Who's Says Shrimps Don't Attack?

[jancarius]

Hi,
 
I've had like 4 Amano shrimp in my take for like 7 months now. 
In the last few month ive been going to sleep on a night seeing all my fish fine and dandy swimming around. Next morning i would find like one or two dead fish. 
Did all the usual stuff thinking i had an infection. Slowly all my fancy guppies died but i'd notice marks on them thinking like they have been attacked. 
I ruled out my Siamese algae eaters as they was only put in the tank recently.
any ways last night i came home late as i was celebrating Eid.... i looked at my tank with the closely because i could hear splashing ad the light was off and what i saw was a guppy being chased by all four amano shrimps. they literally cornered the poor thing and started biting at it. 
So right away i separated the fish in to my spare tank so the guppy could recover,... today i wake up to find the shrimp had attacked another guppy and was eating away.
 

 
 
 

 
Ive googled all over the net and all i get is shrimps dont do, these ones clearly do.
the diet i have them on changes from shirmp cusine to pure astax, cucumbers, flake food, live/dead blood worms and algae wafers. So there should be no shortage of food in the tank.
Anyone else had this problem? if so is there any solution as i love the shrimps to bits but dont want to get rid of them. 
 
Thanks!
 
Kam

 

[Valiant]

I've read that they sometimes attack weak fish. Also some people say its because the tanks too small but i'm not sure. Maybe you should seperate them and see if there are any other deaths.

 

[the_lock_man]

I'd like a closer look at the claws at the front. In your top picture, it looks significantly longer than the other limbs. If I'm right, then it isn't an amano shrimp, it's a macrobrachium shrimp, which definitely will attack fish. They grow to about a foot long, and are vicious little wossnames. If it is a macro, get it out of the tank as quick as you can.

 

[SamB]

Yeah definitely looks like a macro to me - how large are they now? They are often sold mixed with ghost shrimp and amano shrimp as all three look similar in their youth. 

 

[fm1978]

I'd like to see more pics of those shrimp, if possible! Are you certain they're Amanos?
 
Defo agree with TLM, but I'd like a much closer look. The shrimp in the 1st pic has a body as thick as the guppy is and has a very dark colouration for an Amano, although they do come in different flavours...
 
Can we get more images???

 

[Chad]

I can't say I know what shrimp it is but my very first thought when I saw the pic was that it's not an amano. But, like fm1978 says, I can't really tell without some better photos.
 

 

[jancarius]

yeh here you go:
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
As requested!.
 
 
Still look like Amanos to me but you guys/girls are experts so let me know what you think. from what i can see they dont have the big claws.
 
Thanks for replying all

 

[the_lock_man]

Well, I got to say that they all look like Amanos. Is that definitely all 4 individuals in that 2nd group of photos?
 
I woiuld be amazed if an Amano attacked a healthy fish. Eating a dead one, yeah, for sure an Amano would do that, but not a healthy one.

 

[Chad]

Unless you actually saw the shrimp attack the live fish I would say they were simply eating the remains of an already passed fish. They do look like amano to me.

 

[jancarius]

Cant say if its the same four but yeh thats them. and yup i saw them attacking the guppy. actually come thing of it the SAE jhas got injuries on the side as one of the shrimp attacked while eating an algae wafer, the shrimp have only been doing this once they have grown a bit

 

[the_lock_man]

My gut instinct is that you haven't got all 4 shrimp in that second lot of photos, and that you have a rogue macrobrachium in there.

 

[Elrohirthehasty]

(This has to be one of the cooler threads I've watched in a while.  Following now...)

 

[jancarius]

Ok cool i'll try go and take pics of all four also glad your enjoying the shrimp uprising thread

 

[jancarius]

Right i'm back. i cant take pics of the shrimp as they are hiding between things at back of the tank. i can most definitely say they look exactly the same. they got the same distinct line down the back. the claws are same length also the style freckles on the sides. and the build and size are same. 

 

[Paradise3]

Here's a random question since I've owned amano's and they never attacked anything(had them with female betta's - Long flowy fins) - Have you tested your water with a liquid test kit? The fish could be weak and that's when the shrimp are chasing them and attacking them? 
My amano's looked lighter than that too..

 
Sorry for the bad pictures, taken on my phone a couple of years a go. Do they all look like this in person? Those photo's are perfect visions of what my amano's look like. Your's look like amano's but the behaviour doesn't add up...