Aggressive And Predatory

So, my fiance bought a bunch of "ghost shrimp" along with a few mystery snails a few months ago. Most of the shrimp are peaceful and entertaining.

However, there were 2 of them in the batch that are different from the others...We have 3 freshwater aquariums, 29 gallon tank with a vanilla lobster and electric blue lobster, along with a handful of neon tetras and 3 snails. Also, a 16 gallon tank with 1 male betta fish, 6 glowlite tetras and another 3 snails.

Finally, a 10 gallon tank which is comprised mostly of ghost shrimp and the occasional comet or minnow, also used as a quarantine tank.

The Ghost shrimp are distributed between the 29 and 16 gallon tanks, mostly. We've probably had about 20 ghost shrimp in the last few months. Some don't last very long, others seemed to be thriving. The 2 that concern me are extremely aggressive, much larger than the others and also their bodies are shaped differently...I will post photos for comparison.

I don't know what these 2 are, but I really don't like them. I have seen them chasing the other ghost shrimp around and I also saw one trying to attack a snail. At first I thought it was riding the snail, but it was definitely digging at the snail with its little claws. The snail zoomed around the tank super fast and intentionally scraped this creepy shrimp/prawn thing off of its back by brushing up against a fake flower stem, and then jumped into the stream of bubbles to ride them to higher ground in order to escape.

What is this creepy prawn thing?? Again there are 2 of them,and I really get a bad vibe from them compared to the other ghosts. I actually think they killed all the other shrimp.

The last photo is what a "normal" ghost shrimp looks like, as far as I can tell.

 

the aggressive ones definitely aren't ghost but not sure about what kind they could be since I not very experienced with shrimp other then ghost

 

Sounds like Whisker Shrimp, but I’m not sure.

 

One of those shrimp, specifically the one on the snail appears to be an amano shrimp, which I assure you is perfectly harmless. The other shrimp in the pic with the ivory snail looks to me like a ghost shrimp, but there are so many of them that look the same but are called "ghosts".

Do any of the shrimp have long pinchers that are far longer than their other limbs? Shrimp with pinchers that are closer to their body (much like cherry shrimp) are usually the harmless ones.

 

Thanks...I know they just aren't ghost shrimp....I posted photos because believe me, they look much creepier in person. They stalk their tank mates and they know when I'm watching them and they deff don't like being watched. They were in the betta tank for all of 20 minutes before I decided that I don't trust them and they creep me out, so moved them to the lobster tank because anything that goes with the lobsters is something we accept will probably be brutally murdered at some point because that is the way of the lobster....lol...

And I was really just concerned that they might try and hurt the betta. But now they are harassing the snails and have killed all the other shrimp. The lobsters and the snails are actually pretty chill with each other, except for when the snails occasionally try to mate with the white lobster and she gets pokey in return to rebuff their advances...even then, its very little in the way of confrontation.

These prawn things are actually far more aggressive than the lobsters at this point, which I never expected. LOL.

 

if they are that aggressive then I wouldnt put them with your fish especially if they are worse then the lobster.
.......do your snails really try to mate with the lobster?

 

Thanks...I know they just aren't ghost shrimp....I posted photos because believe me, they look much creepier in person. They stalk their tank mates and they know when I'm watching them and they deff don't like being watched. They were in the betta tank for all of 20 minutes before I decided that I don't trust them and they creep me out, so moved them to the lobster tank because anything that goes with the lobsters is something we accept will probably be brutally murdered at some point because that is the way of the lobster....lol...

And I was really just concerned that they might try and hurt the betta. But now they are harassing the snails and have killed all the other shrimp. The lobsters and the snails are actually pretty chill with each other, except for when the snails occasionally try to mate with the white lobster and she gets pokey in return to rebuff their advances...even then, its very little in the way of confrontation.

These prawn things are actually far more aggressive than the lobsters at this point, which I never expected. LOL.

I had a Whisker Shrimp kill off all my Ghosts before resorting to cannibilism.

 

Demeter both shrimp I'm concerned with look the same. They do both have noticeable claws and stripes down their back, but I'm not sure how long the claws really are.

 

if they are that aggressive then I wouldnt put them with your fish especially if they are worse then the lobster.
.......do your snails really try to mate with the lobster?

LOL, the snails try to mate with everything...Each other, marbles, rocks....I only saw one trying to mount the vanilla lobster once, and she reacted by flipping around and poking the snail with her claws a few times until the snail quickly retreated. That's the only time I've ever seen that type of encounter between them. No clue if its happened other times.

I kind of want to return the aggressive shrimp to the pet store but I don't know which one he even got them from or if they would take them back. We typically go to a hand full of different pet stores and they could have come from like 4 different stores...

 

LOL, the snails try to mate with everything...Each other, marbles, rocks....I only saw one trying to mount the vanilla lobster once, and she reacted by flipping around and poking the snail with her claws a few times until the snail quickly retreated. That's the only time I've ever seen that type of encounter between them. No clue if its happened other times.

I kind of want to return the aggressive shrimp to the pet store but I don't know which one he even got them from or if they would take them back. We typically go to a hand full of different pet stores and they could have come from like 4 different stores...

Ghost Shrimp are typically sold as feeders for 20-40 cents or so, so they wouldn’t really be worth returning even if you could (I doubt it).

 

LOL, the snails try to mate with everything...Each other, marbles, rocks....I only saw one trying to mount the vanilla lobster once, and she reacted by flipping around and poking the snail with her claws a few times until the snail quickly retreated. That's the only time I've ever seen that type of encounter between them. No clue if its happened other times.

lol I know this is a serious thread but that really funny ive never seen snails do that, your lobster must be very attractive haha

I kind of want to return the aggressive shrimp to the pet store but I don't know which one he even got them from or if they would take them back. We typically go to a hand full of different pet stores and they could have come from like 4 different stores...

do you still have the receipt?

 

lol I know this is a serious thread but that really funny ive never seen snails do that, your lobster must be very attractive haha

do you still have the receipt?

Well, here's a pic of a snail 3some with the Vanilla lobster watching lol



We do not have the receipt. We go to lots of pet stores and get lots of fish etc. Not just for our tanks at home, but also the tank at his workplace.

Worst case scenario, we may segregate the 2 of them into their own tank and see what happens. We do have another unused 10 gallon.

Even though I really don't like them, I am also strangely fascinated by them and I want to know what they are and what they would end up looking like over time. I'm,sure they probably looked more like the other shrimp at first when they were smaller, because we did keep a bunch in the 10 gallon tank before distributing to the other tanks and we barely noticed a difference until we transferred a few into the betta tank and I was like, wait a minute....NOPE.

 

if you can't return then it could be interesting to keep them in their own tank and see what happens.
hahaha the lobster kinda looks jealous of the threesome

 

The vanilla lobster has always been super docile compared to the electric blue one, even tho they are definitely the same kind of lobster, besides color.... She always has a kind of bummed out,depressed expression on her face, (if that's possible for lobsters)

She also was NOT pleased when the snail made his moves on her...it happened so fast, I didn't get a photo or video, but she was not about it.

That's the funniest thing about snails. They move super fast. Nothing like you'd expect if you've never actually had snails. We are still super new at keeping them AND keeping shrimp...(had them and the shrimp around 3 months now)

The large aggressive shrimp sit near the lobsters and leave each other alone, so I don't know what to think yet. I'm more concerned about the snails than the tetras or lobsters.

I was also wanting to return the shrimp not for a refund but because it seems like the most humane option if it turns out that we really don't want to keep them at all. We probably will end up separating them at some point soon though.

 

I still say they are amano shrimp. Amanos grow pretty large at around 2 inches, often have a blue/green tint, and the characteristic thin brown line down their back is pretty prominent. I've got a pair myself and they look pretty much exactly like yours. They do not have long claws and mine do not bother my mystery snail at all.

I suggest you google amano shrimp and compare pictures. 90% sure you have amanos.

The guys you need to look out for are these

 

you could try and see if any of the store will accept them if you don't want to keep them. if not then at least you have extra tanks you can use I guess :')
aww poor mr snail, one day he will win her heart and affection lol.
yeah snails move really fast when they want to, which is weird since they are normally described as a slow moving invert haha

 

Demeter I googled Amano shrimp and this video on YouTube does look and seem exactly like the ones I have:

 

I watched the video while playing creepy music, I can see what you mean.

 

! I know this is a serious thread, but you're cracking me up! Lol... I've got tons of mysteries, and believe me, I've got pics of threesomes too! Haha.. and some of the more "unsuitable" pics.. (boys like to show off apparently! I was trying to get pics to start a thread showing people how to sex mystery snails.) And yea!!! Snails REALLY do move a lot faster than you would think!! LOL!

I'd say they are definitely whisker shrimp. They are usually found in the wild beside "ghost" shrimp ~ which actually comprises a few species (don't ask me which.. can't remember!) google "whisker shrimp" and see if those photos match. They'll have longer claws /claw arms than the rest of your ghosts if they are. And they can look like Amanos ~ just depends on the species in question. But, yea, they really do look like Amanos at first glance! (Amanos aren't aggressive though)

Edit: people just go catch shrimp (I think usually in Florida.. where most whisker and ghost and grass shrimp come from), so, it's not out of the realm of possibility that someone found a shrimp that looks similar to Amanos, and sold them as such.. leading to that YouTube video... who knows. There's so many undescribed similar-looking species of shrimp. Anyways, I'd keep them in the lobster tank!! Or give them their own tank!

Also, I think shrimp just like riding around on the backs of snails.. haven't kept them with snails though, actually. But I've seen and heard of them doing this (completely harmlessly!!). My ramshorns ride the backs of my mysteries! Lol!



Also.. threw this one in too!! Haha!

 

!!! Your snails are pretty!!!

Here's a photo of our other 3 with the betta watching LOL

Also, I tried googling both whisker shrimp and Amano shrimp and the photos of each can vary so much. I have read other peoples accounts of some shrimp being very aggressive and others claim they are always peaceful.

They do have little diggy claws but its so hard to get a photo because they know when I'm watching them and they scurry away. I think they are ok in the lobster tank for now. We moved the lone surviving actual ghost shrimp into the betta tank last night. We knew there was maybe 1 left, but he had been hiding for awhile so we weren't exactly sure if he'd made it or not.