He didn't look like he had been eaten, just torn in half. I keep hearing a tapping sound in the tank also. I suspect I might have a mantis shrimp, but I also have a coral beauty angel fish and have heard that they will nip at inverts. Is it possible that my angel could have niped my shrimp in half?
2007-10-28 12:43:50 · 2 answers · asked by Shubunkin 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
Either one would be a possibility - especially if the shrimp had just molted or was preparing to molt and having difficulty. Another possibility would be a pistol shrimp - these sound like someone snapping their fingers underwater. I got one by "accident" when it hitchhiked into my tank on some macroalgae attached to a stone base. It would snap whenever I changed the water or when I snapped my fingers in the room.
You might try making a cheap plastic trap like this: http://www.floridadriftwood.com/fish_trap.htm and baiting it with some frozen food. Since you suspect a shrimp, put a rock near the mouth so the shrimp can get up to the bottle opening from outside and be sure to check it in the morning.
2007-10-28 12:57:14 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would pin it on the Angel Fish. Maybe he caught the shrimp right in the mid section? When inverts molt their skin, they are especially fragile and easy for another fish to attack.
My Betta got along with two ghost shrimp for almost a month. I left for a 3 day vacation and when I returned, the Ghost Shrimp were M.I.A. I completely cleaned out the tank a few weeks later (to change out the undergravel filter for a different filter) and never found a trace of either shrimp.
2007-10-28 12:52:10 · answer #2 · answered by amac997 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋