Petshrimp.com -- All about shrimp

Common Name:	Asian Filter Shrimp, Bamboo Shrimp, Wood Shrimp, Fan Shrimp
Scientific Name:	Atyopsis moluccensis
Size:	8-12cm
Temperature:	tropical species, best kept at 73°F-84°F
Water Parameters:	can live under a wide range of ph and hardness conditions from acidic to alkaline, but prefers to live in soft, acidic water.
Food:	Filters floating food items from the water, so should be provided with a current in the aquarium. Can pick up food from the ground if there is nothing to filter, although that situation should avoided.
Origin:	Southeast Asia
Larval Development Type:	Normal: larvae go through several planktonic stages before metamorphosing into post-larvae (miniature shrimp) and assuming a benthic lifestyle. For this process they need brackish water to full strength saltwater.

The Asian Filter Shrimp is commonly sold as the "Bamboo Shrimp" or "Wood Shrimp" in pet stores. These shrimp are interesting in that they filter tiny food particles, such as microscopic microorganisms and detritus, out of the water as their main food. For that particular purpsoe they have specialized chelae, which have turned into sticky, fan-like filter appendages. Unfortunately at this point, all of the animals sold are wild animals. It is somewhat diffcult to breed this shrimp as its larvae need saltwater to mature into postlarvae. Getting them to produce eggs does not seem to be a problem when given the right conditions, however rearing the larvae requires quite a bit of effort. At the time of this writing there are no reports of successful breeding of this shrimp. I hope that this will change in the future as more people give it a try.

The asian filter shrimp's usual coloration when in stores is brownish. However, when they are fed enough food and are feeling comfortable they turn a nice, dark red and develop a white line down their back. They are a long lived species and live at least 5 years when kept correctly. This shrimp should be kept in community tanks with small, peaceful fish and/or shrimp and sufficient current. This is preferable to a species tank as its tank mates produce 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. Targeted feeding might actually deteriorate water parameters and harm the tank inhabitants, as it's very hard to gauge how much this shrimp actually needs to be fed.

These shrimp should never be housed with fish that could hurt it, such as most cichlids, even if the fish is smaller than the shrimp or the same size. The Asian Filter Shrimp itself is totally harmless and is not even capable of hurting the smallest fry or other, smaller shrimp. Thus, it can be housed with all dwarf shrimp, regardless of size.

A common question about these shrimp is how to distinguish males and females. The answer is simple. With fully grown animals the males have a much larger first pair of walking legs (see pictures for comparison). Additionally, the females are plumper and their carapace extends further down at the pleopods to accommodate eggs.