Bamboo Shrimp

Atyopsis moluccensis

Also known as: Wood shrimp, Fan shrimp, Singapore flower shrimp

Water Parameters

• Temperature: 23–28°C
• pH: 6.5–7.5
• Hardness (GH): 125–268 ppm (7–15 dGH)

Values above are general hardness (GH). For carbonate hardness (KH), the buffer that keeps pH stable, see the water parameters guide.

Care Summary

The hobby's classic filter-feeding shrimp, and a fascinating change from the grazing dwarf shrimp most keepers know. The bamboo shrimp perches on hardscape in the current and unfurls four feathery fans to comb microscopic food from the passing water, closing and licking them clean in a constant, mesmerising rhythm. Its needs follow directly from that habit: a mature tank with genuine flow and enough suspended food (fine detritus, biofilm, and the occasional dose of powdered or liquid invertebrate food aimed into the current). Lacking those, it starves slowly in an otherwise pristine tank, which is the single most common way it is lost. It moults to grow, shifting colour from pale to a warm red-brown, and is entirely peaceful. A rewarding, low-maintenance centrepiece invertebrate for an established, well-circulated aquarium. As with all shrimp it needs minerals to moult cleanly, so keep stable water with a moderate carbonate hardness (KH) and GH rather than very soft, low-KH conditions.

Tankmates

A large, peaceful filter-feeding shrimp that catches food from the water column with fan-like front limbs, rather than grazing the substrate like cherry or amano shrimp. Too big for most community fish to bother, but it should still be kept away from anything large enough to eat it (cichlids, large loaches, goldfish) and, like all shrimp, it is killed by copper-based medications and some plant fertilisers. It needs a mature tank with steady water flow to carry suspended food past its fans; in a too-clean or low-flow tank it slowly starves, sometimes resorting to scraping the substrate by hand, a clear sign it is not getting enough. Coexists peacefully with dwarf shrimp and snails. A perch near a filter outflow is ideal.

Compatible with

• Harlequin Rasbora
• Neon Tetra
• Bronze Corydoras
• Otocinclus
• Ember Tetra
• Cherry Shrimp
• Nerite Snail
• Vampire Shrimp

Avoid keeping with

• Betta
• Large Cichlids
• Loaches
• Oscar
• Electric Yellow Cichlid

Common Problems

• slow starvation in low-flow or over-clean tanks
• copper poisoning from medications or fertilisers
• moulting failure from inadequate calcium or diet
• being preyed on by large or aggressive fish

Sources: seriouslyfish.com, fishbase.org · Last updated: 2026-06-20