Red Cherry Shimp Always Hiding?

[busterbrit]

I put 5 Red Cherry Shrimp in my tank 2 weeks ago. I know for sure that 3 survived but there could be more since they hid so well.

I was hoping they would come out more and I could see them eat on the rocks and wood. But they are usually hiding. If I bought another 5 would that help them feel more comfortable coming out?

I have the following fish in the tank as well but all the fish are to small to actually eat them (I think).

dwarf gourami (1)
dwarf platy (2)
guppies (3)

Should I get 5 more so they come out more?

 

[mattlee]

check in your filter small shrimps tend to get sucked up.... when i kept cherrys in my main tank i used to find about 40 babies in the filter when i cleaned it out surviving on the bacteria and sucked up food etc

 

[busterbrit]

ok.

But do you think adding more RCS will help them be more confident to venture out? Or with other fish in the tank will they hide? I'm just trying to determine if its worth buying more so I can actually see them walking around.

 

[Faffer]

I doubt if it would be worth buying more. I think they'll only hide if they feel threatened.

I used to have 6 cherry shrimps in my main tank and they never hid at all, even when I first added them. The guppies and chinese algae eater never bothered them at all. After I added a couple of firemouth cichlids, they gradually started to appear out in the open less and less. I did notice one of the firemouths chasing the shrimps on occasions. There was a period of about 2 weeks where I didn't see a single shrimp in the tank and I thought they must've all been eaten. I have since managed to find and rescue 5 of the original shrimps, 1 found in the filter and 4 found among plants or under rocks.

I now keep the shrimps in a seperate tank, along with a load of new shrimps, a few snails and some fry. They seem a lot happier now, as they were when I originally had them, swimming around the tank and eating food out in the open with not a care in the world.

 

[busterbrit]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

 

[mattlee]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

it may be worth finding a local breeder if you want to add more as the lfs charge way too much in my opinion. i sell them at 75p each and you can get them cheaper if you look.....
maybe an add in the wanted section will help!
where are you based?

 

[busterbrit]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

it may be worth finding a local breeder if you want to add more as the lfs charge way too much in my opinion. i sell them at 75p each and you can get them cheaper if you look.....
maybe an add in the wanted section will help!
where are you based?

I'm in Orange County California. I paid $1.50 at my LFS. Do you think it is worth adding more if they tend to hide all the time?

 

[mattlee]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

it may be worth finding a local breeder if you want to add more as the lfs charge way too much in my opinion. i sell them at 75p each and you can get them cheaper if you look.....
maybe an add in the wanted section will help!
where are you based?

I'm in Orange County California. I paid $1.50 at my LFS. Do you think it is worth adding more if they tend to hide all the time?

they will only hide away if they feel threatened, looking at your stocking maybe the gourami is taking intrest or possibly the platys. ive kept both with shrimp in the past with no issues, they will feel safer in larger groups but also do a great job of hiding amongst plants etc. i fyou dont mind paying for more then i would get more as 5 is a very small group.
what size tank do you have?

 

[Haych]

I have 32 cherries in a tank with my female bettas - I have only ever seen two!

I couldnt even tell you if they have all survived! (some were very young)

 

[busterbrit]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

it may be worth finding a local breeder if you want to add more as the lfs charge way too much in my opinion. i sell them at 75p each and you can get them cheaper if you look.....
maybe an add in the wanted section will help!
where are you based?

I'm in Orange County California. I paid $1.50 at my LFS. Do you think it is worth adding more if they tend to hide all the time?

they will only hide away if they feel threatened, looking at your stocking maybe the gourami is taking intrest or possibly the platys. ive kept both with shrimp in the past with no issues, they will feel safer in larger groups but also do a great job of hiding amongst plants etc. i fyou dont mind paying for more then i would get more as 5 is a very small group.
what size tank do you have?

tank is 16 gallon Biorb. It has two pieces of wood with java moss and anubios attached and a center piece that covers the bubble tube. Maybe I will try another 5 to see if that helps.

I'm having algea problems and I was going to add two Ottos but with the 5 more RCS I might start getting a little over stocked.

 

[mattlee]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

it may be worth finding a local breeder if you want to add more as the lfs charge way too much in my opinion. i sell them at 75p each and you can get them cheaper if you look.....
maybe an add in the wanted section will help!
where are you based?

I'm in Orange County California. I paid $1.50 at my LFS. Do you think it is worth adding more if they tend to hide all the time?

they will only hide away if they feel threatened, looking at your stocking maybe the gourami is taking intrest or possibly the platys. ive kept both with shrimp in the past with no issues, they will feel safer in larger groups but also do a great job of hiding amongst plants etc. i fyou dont mind paying for more then i would get more as 5 is a very small group.
what size tank do you have?

tank is 16 gallon Biorb. It has two pieces of wood with java moss and anubios attached and a center piece that covers the bubble tube. Maybe I will try another 5 to see if that helps.

I'm having algea problems and I was going to add two Ottos but with the 5 more RCS I might start getting a little over stocked.

i wouldnt worry too much about 10 cherry shrimp on the bioload, i had 60 in my main tank with no obvious bioload effect. they do poo dont get me wrong and they will add a little but not much.
i would try and solve the algae problem rather than cover it up with algae eaters. what algae is it? try a post in the planted section im sure Truck or someone else can put you right

 

[busterbrit]

Thanks Faffer. That is some good insight.

But what a bummer. I love watching them move around.

it may be worth finding a local breeder if you want to add more as the lfs charge way too much in my opinion. i sell them at 75p each and you can get them cheaper if you look.....
maybe an add in the wanted section will help!
where are you based?

I think I had the light on to long so I'm slowly reducing it. But what do I do about the algea I already have on the leaves, walls and substrate? Will that just slowely come off if I get fix the problem?

I'm in Orange County California. I paid $1.50 at my LFS. Do you think it is worth adding more if they tend to hide all the time?

they will only hide away if they feel threatened, looking at your stocking maybe the gourami is taking intrest or possibly the platys. ive kept both with shrimp in the past with no issues, they will feel safer in larger groups but also do a great job of hiding amongst plants etc. i fyou dont mind paying for more then i would get more as 5 is a very small group.
what size tank do you have?

tank is 16 gallon Biorb. It has two pieces of wood with java moss and anubios attached and a center piece that covers the bubble tube. Maybe I will try another 5 to see if that helps.

I'm having algea problems and I was going to add two Ottos but with the 5 more RCS I might start getting a little over stocked.

i wouldnt worry too much about 10 cherry shrimp on the bioload, i had 60 in my main tank with no obvious bioload effect. they do poo dont get me wrong and they will add a little but not much.
i would try and solve the algae problem rather than cover it up with algae eaters. what algae is it? try a post in the planted section im sure Truck or someone else can put you right