Shrimp-filter in the aquarium: description, content, photo

Bamboo shrimp-filtrators live in the Indo-Pacific region and in Malaysia. They live in calm and inactive rivers, where they catch small pieces of food. Usually they live in quite a few groups. Calm and peace-loving character of the shrimp allows it to settle in a home aquarium next to other small neighbors.

Habitat conditions

Shrimp-filter (banana) in the aquarium will be pleased with the stones, driftwood and pump, which will give a favorite current to the creatures. Asian individuals are very fond of the rapid flow of water. With their transparent and fluffy fans they filter algae, feed, microorganisms.

The color of the shrimp cover (photos are given in the article) can vary quite strongly from red, brown to sandy, green, yellow, sometimes with the appearance of a white strip on the back. Coloration depends on habitat, moulting, on nutrition and the environment. The shrimps are well developed mimicry, they like chameleons, they can change their color.

Know in advance or foresee how they will behave in a new aquarium is impossible. There is evidence that in the hard water the fan shrimp has a brighter color, but this data is not confirmed.

The anterior pair of limbs of these creatures turned into a sort of fan, with their help filtered food from the water. If the food in the water is not enough, the shrimp will begin to feed on waste or dead pieces of plants.

Shrimp habits

Shrimp-filterers in the aquarium swim fairly well, both forward and backward. Usually they move forward with their heads, but sometimes in extreme conditions they start to back off sharply. They can not be called benthic creatures. They calmly master the entire space of the aquarium, occupy places near the surface of the water, on snags. But they prefer places with a strong current. As soon as the flow of water is weakened, the shrimp (the photo is shown below) are sent instantly to find a new turbulent spring. Sometimes they manage the most unusual tricks, in the performance of which they are able to escape from the aquarium. Therefore, it is advisable to close the container with shrimps.

Features of the structure of the body

The shrimp-filter in the literature very often has one more name - a fan. This is due to the fact that the front pair of her limbs has been transformed into something similar to a fan or panicle, with their help this creature eats. In cancers, for example, the forelimbs are modified into claws, and the fourth and fifth thoracic segment are covered in the banana shrimp. Each fan consists of hemispheres formed by dense rows of setae. It should be noted that this is not the simplest structure of the claw, but so convenient that the food itself simply floats in his hands. The only thing that is required from the shrimp is to choose a place more comfortable - so that there is a good flow.

In the water there are a lot of suspended particles that settle somewhere with time. However, how to assemble such food? The pincers are very uncomfortable in this case. But the limbs that are modified into the fans are very good. It should be noted that the shrimp-filter is able to equip them with great skill and incredible speed.

If streams of water carry enough food, then small creatures do not need to strain at all. The food itself falls into traps. That is why shrimps in an aquarium and in water bodies are located against the current and open their limbs. The fans gradually fill themselves with food. Periodically, they slam shut, this indicates that the food falls into the mouth of the shrimp. And this mechanism is so clearly worked out that as long as the food from one fan enters the mouth, the other at the same time is open and continues to catch. The principle of priority works, so as not to waste time.

Shrimp-filter is a clumsy creature. The fans are very convenient for food, but they create considerable resistance when moving. Therefore, to constantly resist the flow of water, you need to have enough for this body weight. In addition, another pair of limbs in them turned into a powerful "clinging". With their help, shrimps are kept on algae, driftwood, and at the same time they are not carried away by strong streams of water.

As a result, they have only two pairs of paws for walking. This is completely inconvenient for those body sizes that are available in shrimp. That's why they are so clumsy. However, this does not bother the creatures themselves, they have perfectly adapted to life.

Homeland of shrimp

Currently, pet stores often sell shrimp for fans of aquariums. Indeed, they are great for home content. Having a quiet and calm disposition, they perfectly get along with both small fish and large representatives of the aquarium world. However, what is the species belonging to these creatures, it is difficult to say, and from which countries they are on sale, is also unknown.

The fact is that in a vast area from New Zealand to the Philippines, as well as in the southeast of Asia, many similar species live. What kind of shrimp are sold in our stores is difficult to determine. Therefore it is conditionally considered that they all belong to the Atiopsis. Often they are also called banana shrimp.

Appearance of Attica

Atiopsy can reach nine centimeters in length. The males are more developed hodilnye limbs, but they use them rather as hooks to rest on plants, rather than for walking. In addition, with their help, they loosen the soil in search of food.

The color of shrimps belonging to different populations may be very different. Color depends not only on the diet, but also on the mood of the creature. After molting, the atypsis becomes much brighter. And the color of the shrimp in the aquarium still depends on the soil and decorations. Typically, they have a light brown hue, but there are also reddish individuals.

Nigerian shrimps

Shrimp, living in Africa and South and Central America, are called filterers. Aquarists with irony call them Nigerian. They are almost the same as the atypsis. The only thing that distinguishes them is that they are slightly larger. Males can reach twelve centimeters. Their color is slightly pale, but among them there are pink and blue individuals. Nigerian shrimp-filter is considered less whimsical than atyopsis. In fact, when you buy in pet stores it is difficult to distinguish them, they still belong to the same species.

Shrimp-filterers, whose content in the home is not particularly difficult, can be safely settled even with the largest representatives of the aquarium world. There is hardly a fish that wants to offend them.

Reproduction of shrimps

As for the propagation of shrimp filterers at home, there is no information on successful attempts. The fact is that females carry several hundred eggs for about twenty-two days. Then from them appear floating larvae, which either perish at molting, or are successfully eaten by parents, if they are not put in time in another container in time. However, there is an opinion that they are able to develop successfully only in brackish or sea water, apparently, they need some specific food. Therefore, we can conclude that all shrimp in the sale - this is a real "savages", which are caught and brought to us for aquarists.

Shrimp feeding

In the conditions of the shrimp aquarium, it is necessary to feed them, since the water here is not enriched with plankton. It is best to do this by spraying the mixture or dry food on the flow. Still it is possible to use for complementary feeding a small frozen bloodworm.

In general, it's good for shrimp, when there is some kind of suspension in the water, in an ideally clean aquarium it will certainly starve. As observations show, even with a two-time feeding under such conditions, these creatures do not live long. Apparently, they do not have enough food. But in slightly cloudy water, they feel much better. Here there is a dilemma: whether to choose pure water for fish, or with impurities - for shrimp.

In general, for these creatures it is extremely important to constantly catch in the water at least something. Even simple filtered clay particles will contribute to the development of the shrimp cover. Sometimes aquarists advise adding chalk to water, because there is always a lack of calcium salts. Otherwise, shrimps do not require special care. The temperature regime for them should be at least 24 degrees. Increasing it in the summer to thirty degrees of shrimp is completely calm.

Molting of filter feeders

Shrimp often change their color. After moulting, they sometimes turn red, and then lighten fairly quickly and then change their mood from light yellow to red and brown. What are the reasons for such changes, it is not known.

Molting in adults is irregular. Sometimes this happens once a month, and sometimes less frequently, so that even on the chitinous cover algae begin to appear. It is interesting that before molting the shrimp ceases to eat, it sits with folded fans or leaves in a secluded place. Immediately after changing the armor, the creature becomes very vulnerable. It is during this period, in the presence of males, the females try to fertilize the eggs and postpone them.

Here are such unusual creatures of shrimp-filterers. Before you start such a creature in your aquarium, think about the fact that it is rather calm, and therefore not very noticeable. So it is unlikely to be an adornment of your collection.