Talk:Bamboo shrimp

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The Atyopsis moluccensis (a.k.a "Wood Shrimp" or "Flower Shrimp" or "Bamboo Shrimp") is available at many U.S. retail stores, like Petco, even small mom and pop stores. Till last week I had a pair, now only one remains. There are several things one should know about this animal -- the first and foremost disclaimer is that, at the time of this note, that I am aware of; no one has successfully bred this animals in any home aquarium setup -- ergo; they should not be sold in pet stores. The care of these animals, and I have had many aquatic animals, is to put it mildly; difficult. The habitat required in order for these animals to do well, not for the novice -- nor to be even considered unless one is willing to shell out alot of time, and money. Even when things look like it is going well, these animals can slowly starve. I won't get into the lighting, heating, and other factors I have to juggle, with variance... but on the feeding -- real feeding -- unlike this Wikipedia "article" claim... here is a quote from Petshrimp.com <http://www.petshrimp.com/bambooshrimp.html>

" [..] the detritus necessary for the microorganisms in the filter to thrive and reproduce. The microorganisms, in turn, are carried by the current to the filter shrimp and filtered out of the water as food. This way, the filter shrimp does not need to be specifically fed."

In other words, a carbon filter -- which I can attest to -- will in fact starve these animals. Instead, a filteration system must incorporate biofiltration (I am currently using the ceramic Fluval) in order to grow buggers that shoot out of the outlet, and caught by awaiting shrimp.

http://groups.google.com/group/aquaculture4dummies?hl=en (My log of caring for this animal, thus far. Anyone that knows something about these animals, or would just like to weight in, feel free)