***Help Please (Newbie)***

[ShrimpPadawan]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum as well as keeping shrimp. I bought about 10 of these shrimp for a 20 gal tank by themselves. The pet shop owner didn't specify the type other than labeling the tank "Shrimp". I have narrowed it down to red nosed shrimp or glass/ghost shrimp. Can anyone please identify this species of shrimp for me so I may know how to care for them properly? Many thanks in advance.

Please view all nine photos in the photo-stream on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91962101@N ... hotostream

[Mustafa]

Hi! You got yourself some Macrobrachium rosenbergii juveniles, also called "Giant Prawn" in the food industry. It's the largest species in the Macrobrachium genus with males getting to about 25 to 30 cm in size. Your 20 gallon will barely accommodate one of them, and only until it gets to be an adult. Before that point you will already have to put it into something like a 40 gallon and above. If you don't separate your shrimp, they will eat each other right after molting until only one of them remains.

[ShrimpPadawan]

Oh my goodness...noooooo...ahhhhhh ok thanks for your timely response. What do I do now...I bought 10 thinking they were dwarfs because of how tiny they were...I was excited because here in Trinidad and Tobago you can't really find pet shrimp. I always wanted and when I saw these I just went for them...

[Mustafa]

Hmm...hard to give you advice in that regard. You can either try to find other aquarium hobbyists interested in large shrimp, or, dig a pond in your backyard and grow them to full size. Since you live in the tropics, that should not be a problem at all. They are great pets, but due to their size, they also appear to make great dinner. They, are, by the way an introduced species in Trinidad and Tobago, and some nearby South American countries.