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SnailsAtyopsis pilipes | Green lace filter shrimp care & info
If you've been following the Shrimp Farm blog for a while, you'll know we love unusual freshwater shrimp. Today's subject definitely qualifies! Its strange but more popular cousin Atyopsis moluccensis (the bamboo shrimp) is already pretty odd, but Atyopsis pilipes (the green lace filter shrimp) comes with the added twist of still being relatively rare in the aquarium hobby.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about Atyopsis pilipes and how to keep this filter shrimp happy and healthy in the home aquarium!
| Scientific name | Atyopsis pilipes |
| Common name | Green lace filter shrimp |
| Difficulty level | Intermediate |
| Origin | Indo-Pacific |
Table of Contents
Green lace filter shrimp appearance
Atyopsis pilipes grows to a maximum size of around 3.1" and has all the bits and bobs of a normal freshwater shrimp, but one thing sets it apart. This is a filter shrimp, meaning its front legs have evolved to develop small fans that are used to catch particles from the water column.
This is one of those shrimp species that can vary pretty strongly in color. Some look almost like the popular Amano shrimp: translucent with a series of dots and dashes. Others are more tan in color, sometimes with a fine, sandy dotted pattern. We've also seen specimens that feature a higher level of opaque coloration and have a greenish tinge to them.
Setting up a Green lace filter shrimp aquarium
Requirements
Its filter feeding habit makes Atyopsis pilipes a fascinating choice, but it's important to keep in mind that it also makes the species a little more demanding in terms of its environment. They naturally occur in streams with a good bit of flow, and whitewater streams in particular are mentioned when referring to their natural habitat. That's not surprising, because whitewater here doesn't refer to the type of river you go rafting in, but rather a type of stream that's rich in suspended particles.
Green lace filter shrimp happen to love suspended particles. They lack the small pincers that many other shrimp have, making it hard for them to pick food off the substrate. Although they are a little better at picking bits off the floor, the food should ideally be blown across the aquarium for them to catch. The only way to achieve this is with a good flow level.
You can keep a colony of Atyopsis pilipes in an aquarium of 10 gallons or up, provided it has a strong filter (or even a small powerhead) and isn't kept too clean. Plenty of hides are appreciated during molting time, while high perches (like wood or rock) close to the filter outlet are appreciated for fanning activities.
Water parameters
As with all shrimp species and indeed all livestock, the aquarium should always be fully cycled before you introduce green lace filter shrimp.
The ammonia and nitrite levels must be at 0 to prevent toxicity, while nitrates can be kept low (preferably <10) by means of regular water changes. The latter is especially important here, since you'll regularly be blowing food all over the tank, which can affect water quality if you don't stay on top of it.
pH: 6.5-7.5
Temperature: 70-80 °F
Hardness: 6-10
Total Dissolved Solids: 150-300
Tankmates
Like most other aquarium shrimp, Atyopsis pilipes won't hurt a fly. This species is 100% peaceful! Because it's a little bigger than dwarf shrimp and therefore doesn't fall into 'snack' territory for most small fish species, it works well in peaceful community tanks.
You can also combine your green lace filter shrimp with pretty much any other shrimp. For some variety, for example, you can absolutely keep Amano shrimp, bamboo shrimp (better known as the green lace's big cousin, Atyopsis moluccensis), red cherry shrimp, crystal red shrimp and even some snails like Nerites together if your tank is large enough! None of these species interbreed, they all do well in roughly the same water composition and they're all perfectly peaceful.
Green lace filter shrimp diet
As discussed in the section on housing, Atyopsis pilipes is a filter feeder and you should keep this in mind during feeding time. Although aquarists report that these guys are slightly better at taking food from the substrate than other filter shrimp, including their bamboo shrimp cousins and vampire shrimp, it still may damage their delicate fans. Additionally, it's just really cool to see them filtering in the flow.
To cater to your green lace filter shrimps' natural feeding habits, don't keep the aquarium overly clean. A little debris in the corners makes for prime foraging grounds, especially if you're nice enough to stir it into the water column for them on a regular basis! You can also supplement with powdered baby shrimp food, crushed fish flakes, spirulina powder and pretty much any other foods that are fine enough to stick to the shrimps' filter hands.
Our favorite way to organize a filter shrimp feast is to turn off the filter and place a small powerhead in the aquarium. Introduce some powdered food and let it blow all around for half an hour or so. The shrimp will scramble to a good position and sit in the flow with their fans spread wide open to catch the particles.
Breeding green lace filter shrimp
Unfortunately this is a lower-order shrimp. That means its offspring isn't born as a tiny copy of the adult, but has to pass through a larval stage instead. That isn't so bad in itself - you can breed ghost shrimp just fine with a little effort, for example. The problem is that literature suggests that unlike with ghost shrimp, Atyopsis pilipes larvae need brackish water, which makes things significantly more complicated.
If your green lace filter shrimp female is berried (carrying eggs) and you want to try to raise the fry, we suggest following the instructions in the Amano shrimp breeding guide. The fry may need similar conditions, although you can vary the salinity and transferring moments to see if anything works. If it does, do be sure to leave us a comment, as we haven't been able to find Atyopsis pilipes breeding reports so far!
Buying green lace filter shrimp
Atyopsis pilipes isn't as common in aquariums stores as other filter shrimp species, so you may have trouble finding them. Try asking your local shop if they can order some in for you, or turn to the internet to have them delivered from an online store.
Chace Jr, F. A. (1983). The Atya-like shrimps of the Indo-Pacific Region (Decapoda: Atyidae).