Amano Shrimps Has Disappeared!

[twodoctors]

Got 6 amano shrimps yesterday for my small tank, living with 10 small barbs, 4 honey gouramis and 6 corys (see my signature). They seemed to have disappeared into thin air. I guess they are hiding amongst the plants in the background as I see no way (or evidence) of escape.

Any way to coax them out from hiding?

Adrian

 

[nmonks]

Do check they haven't jumped out. Shrimps aren't suitable for tanks with open tops or even small gaps for things like hang-on-the-back filters. If they can jump out, they will.

Cheers, Neale

 

[MBOU]

I can see loooaaaads of hidey places in your picture to the right!?

Give them time! They will come out, bet they are just shuffling about in the plants, to be honest, thats about all they do! They sit in the plants and occasionally venture out. Keep an eye on your barbs though, some barbs show far too much interest in shrimps (seems to be odd individuals rather than a particular species) but they might scare the shrimps!

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks.

They did venture out last night, seeing two or three of them exploring the tank etc. Not seen them since this morning. There is no way of escaping as far as I can see, but then I'm not a shrimp! It's a closed top tank with no obvious gaps.

I shall wait for them to make their appearance then. I'm sure it is better to get more but how many more would you recommend? I can mix them with cherry shrimp right? Is bamboo shrimp less shy then amano? Thought about getting red crab but decided that it's probably not worth the risk/hassle.

Adrian

 

[nmonks]

Yes, you can mix different shrimp species though I'm sure there's a small risk of predation by bigger shrimps on smaller shrimps when the smaller shrimps are moulting. The usual reason people don't mix shrimps is that many of the Neocaridina species can hybridise and produce viable offspring under aquarium conditions. This won't be a problem here because Amano shrimps don't breed successfully in aquaria. Cherry shrimps are an excellent choice: they're colourful, very adaptable, and breed readily under aquarium conditions. the more the better when keeping these: at least six of each if you want them to feel settled. They won't go out in the open much if kept with bigger fish.

Red crabs need brackish water and spend more time on land than in the water, so they're a non-starter here.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks.

They did venture out last night, seeing two or three of them exploring the tank etc. Not seen them since this morning. There is no way of escaping as far as I can see, but then I'm not a shrimp! It's a closed top tank with no obvious gaps.

I shall wait for them to make their appearance then. I'm sure it is better to get more but how many more would you recommend? I can mix them with cherry shrimp right? Is bamboo shrimp less shy then amano? Thought about getting red crab but decided that it's probably not worth the risk/hassle.

Adrian

 

[Caprichoso]

Got 6 amano shrimps yesterday for my small tank, living with 10 small barbs, 4 honey gouramis and 6 corys (see my signature). They seemed to have disappeared into thin air. I guess they are hiding amongst the plants in the background as I see no way (or evidence) of escape.

Any way to coax them out from hiding?

Adrian

Amano shrimp will get used to when you feed your catfish and will come out and eat the food too. You can get cherry shrimp and bamboo fan shrimp. One word of caution though: your barbs may try to pick at cherry shrimp and will keep them in hiding. Amano get big enough to feel okay with larger fish(pearls, betta, etc). The bamboo shrimp like a lot of current as they grab their food that way. All the shrimps will get along with each other. Cherry shrimplets probably won't thrive and many will be picked off by your fish in the shrimplet stage. I would recommend getting cherry and bamboo, they are lovely shrimps!

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks.

One made an appearance yesterday. Caught a glimpse of two today. They don't venture out, but neither do I see the barbs (or the gouramis) picking on them. Only the odessa barbs nip, and only at each other (odessa, not golden). Looks more like male dominance thing.

I guess if I buy more shrimp then my chance of seeing one of them out of the background increases, rather than a confidence issue as they don't shoal. Am I correct? Bamboo shrimp are rather expensive (£11 each over here), so don't really want to buy something that I won't see. Cherry shrimp stays smaller than amano don't they? Someone on here sells cherry shrimp but now I'm not sure it would be a good idea to buy some as they might get eaten... my barbs are about 1.5" at the moment. I think I may have to move the barbs when they get bigger as it may be too big for my 2ft tank. I might put some rasbora instead. Good idea?

Adrian

 

[Caprichoso]

Thanks.

One made an appearance yesterday. Caught a glimpse of two today. They don't venture out, but neither do I see the barbs (or the gouramis) picking on them. Only the odessa barbs nip, and only at each other (odessa, not golden). Looks more like male dominance thing.

I guess if I buy more shrimp then my chance of seeing one of them out of the background increases, rather than a confidence issue as they don't shoal. Am I correct? Bamboo shrimp are rather expensive (£11 each over here), so don't really want to buy something that I won't see. Cherry shrimp stays smaller than amano don't they? Someone on here sells cherry shrimp but now I'm not sure it would be a good idea to buy some as they might get eaten... my barbs are about 1.5" at the moment. I think I may have to move the barbs when they get bigger as it may be too big for my 2ft tank. I might put some rasbora instead. Good idea?

Adrian

Correct, shrimp don't shoal but they will sit together in the same areas because they are competing for food.. If you're worried about the cherry shrimp, don't get them, stick with Amano as they are very active. Just get a few more, then you'll see more. Also, don't worry about overstocking with shrimp, the same rules don't apply. For example, I have a 30 gallon with about 200 green shrimp(wild variety of the cherry shrimp). They don't require you to feed them much food and really will live off almost nothing so they are great at cleaning up leftover food and bits of plant matter. I can't speak for the Rasbora as I've not had them with shrimp but I do have pearl gourami, betta and some large tetras and my amano and bamboo shrimp are fine. I've also had cherry shrimp with various tetras and catfish, all got along.

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks.

One made an appearance yesterday. Caught a glimpse of two today. They don't venture out, but neither do I see the barbs (or the gouramis) picking on them. Only the odessa barbs nip, and only at each other (odessa, not golden). Looks more like male dominance thing.

I guess if I buy more shrimp then my chance of seeing one of them out of the background increases, rather than a confidence issue as they don't shoal. Am I correct? Bamboo shrimp are rather expensive (£11 each over here), so don't really want to buy something that I won't see. Cherry shrimp stays smaller than amano don't they? Someone on here sells cherry shrimp but now I'm not sure it would be a good idea to buy some as they might get eaten... my barbs are about 1.5" at the moment. I think I may have to move the barbs when they get bigger as it may be too big for my 2ft tank. I might put some rasbora instead. Good idea?

Adrian

Correct, shrimp don't shoal but they will sit together in the same areas because they are competing for food.. If you're worried about the cherry shrimp, don't get them, stick with Amano as they are very active. Just get a few more, then you'll see more. Also, don't worry about overstocking with shrimp, the same rules don't apply. For example, I have a 30 gallon with about 200 green shrimp(wild variety of the cherry shrimp). They don't require you to feed them much food and really will live off almost nothing so they are great at cleaning up leftover food and bits of plant matter. I can't speak for the Rasbora as I've not had them with shrimp but I do have pearl gourami, betta and some large tetras and my amano and bamboo shrimp are fine. I've also had cherry shrimp with various tetras and catfish, all got along.

Thanks.

Problem for me is that Amano shrimps cost £15 for 6. Cherry shrimps are a bit cheaper I think. Oh well...

Adrian