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Blue claw freshwater shrimp


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I picked up a "Blue claw freshwater shrimp" today from BA(had a gift cert. I had to spend). Does anyone know what these are? It looks like a giant Amano shrimp(3-4") with long arms with little pinchers on the end. The claws dont' look blue to me but thats what it was labeled as. I'd like to be able to find some info on these guys.

Do you think it would hurt plants? Right now I'm putting him in a planted 20g with my betta. If I see him being agressive i'll move him somewhere else.

Do you think he would hurt amano shrimps?

I'll try to get a pic of him. He is so cool.

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I picked up a "Blue claw freshwater shrimp" today from BA(had a gift cert. I had to spend). Does anyone know what these are? It looks like a giant Amano shrimp(3-4") with long arms with little pinchers on the end. The claws dont' look blue to me but thats what it was labeled as. I'd like to be able to find some info on these guys.

Do you think it would hurt plants? Right now I'm putting him in a planted 20g with my betta. If I see him being agressive i'll move him somewhere else.

Do you think he would hurt amano shrimps?

I'll try to get a pic of him. He is so cool.

My husband is somewhat of a shrimp nut and he says that this shrimp is a Macrobrachium rosenbergii. They are a very large species that are used in the food trade. They are very aggressive and will kill your betta and the amano shrimp. They should be in a species only tank.

For more information try http://www.petshrimp.com/ but be aware that they are very strict about posting and will expect you to search their forum for the answer before posting questions and if you don't you will be banned. They are a very informative site. The owner and moderator of the site is a very knowledgeable shrimp-keeper.

Deborah

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Thanks for the site

Why does your husband think its a Macrobrachium rosenbergii? I googled that name and the pics don't really look like my guy, except they have a similar body shape. My guys arms are clear with little red stripes at each joint. The pics of Macrobrachium rosenbergii that I found their claws were larger/thicker and mostly blue, no red stripes like in mine.

Maybe mine just had juvie coloring or something. Prehaps it will become more blue and darker as it grows.

The fish survived the night. I dont' think its quite big enough yet to eat the betta or the pleco. The pleco just gave it a good swat with its tail when the shrimp got too close. It might eat the amanos but so far so good. It also doens't look like its hurting the plants. I watched it and it was cleaning them like the algae shrimp do.

I"ll leave in the 20g untill I start seeing problems. Then i'll move him to a new home.

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Thanks for the site

Why does your husband think its a Macrobrachium rosenbergii? I googled that name and the pics don't really look like my guy, except they have a similar body shape. My guys arms are clear with little red stripes at each joint. The pics of Macrobrachium rosenbergii that I found their claws were larger/thicker and mostly blue, no red stripes like in mine.

Maybe mine just had juvie coloring or something. Prehaps it will become more blue and darker as it grows.

The fish survived the night. I dont' think its quite big enough yet to eat the betta or the pleco. The pleco just gave it a good swat with its tail when the shrimp got too close. It might eat the amanos but so far so good. It also doens't look like its hurting the plants. I watched it and it was cleaning them like the algae shrimp do.

I"ll leave in the 20g untill I start seeing problems. Then i'll move him to a new home.

That's my best guess is that they are Macrobrachium rosenbergii. I've been eyeing them myself at BA - just can't afford them right now and I don't have a tank available for the moment. I was there last week and spent about ten minutes observing them, watching the aggression displayed between one another. The ones that BA has right now are much smaller than the ones they had last spring.

From what I recall from my research, the juveniles do start off with different coloured arms than the adults. I seem to recall something about them having red arms that eventually develop into blue, but I could be wrong. In fact, rosenbergii babies under 1" are often mistaken for ghost shrimp (much to the purchasers regret, I have read).

They won't hurt plants but they will hurt the amanos and the betta. Don't know about the pleco. The male long-armed shrimp/prawns are extremely territorial and they will snip off the arms of any other male rosenbergii in the tank, if they don't kill them outright. It was at PetShrimp.com where I learned that it was recommended that this prawn be kept in a species-only tank. One guy used a children's wading pool for his "harem" of rosenbergii.

FYI -- I know you don't have it in with one but they don't do well with crayfish ... believe it or not, the long-arm prawns are able to kill a crayfish.

Best of luck.

Deborah's husband

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Thanks,

I"ll probably end up moving him to his own 5g in a couple weeks after I rearrange a few of my tanks. I'm actually excited it gets big. I think it will be really neat to watch it grow.

I also have a crayfish but I knew I shouldnt' put them in the same tank. Right now my cray would eat the shrimp, but I could see how an adult Macrobrachium rosenbergii could eat a crayfish.

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You'll want to plan to move him to at least a 20Gal fairly soon. They apparently grow quite rapidly and a 5Gal wouldn't be sufficient space, especially if it is a male. I found this link about keeping Macrobrachium rosenbergii as pets and thought it might be of interest to you:

Miami Aqua-culture Inc. - Introducting Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Even if it turns out to be a different species, the care is likely similar.

Best of luck.

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MY guy isn't very social compared to other inverts I've had. I've only seen him twice since putting him in the tank. But that also might be because the tank is fully planted so its hard to find stuff in there.

He has already molted and is now darker then when I bought him. His body is now a clear brownish and his front arms are a more solid red.

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MY guy isn't very social compared to other inverts I've had. I've only seen him twice since putting him in the tank. But that also might be because the tank is fully planted so its hard to find stuff in there.

He has already molted and is now darker then when I bought him. His body is now a clear brownish and his front arms are a more solid red.

Interesting. I wonder if BA might have gotten a Red-Claw mixed in with their blues?

Petshrimp.com - Red Claw Macro

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My guy doens't have any blue on him at the moment. His arms are red. They were clear with red stripes but after his molt they are a more solid red. Thats why I was confused as to what species I have as "blue claw freshwater shrimp" doens't seem to apply if my guy has red claws.

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