Giant African Filter Shrimp

[chlorophyll]

Last week I was able to get a pair of these... now only about 4 cm... hopefully a male and female, though I doubt it and don't know how to tell at this time (any hints?). Atya gabonensis.. I like to call them "gabbies"! They do look kind of like crayfish (yabbies) after all.

Really interesting looking, and it's interesting how distinct their two little personalities are. The darker one is extremely shy and hides almost all the time ('she' found a little nook between a rock and the gravel and furiously burrowed a cozy little home to sit in), while the other one is usually more out in the open with its filters out. Hopefully there's nothing wrong with the shy one because she doesn't extend her filters nearly as often as the other one.

Though they look like yabbies, the gabbies can swim surprisingly well like other shrimp. But they are mostly stationary or hiders so if anybody else felt like getting any, I wouldn't expect to see them climbing and swimming around much like many other shrimp. It could always depend on personality though

I think they've been in the hobby for a while already. Anybody else keep these?

[Solaris]

Are these also known as Vampire Shrimp? I seen those they look cool

[JaVaGiRl]

Yeah, I have a few of these for a couple of years now, there very big. They started eating all my red crystals, so I had to setup a seperate tank for them. The only difference that I know of is my 2 males are skinnier, and my female is a little darker and fatter.

[Solaris]

Hmm they are supposed to be shrimp safe? they are filter feeders, i heard people raising shrimp babies and fish fry with this bad boy and he never hurt anything

[Mustafa]

Yeah, I have a few of these for a couple of years now, there very big. They started eating all my red crystals, so I had to setup a seperate tank for them. The only difference that I know of is my 2 males are skinnier, and my female is a little darker and fatter.

I highly doubt they ate your Crystal Reds. They don't even have the means to hold on to them. I have never observed Filter Shrimp eat anything else but tiny food particles.

As to male female distinction....the male should have a huge first pair of legs and female should have pretty skinny ones in the same place instead...unless these shrimp are an exception from the rest of the Filter shrimp species I have seen. I have never seen anything else but males imported into the US or Europe since they look "cooler" than the skinny-legged females. I have a feeling though that the females of this species are not as "skinny-legged" as the females of Atyopsis moluccensis, the "Wood" or Singapore Shrimp.

If anyone thinks he/she has a female, please post a picture.

[JaVaGiRl]

Hmmm.. we are talking about Giant African Filter Feeders ?? Well, my cousin ordered them from over seas a few years ago now, they are very big, about 6 inches long. I keep them in my crayfish breeder tank. My two males are a dark grayish color, and my female is really fat with a duller grey with a tint of pinkish in the light. I never did any research on them, I didn't even want them at the time I was just told that this is what they were and they ate my shrimp. They seem to do well in with my crayfish and they eat snails 2.. but mostly they hang upside down between the wall of the tank and the tube connected to my filter, sooo I dunno.

[GunmetalBlue]

Hey Chlorophyll, welcome home to your "gabbies."

4 cm! That's tiny for these guys, so they must be quite young. You said you hope they are a male and female, so I take it you'd like to try and breed them. Haven't yet heard of anyone successfully breeding any filter shrimp, though of course that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. But have a feeling it's not going to be easy... but you like challenges right?

If your Vampire shrimp are anything like the wood shrimp, they'll like perching on rocks and plants and wherever they have the best vantage point filtering. In fact, they're a little like wind socks in that you'll always know which way your flow direction is in any given area.

-GB

[Solaris]

i want one of these guys bad but the shipping is so high online.

[chlorophyll]

I did notice previously that the shy one's big arms look a little skinnier than the other's. But I think these two might be a little small/young to sex that way anyway. And I'm not about to grab these skittish little guys and examine their bellies (not that I'd really know how to sex them that way either!). I'll keep looking and comparing their arms, and maybe get pictures.

Yeah GB, if eggs happen I'm definitely willing to try. Even though it sounds to be an extra challenge with these shrimp. I've read of hobbyists having females produce larvae, but the hobbyists apparently weren't interested enough to try to rear the larvae or didn't realize seawater was necessary.
I'm guessing in Germany, people have tried with seawater and all, and still been largely unsuccessful anyway.

Never had the Wood shrimp, but I bet gabbies are a bit more shy. They don't really perch upon anything and prefer the ground especially close to the sides of rocks... though I've seen them on odd places like the filter intake, or on top of the power head. The circulation in my tank is a little wild too.... power filter throwing water down, power head pushing water across, and an air stone to the side. I hope they're not confused

They're nocturnal and in still photos (especially closeups) they look quite menacing. I guess that's why they're called "vampire shrimp." But now having seen them in person (especially these small guys), I couldn't imagine calling them such a thing. They're so shy and cute. When frightened (such as in transport, in a bare tank, or when lights unexpectedly come on and they scurry for their comfort places) they seem to huddle and hold on to each other for comfort.

Javagirl, I too doubt they could have killed your shrimp. Personally I wouldn't risk keeping them with crayfish because they are so retiring. Though generally I don't think crayfish are strong enough hunters to be a threat to most shrimp. To me, smaller shrimp stand better chance of cleaner escape though.

[JaVaGiRl]

Well, whatever they are, there as big as my crayfish. They've been living together with the crayfish for a very long time. Several times I have seen them on top of the crayfish cleaning them it looks like. I also know that people say that crayfish will eat each other. Crayfish are very territorial, thats true, but I havent had a problem, and I have many crayfish together. I only had 1 incident one of my blue crayfish was shedding and the larger blue crushed and killed him with his claws.

[GunmetalBlue]

Chlorophyll, so you are saying the name "Vampire Shrimp" supersedes them in actuality? From your description, they do sound cute and tiny yet, due to their youth. I agree though, that some of the pictures I've seen of the adults look radical and menacing, so I think it tends to come as a surprise to find they're rather harmless. So they're nocturnal? That's interesting.

You already have experience working with larvae (and how are those prawn babies doing anyway?); it'd be neat for you to try with the African filter shrimp too. Provided they turn out to be a boy and a girl of course.

About the water circulation, when I do my water change and add water back, I add it through the built in top of the tank filter where the spigot is, temporarily creating a much faster water flow. I find it funny that one of the Bamboos will climb the highest plant and eagerly open their "mits" like an outfielder ready to catch a pop fly. So my shrimp are definitely not confused, lol.

-GB

[chlorophyll]

My shy gabbie just moulted. I hope my circulation is working for them... I'll have to find her when she stops hiding and check to see if she's grown (or shrunk). I'm still not entirely sure they're getting the food they need, though the more outgoing one seems to be feeding (and pooping). Perhaps the shy one will feed more now, and simply wasn't active and feeding much in preparation of her moult.

My M. rosenbergii larvae are still kicking, but have hit a speedbump in development at stage X (of XII). This may be a typical late stage slowdown. I'm considering more/better feeding (nutrition/energy for growth), a little less circulation (conserve their energy for growth), or more frequent water changes, might spur further moults to stage XI and PL.

I'm now down to 'only' 240! Few to no deads on the floor seems to mean they've been cannibalizing. However, the count hasn't gone down in the last few days... so perhaps the decline is stabilizing. Still hoping I can come out with a good deal over 100.

[chlorophyll]

It just recently came to my attention the real reason why they're called "vampire shrimp" ... of course, it's because of those claws/talons on their first pair of walking legs. They resemble fangs. (I still don't like the name though :p)

I still wonder if this is truly just a male trait or if the females also have pronnounced (though perhaps smaller) first pair of walking legs, such that they too would be true to the "vampire" description. Seems strong clasping legs would be a utility to all FW filter feeding shrimp who dwell in and set themselves in the faster currents. I've seen mine seemingly 'lock' themselves in position under and between rocks with those big first legs.

My shybie feeds much more now after the moult. Continues to be pretty shy thoough, and the other one continues to be the much bolder one. Perhaps he is just the dominant male... (still holding out hope the shy one is a female, though it probably is not..)
That bolder one might be close to a moult himself. He's become very dark.

[GunmetalBlue]

Hey Chlorophyll, so did your M. rosenbergii larvae ever reach PL? How many do you have left?

Hmm, I had assumed they were called "Vampire shrimp" because the one pictured in the Varieties page looks to have a large black cloak on, hehe...

Unless someone comes up with a picture of a female Giant African filter shrimp, not sure how obvious the difference between males and females would be, but reasonably so, I would imagine. Although this concerns the Bamboo shrimp, last weekend while visiting several semi-LFS, I saw for the first time, an obviously magnificent male Bamboo! There definitely was a difference, now that I've finally seen one in person . I've not seen any Giant African shrimp in our locale though.

Glad to hear the shy one is err... coming out of her/his shell a little bit... BTW, I was curious, what do you feed your Giant African shrimp, how large is their tank and are they the sole inhabitants?

-GB

[chlorophyll]

A cloak huh?
I guess I see what you mean. It actually looks like a mask now that you mention it, with the mouth exposed ... Like Batman!

Well, anyway... my larvae didn't turn out so great. I couldn't seem to push them past the last two stages. They've been larvae for way too long, and the longer they're larvae the further attrition goes.... it's true, once you get PL's they are much more hardy and "safe." But they wouldn't go past stage X and XI and kept dying off. Now I have very few and still have a chance to get some PL's, but very very few.

An invasion of protozoa may have caused problems. I got rid of them by ending treatment of the water with microalgae greenwater.
But I really think that my feeding schedule wasn't adequate. It was good enough to push them along nicely while they were smaller, but they may have needed more continuous feeding in later larger stages to progress them further. Since I was rearing them on campus away from home, I wasn't able to give them that continuous care. They should be fed 3-4 times a day at reasonable intervals, but I could only attend in the afternoon and evening. They could have at least used a morning feeding.

Then again, I may have simply done something else wrong... though I don't see what it is. I have seen the process through PL before (where I had partners so that feeding could be kept more continuous). But anyway, there are still a few healthy larvae left. it is probably less than 20

But I'll try again and try to work a better system out. Whether it's the same kind of larvae or another species.


Back to the A. gabonensis, since they're little gabbies right now they're 2 in 20 gallons. I don't know how long that will be adequate, but it's definitely more than adequate now. I don't have bigger tanks, but will be able to give them their own separate tanks if needed. There are 5 Amanos and one adult Pea Puffer in there too. These individuals exist very peacefully... only the Amanos mess with each other when feeding. When I feed the puffer (blood worms or frozen mysis) I feed in excess for the Amanos and to get more particles in the water. I grind up a small pile of flakes specifically for the gabbies and just toss it in. And sometimes I was using the home-made particulate enriched egg custard (suspended in water) that I was feeding to my prawn larvae.... squirted that into the current. Every other day or so I might toss in some light slow-sinking Tetramin pellets too, but those rarely stay suspened long enough to fall into their filter mits (at least not the large more visible pieces). The Amanos help clean those up. This is my most cycled and tank I have... water quality stays fine seemingly no matter how much food I throw in there. Though it is due for its obligatory 30% water change.