Whisker Shrimp?!

Hello, I have recently made a trip to my pet store and have picked up some “ghost shrimp.” After doing research I have decided that they are actually whisker shrimp. They are in a 3.5 betta tank and there are 6 of them in there right now. (I know it is small, I will upgrade soon.) Anyways, the bloody devils are huge and I don’t want them to kill off my betta. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you. (If they happen to be aggressive I can feed them to my fancies...... cruel but I have no other use for them.)

 

Pictures? Do they have any color?

 

I have never had Ghost shrimp so I don't know exactly how big they get. All I do know is that the ones my PetSmart gets in are very small. My Betta could maybe swallow them whole. They always put them in with the Neon tetras and most of the Neons are bigger than the shrimp. Yours are probably whiskers like you say and I would not leave them with the Betta. Especially not that many of them.

 

Ghost shrimp can reach the same length as amano shrimp, which is about 2.5-3 inches at the largest. Ghost shirmp will have red dots on the tail and red bands around the leg joints and on the antennae, it is a sharp scarlet color on this red and is on all ghost shrimp that I have encountered from pet stores. Whiskers will not have this but will also have claws that are larger and about the same length as the body of the shrimp (ghost claws are small and shorter than the length of the body - they are proportional while whisker look off).

 

I wouldn't let whiskers stay in a tank with anything. Cull or feed them.

 

Thank you for all your replies. They will be dinner for my goldfish.

Pictures? Do they have any color?

No, I have not spotted any red. I am not home right now so I cannot take any pictures but all I know is that they are huge. Betta tried chasing one today but won’t eat them because he’s more on the nice side. The shrimp just run away from him and hide. Guess that’s good.

 

I believe I have two large whisker shrimp that I bought as ghosties. They murdered and ate 10 of my tetras before I realized what was happening. They now reside in their own 10 gallon because nothing I have will eat them, and I have had them a year now.

 

I believe I have two large whisker shrimp that I bought as ghosties. They murdered and ate 10 of my tetras before I realized what was happening. They now reside in their own 10 gallon because nothing I have will eat them, and I have had them a year now.

Wow. I’ve had the whiskers now for a few days and they have been fine. They haven’t bothered the fish or zebra snail. I can’t believe that they would eat 10 tetras. I did wake up to one shrimp ripped in half the second day I got all 6 of them. After that they were fine.... guess they hated that one. Haha.

 

Wow. I’ve had the whiskers now for a few days and they have been fine. They haven’t bothered the fish or zebra snail. I can’t believe that they would eat 10 tetras. I did wake up to one shrimp ripped in half the second day I got all 6 of them. After that they were fine.... guess they hated that one. Haha.

It seemed they attacked at night mostly. I just happened to be looking at the tank one day and I saw a shrimp grab ahold of one of my serpae tetras and man he wouldn't let go. I grabbed a pair of long tweezers and broke it up.

 

If they are well fed, the predation will be kept down. Whiskers usually get more aggressive as they get older also. They usually attack at night as that is when its easiest to catch your fish unawares.

Maybe take them down to the lfs and ask to feed the full grown Oscar's lol. The one my lfs has is super aggressive. If I don't see him I swish a finger in the water for a second. It always appears within a second after that. Any longer, and I'd get bit.

 

An update on the whiskers.... I believe that one of the bloody little bandits (biggest one) killed all the little ones. I can only see the bigger one and can’t spot any other ones. The zebra snail or betta couldn’t be the victim. (My male betta is peaceful) I believe the biggest shrimp that is still standing killed his friends. They also may have died off. My attention has been towards the goldfish tank more so idk. I may have also buried one of them while moving the little cave.... I see little whiskers sticking out of the gravel. I thought they would be quick to move. Idk. I’ll see if it’s actually a shrimp later. As for the betta, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. (or shrimp) The only time I saw him chase the shrimp is when he got his little mitts on one of his sinking pellets. Might as well feed that big bandit to the goldies.