Some sort od shrimp

jeharrisonjr · May 14, 2012

There is a dsrk redish brown shrimp looking thing in my tank, its really fast and looks like a fire shrimp with no feelers or flare on its tail. Does anyone know what it could be. It always hides

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BarbH · May 15, 2012

:bump:

shred5 · May 15, 2012

Well if its fast it might be a mantis shrimp. I would need more info or a pic. A mantis hides most of the time but do have feelers as do all shrimp but they are less pronounced as most.

jeharrisonjr · May 20, 2012

I got a better look at it and looked up mantis and it is definitly one. Is it ok for my tank? Will it kill things? I haven't seen my peppermint shrimp in a while, could ot have eaten it? What else can anyone tell me about the mantis shrimp?

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wysiwyg · May 20, 2012

it is a predator and will kill fish/shrimp and probally took out your shrimp. they have also been reported to bust aquariums if there glass ( depends on how thick the glass is) they have a club or spear that shoots out at lightning fast speed to kill there prey.

jeharrisonjr · May 20, 2012

Should I get rid of it?

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wysiwyg · May 20, 2012

if you have a refug/sump i would probally put him in there or get rid of him

ritter6788 · May 20, 2012

jeharrisonjr said:
Should I get rid of it?

Do you have a small spare tank laying around? Why not keep it as a pet or offer it to someone that will home it. There are many people out there that would love to have it. If you can remove the rock that it's hiding in then dip it in some fresh water it will usually come out quick, (Use gloves!). If you have a local club I'd be willing to bet someone would be willing to take care of it. If it's red and hitchhiked in the live rock it's not a spearer that will eat fish and it's not going to ever get big enough to break even thin glass.

Most likely N. wennerae,

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...costraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_wennerae

jeharrisonjr · May 20, 2012

It is red and did come with live rock and my main concern is the glass so ill keep it if its safe, is it a different kind? Will it kill shrimp?

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ritter6788 · May 20, 2012

I wouldn't worry about it breaking the glass. It feeds on small snails, hermits, crabs and shrimp. The better you keep it fed the less likely it is to take out other inhabitants. Mine eats frozen foods when I feed the fish and occasionally I feed it a small piece of frozen krill on a stick just to make it come out and attack the food.

shred5 · May 21, 2012

Sorry I was out of town. If you can remove it, do it... I had one I could not catch for years in one of my reefs. Mainly could not keep snails he would kill them. But they can catch fish, crabs or shrimp if given the chance.