# Vampire Shrimp



## C_perugiae (Feb 26, 2004)

Well, I _think_ that this is the best place for this topic... 

Anywho, I was just wondering if anyone out there has them. A shipment came in at the store and I think they're impossibly cute... very interesting animals and I really like the way they feed. I was kicking around the idea of picking one up to help keep the sand in my 50 clean and well swept. I'm a little worried about compatibility with kribs, though, as mine think the ghost shrimp I added the other night didn't deserve legs. Or heads.

Yes, I woke up to a bunch of half eaten shrimp and two very happy kribensis. 
Do you think they'd try that with a 3" shrimp that has much heavier armor?


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## Pigheaddd (Feb 27, 2004)

C_perugiae said:


> Well, I _think_ that this is the best place for this topic...
> 
> Anywho, I was just wondering if anyone out there has them. A shipment came in at the store and I think they're impossibly cute... very interesting animals and I really like the way they feed. I was kicking around the idea of picking one up to help keep the sand in my 50 clean and well swept. I'm a little worried about compatibility with kribs, though, as mine think the ghost shrimp I added the other night didn't deserve legs. Or heads.
> 
> ...


hi,

it depends on what kind of fishes you keep with vampire shrimp. for my observation, VS is very shy. is your tank heavily planted? if so, that will be ok. it will hide somewhere you will never know if it is still alive or not until one day you see it swimming around in your tank. :lol: how much do they sell in your LFS? we have various size here. i like smallest size. supre cute. btw, what is kribs? :roll: im not familiar with some of NAMEs... :lol:

i was keeping mine in a small tank. it didnt really eat during day time in my tank. i could see it coming out at night. i just release it to my big tank few days ago. so far so good coz i know where it hide. i'll check it EVERY single day see if it is still alive at first couple weeks. :twisted:

good luck,

Tim


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## C_perugiae (Feb 26, 2004)

The vampire shrimp sell for $15 at about 3 or 4 inches. There have only been two shipments in, but from what customers say, they hide a lot during the day and look for food at night, like what you said. My tank is fairly well planted; here's a link: http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/centromochlus_perugiae/detail?.dir=/79bb&.dnm=11e8.jpg

And as far as the "krib" goes, I was referring to _Pelvicachromis pulcher_, a small cichlid from East Africa. They're fairly peaceful, but they have issues with certain animals, like smaller shrimp. Here's another link if you'd like some pictures... http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/Pelvicachromis/pulcher.html


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## Pigheaddd (Feb 27, 2004)

C_perugiae said:


> The vampire shrimp sell for $15 at about 3 or 4 inches. There have only been two shipments in, but from what customers say, they hide a lot during the day and look for food at night, like what you said. My tank is fairly well planted; here's a link: http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/centromochlus_perugiae/detail?.dir=/79bb&.dnm=11e8.jpg
> 
> And as far as the "krib" goes, I was referring to _Pelvicachromis pulcher_, a small cichlid from East Africa. They're fairly peaceful, but they have issues with certain animals, like smaller shrimp. Here's another link if you'd like some pictures... http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/Pelvicachromis/pulcher.html


hi,

are they dwarf cichlid? will they dig gravel? you tank should be ok since VS is 3~4 inches. its about $10 here. :roll:

good luck,

Tim


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

the vampire shrimp we have at the store I work at were dwindling in their holding tank so a coworker dumped them in the 220gal plant tank. I only ever see one of them, and he hides about 6" from the surface in a pile of java fern with his filter appendages outstretched into the filter outflow. Other than this one individual, i never see them.

the discus (wild green), and rainbows (adult turquoise) in the tank leave the suckers alone


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## C_perugiae (Feb 26, 2004)

Hey, I saw this thread and thought I'd add a little...

I got a wood shrimp from the store (very similar to VS) and he lives in a smaller planted tank in my kitchen. He absolutely loves crushed spirulina flakes, Artemia napulii, and frozen daphnia. The wood shrimp doesn't seem incredibly shy and usually sits under the filter flow with his appendages spread or cruises around on the bottom of the tank, sweeping the substrate. If I put an algae wafer in there, he'll "sweep" that until the snails find it. 

We have a few vampire shrimp in one of the planted displays at work and they spend a lot of time sitting in prominent areas in the flow of the filter. They blend in really easily, so it's very hard to pick them out... I only see two at a time, even though there are four in there.


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