What unusual shrimp/crab?

[Bill19]

Hi, I might be making an order from reef critters soon mainly for a randals pistol shrimp, but apparently i can have 5 more things and the postage will be the same so. I know i want a pom pom crab as well. thats two.

4 left..... i was thinking maybe a group of 4 sexy shrimp. But i would quite like something a bit more unusual, not something you see in the LFS very often.

one thing what i was thinking about are bumble bee shrimp, as i know they can be fed with other things rather then echinoderms. But would need clarification before i bought one, or two.(not sure what numbers they like?)
So what unusual shrimp or crab would you recomend? the tank is 75 litre with 2 occelaris clownfish, 3 scarlet hermits, and a soon to be yashia goby, and a pistol shrimp when i order it, and pom pom crab when i order it, and possibly in the future a clown goby, but i will see how stocking will go.
The tank isn't going to have corals, and just has macro algae, so a shrimp which isn't coral friendly is fine.
Any recommendations?
thanks
Bill

[Bill19]

oh and i will have a fan worm or/and coco worm

[TerraC]

not really that unusual but a porcelain anemone crab would be good. Mine lives in a ricordea and gets attention from anyone who sees the tank. He's a great tankmate and a really bright white.

Also try some of the lovely coloured commensal shrimp. Macca's had quite a few of these in the past and some of them are really lovely coloured.

[Macca]

I am sending out some long arm shrimps tonight, will try and get a pic for you, I also get in pacific cleaner shrimp although you have to be quick as gary smith nabs them all :D These are the wee guys you see cleaning the moray eels teeth :eek:

Going back to your bumble bee question, yes they eat fish food as well despite being part of the harlequin family and I can supply in mated pairs ;) only thing is they are minute. :o

I can get most inverts if you pre-order so just let me know :bigthumbup:

[Macca]

oh and if you like your molluscs too I personally love money cowries! I plan to have a few dozen in my tank. :bigthumbup:

[Bill19]

thanks guys. Long arm shrimp sounds interesting.
i guess if i got bumble bee shrimp i would maybe stick mesh around my filter intake and power head, or maybe just wrap some filter wool around it.
Yeh i saw some of the comensal shrimp in that wierd shrimp thread, they look stunning, I really like Periclimenes imperator, but do they need a host? or will they jsut sit on rock or even an ordinary turbo? and they will just eat chopped frozen foods like the rest?

[Bill19]

been doing some reading and aparantly comensal shrimp sulk if they dont have a host, so i may leave them out. unless you guys know different from that? i bet there pretty pricy any way lol

[Bill19]

long arms are quite cool, but would really like something a bit more colourful lol

Just got thinking would a clownfish pose a risk to any of these? i guess not ig there to big, they would have to at leat 1.5cm at a guess to be not to be thought as food

[Bill19]

is this the cleaner you were talking about?
http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/categories/product/p-38744-Yellowline-Shrimp.jpg
Urocaridella sp.?
they look pretty cool, kinda like the comensal shrimp in looks but there cleaners. how much would they be Macca?
And how much are the bumble beas?

[Bill19]

In further research Periclimenes shrimp, well the oens which host anemones and things are fine with out there hosts...... too many shrimp! lol

[Bill19]

arrrg every things so confusing, lol there aint enough info on the web on these shrimp! lol one source says if they dont have host they sulk, an other two say they are fine.... help lol
I am liking the look of venstetus, how much are these shrimps:
the above posts Urocaridella cleaner shrimp?
bumble bees pair?
Periclimenes venustus possibly two
and those long arm shrimps]and how much are pom poms?
thanks for all the help Macca

[Bill19]

Sorry if i have boggled you with questions lol

[Macca]

Host shrimps can adopt to other surroundings, Bumble bee shrimps dont have to be on the back of a cucumber but can quite happily rome around your rockwork or tank looking for food.

Venustus will be around the £5 to £10 mark probably bang in the middle. I have urocaridella.sp of cleaner in now at £7.50 as well as P.tenuipes at the same price. And Pom Pom will be at the dearest £7.50 too. I like the figure £7.50 :D

[Bill19]

oooh not as expensive as i thought :D i am glad you like the figure £7.50 lol
thanks for the help, and as soon as i have the money* i will most likley be sending a check your way! lol

*may take a while, lol!

[Bill19]

oh and how much is abumble bee shrimp pair? :p

[sinaarrgghh]

Forget all of that, ask for a decorator crab. Most utterly, astonishingly wierd beast on the planet. Love mine to bits. Not that I see him that often, even if I am looking straight at him at the time! :)

[dan-dare]

don't decorators pinch zoas and little frags for their shells?
Also, what happens when they moult?

[Bill19]

My LFS often has decoraters, in but its quite a chunky, guy, and i personally wouldn't be comfortable have such a sizable beast in my lil tank :)

[sinaarrgghh]

don't decorators pinch zoas and little frags for their shells?
Also, what happens when they moult?

They do grab the odd bit but not so much as to cause a problem. No idea about the moulting, have yet to see any evidence of it having happened though I'm sure it has. Maybe it just sticks the bits back on. :D


My LFS often has decoraters, in but its quite a chunky, guy, and i personally wouldn't be comfortable have such a sizable beast in my lil tank :)

I'll give you that he is quite a size, scares the hell out of you when he moves and you'd not noticed him. I don't think he's very fast though, seems happy to scavenge and does'nt seem to have killed anything of mine.