Algae eating shrimp

[stunner]

Hi,

About a month ago I bought 3 "algae eating shrimp" and put them in my planted 29 gallon. The next day they had vanished and I didn't see a trace of them till about a week later when I saw bits of shrimp carapace during siphoning. So I assumed they were all dead. Well yesterday I almost completely drained my tank to move the whole set up (painting my room) and I saw all three of the little buggers scurrying around! After refilling the tank, the shrimp vanished. Is there any way to entice them to stay out where I can see them? Should I get them more shrimp to keep the company?

thanks,

[squirt_12]

well...they will hide and blend in with the plants. But if you want to get them out and see them. Get a small piece of zuchinni and put it on the bottom of the tank and watch. After a while they should come out and start nibbling on the zuchinni.

I hope that this helps.

[Delphin]

I thought we lost our cherry red shrimp too

We added a small piece of drift wood and they all came out again one night.

They also only come out at night now. Our Dwarf Gourami harasses them sometimes.

Tiny pieces of a Hikari Algae wafer are good too, placed out side thier hiding place.
Be careful our fish will eat it too and if the shrimp come out while fish are feeding it can be dangerous for shrimp.

I now use a clear plastic tube to place the sinking wafer pieces inside shrimp cave or into the moss after dark and fish are settled down.
Also 2 bamboo skerwers as giant chop sticks to arrange things.

I'm trying to find a good red light to find them at night cuz the white mag light freaks them and the fish out.

[zackish]

Shrimp molt...hence the shells found in the water.
Mine do this about once a week.

[CAF]

Depending on what sort of tankmates you have, you may almost never see them. Lots of hiding places are a must if you have any fish in the tank as the fish will predate on the baby shrimp (assuming you have a neocaridina species).

I hate to say this, but it is true.

Shrimp are basically the aquatic equivilent of cockroaches. We you see one there are probably a lot more hiding you do not see. I love my shrimp, and have some in every tank I own except the cichlid tanks.

Other than having a species tank with only shrimp in it, there is very little you can do to get them to come out more often. Most fish find shrimp to be excellent snacks, so they will hide to keep the predation down.

[stunner]

Well, just an update. I moved the killifish to a 15 gallon, added more plants, another piece of driftwood, and some harlequin rasboras. I actually see the shrimp more often now, and they come out to eat the sinking shrimp pellets I drop in for the corydoras.