Whisker Shrimp

[fish-aholic]

I went to my LFS and they had a tank with "whisker shrimp." I never heard of them before but they looked like big ghost shrimp with more color and there was also some red ones. I tried searching but could not find a whole lot. Anybody have some info? I would really like to know if they can breed in freshwater.

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[LGHT]

Never heard of them. Probably shrimp that are known by another name and the LFS just didn't know so made a name up. I have seen RCS called by over 5 different names in LFS. No real way to know by a description. How about getting a pic of them? It's worth a thousand words I

[mgamer20o0]

lfs always making up names lol...... pics do help. might want to go over to one of the shrimp sites and start looking at pics of the different shrimp.

[bullitt]

they are part of the long arm shrimp family.do a google on long arm shrimp and you will find them.

[fish-aholic]

It looked like this. Definitely not RCS.

[kana]

Wow, I really like the look of those shrimp. Do they look blue like that in person or is it the lighting in this picture?

[fish-aholic]

They are blue like that in person. Some were even darker blue and others were red. I think I'll go pick some up tomorrow. I'll post some pictures and my experience. Hopefully they breed in fw.

[kana]

There is more discussion and same image on this shrimp here.

[bullitt]

i got the same from lfs and they where blue when i got them about two months later they are kind of rust color.they are long arm shrimp.

[charpark]

Someone else asked the same question a couple weeks ago. Search for whisker shrimp and you can find other responses to your question. I'm not clear on anything about them as there seems to be different opinions about this shrimp.

I am very interested though as I saw a few in the LFS. I just am concerned they will grow too large or be potentially deadly to small fry or other shrimp.

[Ulli Bauer]

Hi,

they're a Macrobrachium of some sort, and judging from their egg size I'd say they breed in freshwater and release shrimplets, not larvae.

When they get big enough they will eventually eat small fish that sleep on the ground at night.

Cheers
Ulli

[fish-aholic]

Originally Posted by Ulli Bauer

Hi,

they're a Macrobrachium of some sort, and judging from their egg size I'd say they breed in freshwater and release shrimplets, not larvae.

When they get big enough they will eventually eat small fish that sleep on the ground at night.

Cheers
Ulli

That's great news. I will be going soon to pick some up.

[fish-aholic]

I bought 5, but it seems as though one is some kind of filter feeder. It is blue. They are all doing well except for that one which is flying all over the tank.

[Papas76]

I have five of them aswell and they are great to watch. One of them did eat my tiny little oscar unfortunately but besides that my other fish are fine.

[saganco]

I know this is an older post - but can anyone who has these confirm if they do indeed breed in freshwater - and do they need "special water" (like really hard or something)?

Also, what color are they in your tanks and what color substrate do you have them in/on? I ask because I had some orange shrimp once that turned a very dark brown when they were on black substrate. Thanks in advance.