot of your rcs. your hungry betta, i bet, had a taste of one of your dead, or weakened rcs and rembered how tasty they are and with no where for your rcs to hide it was very easy for your betta to go on a feeding frenzey.

thats just my horribly spelled two cents

[diwu13]

Originally Posted by jasonpatterson

Imagine you had a fenced off field in which you kept a whole bunch of cute fluffy bunnies. And a jaguar. One day you add a cow, and the next day the bunnies are all gone. It's possible, in the strictest sense of the word possible, that the cow suddenly changed its nature entirely and ate all the rabbits, in spite of a history and feeding style that is completely contrary to that behavior. It's also possible that the jaguar got sick of seeing all the fluffy tails bouncing around and decided to do something about it. I know where I'd put my money, even if the jaguar didn't normally eat bunnies.

Just to be sure, your cow is a cow, right? Er, bamboo shrimp, I mean. Largish shrimp, filter fans for claws, mostly just sits there with its filters extended?

LMAO that is a great analogy

[Lludu]

a bamboo shrimp is unable to physically eat your other shrimp, the betta however can. I would guess hes the criminal here. Also using white sand for Cherry shrimp works at first.. but the colors of the shrimp will be less pronounced on a light substrate... if you want them to stick out... black works the best imo.