Help please! Wood shrimp attacking newly molted Giant African Fan Shrimp

[ClaireSabo]

Hello I am new to this forum and tropical freshwater fish keeping and would really appreciate some advice if possible!

Our giant African fan shrimp has just molted for the first time (have had him for three months). I thought he would hide until his shell had hardened again but instead he is being chased around the tank by two Wood shrimp who keep attaching themselves to his body. He keeps trying to get away / get higher up or out of the tank than he ever usually does and have no idea what to do. I’ve put him in a plastic tray floating in the top of the tank for now in same tank water but would love some advice if anyone knows what’s happening/what I can do?!

Thank you in advance

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Try feeding the shrimp. If they are hungry they will eat food rather than trying to eat something that is alive and they have to chase after.

Be careful handling shrimp that have just shed their exoskeleton because you can damage them. Never lift them out of water if they have shed. If you keep it isolated for 24 hours, that will give it time for the shell to harden and it should be fine going back in with the others.

There is a possibility the shrimp that shed was a female and the other 2 are males. Most shrimp breed straight after the female sheds her skin. The other 2 shrimp might have been trying to breed with her and weren't trying to eat her. However, just keep them separate for 24 hours and then put the back together. Monitor them and if they harass it again, then isolate those 2 for a few days.

 

[ClaireSabo]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Try feeding the shrimp. If they are hungry they will eat food rather than trying to eat something that is alive and they have to chase after.

Be careful handling shrimp that have just shed their exoskeleton because you can damage them. Never lift them out of water if they have shed. If you keep it isolated for 24 hours, that will give it time for the shell to harden and it should be fine going back in with the others.

There is a possibility the shrimp that shed was a female and the other 2 are males. Most shrimp breed straight after the female sheds her skin. The other 2 shrimp might have been trying to breed with her and weren't trying to eat her. However, just keep them separate for 24 hours and then put the back together. Monitor them and if they harass it again, then isolate those 2 for a few days.

Hi Colin,

Thank you so much for your advice, I isolated the newly moulted African fan shrimp in a dish floating in the top of the tank for 24 hrs and once he was back in the tank they left him alone. My other African fan shrimp moulted last week and the bamboo shrimp did exactly the same thing. I repeated isolating him for 24hrs and all fine again! I’ll have to keep an eye on them again next time they moult as they were squeezing into small spaces / thrashing around to escape the other shrimp so was worried they’d injure themselves.
Thanks again!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Mating behavior.