Missing ghost shrimp

[gale]

one of the shrimp in my tank is big-about 2" long. Way bigger than the other 4. So today I noticed he's moulted-I could tell it was him because of the size of the skin. He was acting a bit weird but figured it was because of the moulting. A couple hours later I went and looked and couldn't find him. I looked and looked for I don't know how many hours and my husband and kids did too and he's just not in there. It's not that heavily planted-I can see right through all of the plant stems, and any hiding places in there are visible from at least one side of the tank. He's not stuck to the intake and the holes in it are way too small for him to have gone in it. I removed the decorations to see if he slipped underneath one somehow and he didn't. My substrate is gravel so he couldn't have dug himself underneath it.

If he died, could the other shrimp and fish have eaten him that fast? No one looks especially fat tonight.

 

[jflowers]

He will probably be hiding in a very small space, they usually hide while the new shell hardens.

Jon

 

[Raechal]

Did he jump into the filter where the water comes out? I've had a fish do that before, and I've heard shrimp are quite the jumpers. But usually after a shrimp has molted it will try to hide from everyone. They are extremely vulnerable during this time. Their skin is very soft and serve as a quick meal for any fish.

 

[gale]

There is literally no hiding place in that tank where I can't see. He's big so he can't hide in a crack, and I have looked everywhere, even in the tiny skull on my dinosaur air decoration. The plants are all thin because I had low lighting before (just upgraded a couple days ago) and they are literally stems. I'm sure he couldn't have jumped into the filter-the water flow is pretty fast coming out of it. Fast enough that the fish and the shrimp get moved around when they go underneath it.

It's a puzzle.

 

[Raechal]

There is literally no hiding place in that tank where I can't see. He's big so he can't hide in a crack, and I have looked everywhere, even in the tiny skull on my dinosaur air decoration. The plants are all thin because I had low lighting before (just upgraded a couple days ago) and they are literally stems. I'm sure he couldn't have jumped into the filter-the water flow is pretty fast coming out of it. Fast enough that the fish and the shrimp get moved around when they go underneath it.

It's a puzzle.

That is what I thought too. All of my fish that swam under the filter would get slightly pushed down. But my blue botia swam right up the stream and got stuck into the filter. Luckily I was watching my tank as I layed in bed and saw him swim into it. You might just want to check just to be safe. Although I've never had a shrimp jump into a filter before.

What other fish are in the tank?

 

[gale]

What other fish are in the tank?

It's my 20 gallon tank so it has 3 mollies, 3 glo-lite tetras, 6 pristella tetras, 2 cherry barbs and 3 cory cats. No one in it is particularly aggressive although the mollies pick at each other a lot.

eta: I'm going to check the filter carefully tonight after the kids are in bed.

 

[Raechal]

What other fish are in the tank?

It's my 20 gallon tank so it has 3 mollies, 3 glo-lite tetras, 6 pristella tetras, 2 cherry barbs and 3 cory cats. No one in it is particularly aggressive although the mollies pick at each other a lot.

eta: I'm going to check the filter carefully tonight after the kids are in bed.

Hmm...Maybe one of the mollies got hungry? I doubt it though. I don't know what could have happened to him. I once had a glass catfish that disappeared for 4 days. I did an 80% water change due to a nitrite spike in my 29 gallon and thought I might have accidentally scooped him up in a bowl I dumped down the bathtub. Then I saw something white in my fake plant in the corner of my tank. It was the glass catfish. He had gotten stuck in the plant and I guess he couldn't get out.

 

[handsomeboy]

theres a reason that they are named what they are named

ive heard they were great escape artists

 

[gale]

Took the filter apart and he's not in there. I also looked on the floor all around the tank and not there either.

 

[fuzzyferret]

Bet he turns up when you least expect it and have given up looking!
Let us all know how you get on.

I have just emptied my small tank of shrimp and put them in a larger tank - counted 30 shrimp in the small tank when I bought them, counted 38 out! I think they beam in from another planet when you're not looking!
Don't think they were youngsters - same size as the others.

Hope you find him!