[gil_ong]

i bought 3 red claw shrimp from a TPT member to take care of my nuisance snail problem. the first night i had them in my old 20g, they ripped up a beta pretty good and i think destroyed quite a few red cherry shrimp.

i took the beta out and gave the little bugger his own 5g and he's pretty happy right now.

i then moved everyone else into a 36g about a month later. the extra space has calmed everyone down. i'm also having a problem with the buggers DIGGING into the substrate. i'd rather they don't do this since i have DIRT under the cap of flourite.

threads i found:

• http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/96461-red-claw-shrimp.html
  
• http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/86265-q-red-claw-shrimp.html

so..... is that the definitive answer? any other suggestions to keep them from terrorizing the rest of the inhabitants?

if all else fails...... i have the option of setting up a spare 10g (i think the 5g would be too small) for the three of these guys, or i can sell them to someone on here who wants them.

 

[oblongshrimp]

I moved a couple adult males to my 120gal planted tank with my rainbowfish (large adults). Over the next week I started losing some of the fish. Once I removed the red claws the deaths stopped.

 

[Alyssa]

What is the difference between those and crayfish/crawdads?

They seem like they get like crayfish sized - but scale is hard to tell in the pics on that one thread. How big do they get?

 

[gil_ong]

anyone?

anyone want just ONE red claw?

if so, then i can move the other two in the 5g and move Jamie the beta into the 36g.

 

[Cardinal Tetra]

Wow I'm really sorry to hear that they're causing you trouble. This is very unusual news to me since others who I've sent them to haven't had similar experiences.

Did you see the red claws eating the cherries or did you just notice fewer cherries crawling about? I can definitely say that my blue pearl and tiger shrimp scatter whenever the red claws come barging through.

I can take pictures of my tank with red claws tomorrow. Lots of breeding shrimp, and healthy fish with no nipped fins.

Did they at least eat your snails?

 

[gil_ong]

LOL. they decimated the snails! more efficient than i had ever expected.

no, i did not see them chomping on any of the shrimp, but i did see a few dead shrimp and it happened almost overnight. could be coincidence, but i think it's unlikely.

i really like them. so active and fun to watch. but i need them to "get along" with everyone else in the tank.

here's what happened to my betta after one night.

before

after

 

[Cardinal Tetra]

My god! That's horrid! Is he ok now?

I do admit that I've never kept them with long finned fish...

Did they breed for you? I'm pretty sure I sent you at least 1 male and 1 female.

 

[gil_ong]

no worries. he's recovered almost completely now that he's in his own tank. except the little bugger did "jump" once a few days after i put him in there. good thing i had the day off and was able to rescue him just about 1st thing in the morning.

nope. they haven't done anything. the male has carved out his own little spot in the back of the tank, in the corner under a flat piece of slate. he actually dug under it. which is kinda rough for me since i have some flourite capping dirt. it's settled down some, but when he first started, he was kicking up all kinds of stuff and tanning the water pretty bad. one female (?) is under another piece of slate in the middle of the tank, and the other is in one of those 3-tube things in the front left corner.

and you're right. after a while the red cherry shrimp know to get out of these guys' way.

now to determine what to do next.

think 3 of them with do OK in a 2.5g? or will it be too crowded? how about 2?

do you want one of them back?

i have a 10g, but i'm quite sure my wife will have a cow if i set it up.

i'm really quite torn.

sorry i'm rambling, lots of thoughts and different scenarios running through my head. and i'm kinda sleep-deprived. our 8-month old is down with a double ear infection and last night was a little rough.

 

[pwolfe]

did you say these eat snails? tell me more!

 

[gil_ong]

yes. i've had a snail problem in my 20g for probably 3 years. tried different methods, including transferring everyone into a holding tank, complete tear-down and then re-establishing it. assassin snails also didn't seem to do much good.

these guys cleared up ALL my nuisance snails in about a month but have not harmed my malaysian trumpet snails.

 

[Cardinal Tetra]

think 3 of them with do OK in a 2.5g? or will it be too crowded? how about 2?

do you want one of them back?

i have a 10g, but i'm quite sure my wife will have a cow if i set it up.

i'm really quite torn.

sorry i'm rambling, lots of thoughts and different scenarios running through my head. and i'm kinda sleep-deprived. our 8-month old is down with a double ear infection and last night was a little rough.

I think they would be crowded in a tank that size. A 10 gallon tank would work great for all 3 though. I'll pass on the red claw. I already have too many (trying to sell some right now actually haha), and I have 2 berried females so that just means way more on the way.

Maybe pass them on since they did the job of killing all your snails? I find them interesting and great too but they're very prolific fellows and I can only have so many in my tank.

Good luck with baby! I'll be in your shoes soon enough (one day...).

 

[gil_ong]

yeah. that's the thought. maybe set up a ROAK with these guys. LOL.

thanks, she's better now. finally taking a decent nap. let's hope she sleeps for a little while. no point in rushing with a kid. the little buggers are EXPENSIVE!

 

[oblongshrimp]

The dominate males I had were 3-4 inches for their body and had claws probably that long as well. The other males and females are smaller and their claws aren't nearly as large and thick.

You can see pictures of mine here

 

[mordalphus]

Do they breed fast? They sound like they get to a great size as food for my oscar, which is getting bored with ghost shrimp and crayfish babies.

 

[Cardinal Tetra]

Do they breed fast? They sound like they get to a great size as food for my oscar, which is getting bored with ghost shrimp and crayfish babies.

They certainly carry more eggs than my dwarf shrimp...their young also grow faster.

 

[gil_ong]

i just moved them all to a 10g

tore down the 2.5g and put the betta in the main tank.

 

[oblongshrimp]

I recall them holding the same number of eggs as dwarf shrimp, they just have larger eggs. Mine didn't breed as quickly as dwarf shrimp, i think they eat their offspring. As they get larger they definitely fight a lot as they rip each others claws and legs off sometimes. I used a bunch of small cut PVC pieces to make hiding places for the young.

 

[gil_ong]

do the claws and legs grow back?

 

[mordalphus]

Yep, all shrimp and crayfish grow back appendages. They don't grow back organs though, so eyeballs go bye bye for good

 

[Cardinal Tetra]

I recall them holding the same number of eggs as dwarf shrimp, they just have larger eggs. Mine didn't breed as quickly as dwarf shrimp, i think they eat their offspring. As they get larger they definitely fight a lot as they rip each others claws and legs off sometimes. I used a bunch of small cut PVC pieces to make hiding places for the young.

Hmmm I should catch the females and count their eggs lol.

Yeah their babies aren't very fast... the fish and adults probably claim a lot of them. The dwarf shrimp babies have a much better survival rate in my tank compared to those red claws.