Awol Amano!

rchambers · Mar 3, 2008

On Saturday I added 5 Gold Gourami, 6 Amano Shrimp and 2 Bolivian Rams to my tank. In addition to the new fish I already have 12 Cardinal Tetras, 6 Threadfin Rainbows, 3 Dalmation Mollies (plus about 20 fry), and 5 Panda Cories.

Now when I added the shrimp about a minute after one got scared and jumped out of the tank. I managed to get him back in the tank ok and he seemed fine. Now I left the room and the tank dark for about 4 hours or so to let everyone settle in. In the evening with the night lights on I spotted one Amano sitting on the top of the heater but couldn't see any others despite looking for ages! Since then I have not been able to locate a single shrimp and the only trace has been a whole intact shell that I found this morning. I thought maybe they have jumped out so I had a good look around the room but no shrimp. I still can't find them in the tank so either they are amazing at hiding or someone was very hungry. Any ideas or am I worried for nothing?

Thanks

FTS:

Shrimper · Mar 3, 2008

They are masters at hiding, i would look all around the bottom of the wood and the plants and you may spot them. Once you have found them a few times they get easier to spot.

Of course if you can't find them they may of been eaten. If they fit in a fishes mouth there is a chance it will get eaten. I'm not sure how big your fish are but i think the main culprits would be the Rams or Gouramis. I'm fairly certain all the others will be fine with shrimp, i've even heard of people breeding shrimp with threadfin rainbow fish.

The fact you found a shell but can't see the shrimp might be a good or bad thing. It means one of the shrimp has shed its skin, when the do this they are extra shy so less likely to be seen but are also more venerable to attack. Keep your fingers crossed and they will probably show up eventually and surprise you one day.

DevUK · Mar 3, 2008

Amano are also master escape artists. It looks like you have an open top tank. I've heard of amano scaling heater cables and such to escape, sadly to their doom

Hope you find them

iSnail · Mar 3, 2008

They are extremely good at hiding. They can get into the tiniest gaps and cracks, especially in bogwood. It takes a while for them to get used to their new environment and once they feel comfortable, they are bold as anything :lol:

Good luck and hope yours are just hiding rather than escaping.

o0ric0o · Mar 3, 2008

i have 3 going to buy 3 more tomorrow (well today) my 3 are bold as brass now they been in the tank for around 8 days now.

give them time to settle inand they will pop out

especilly at feeding time mine whizz out and gobble up the surplus food that hits the bottom of the tank

rchambers · Mar 7, 2008

Well its been a week and I have found them hiding under the bogwood on the "cave" roof. They never venture out even when food is in the tank. I have tried to tempt them out by dropping pellets in front of the bogwood but no joy. Every fish (other than the gourami) are small enough to swim under the bogwood (and they all do, even the rams) so its not the safest or quietest hiding place! Do you think they are being shy because I only have 6 in a relatively big tank? I was thinking of getting another 6 in the hope of them being a bit braver as I want to be able to watch them out and about doing their thing as others have described!

Shrimper · Mar 7, 2008

Glad they turned up.

They are probably just shy due to being young and a bit small... when they have grown a bit and realise the fish aren't likely to eat them they will get more confident.

Adding a few more buddys for them may help them feel more confident, but I only have 4 Anamo in my community tank (10 different shrimp in there in total) and i see these all the time now they are older.