Missing amano shrimps

Alright so here is the story.
Monday 5/9 I pretty much did a 100% water change on my 5 gallon fluval chI tank to which houses my betta, 5 glofish, and (had) 2 amano shrimp. Afterwards everyone was fine and dandy, getting along, everyone happy. A few hours later I saw what looked to be a dead shrimp in the middle of the tank (I did not know of molting just yet). Upon closer inspection I saw that it was just a shell and googled it and found that a water change can prompt molting, thus causing the shrimp to hide because they feel vulnerable. So I was like okay he's just hiding. Well, now it's Thursday 5/12 and the other one is now missing, and I did not find a molt.
Ive scoured my tank the best I could, looked in every nook and cranny and cannot for the life of me find either shrimp. I saw the last one before I went to bed last night (wednesday) and this morning when going to feed the fish he was gone. I'm hoping I just didn't see him because I had to get to work and couldn't look much more.
How much of a possibility is it that they escaped? I saw some people say they are little escape artists. I have the 5 gallon fluvial chI tank, ill provide what it looks like (this is not my actual tank). There is about 3/4 of an inch of space between the water and the plastic lid. Ive looked around on the ground around the tank and didn't see anything, just incase they did get out. The betta hasn't shown aggression towards them either so I don't think they could have been scared out, though that is always a possibility.
I also don't think they could have been eaten seeing the time frame as to when I saw them last to the time I noticed them missing was too short, and I didn't find any signs that they could have been eaten. No bits or pieces or anything. So I don't know, I am utterly baffled.

 

I would look at any possible hiding spots as they are good at hiding, inside any décor. Alison

 

I did, there is nothing that they can actually hide in. I have some plants, but they aren't really big enough yet to completely hide anything. And I have 2 rocks leaning on each other to make a tent. I have a cardinal plant that I'm floating cause there isn't enough of a root system to root it down yet. The one shrimp was on that last night, so I don't know if that gave it leverage to get out. Though, I'm hoping I get lucky and they magically just appear one day lol.

 

It is also possible that if they moulted , the Betta might have eaten them. They are vulnerable at that time and without a good hiding spot , they become fair game for any fish. Alison

 

It is also possible that if they moulted , the Betta might have eaten them. They are vulnerable at that time and without a good hiding spot , they become fair game for any fish. Alison

This is possible, the only reason why I didn't think they could have gotten eaten was because the betta never showed interest in the shrimp. He does flare at the glofish sometimes but always just passed the shrimp right by.

 

did you check around the tank?
mine jumped out and I found them later.......

 

did you check around the tank?
mine jumped out and I found them later.......

Yup, checked all around the tank and on the dresser I have the tank on, and on the sides of the dresser. No sign of them.

I will look again when I get home after work today, but I think if the one that has been missing since monday escaped, he must be dried up by now.
But the second one that has only been MIA since I saw him last night before bed might still have a shot if he escaped, or I just didn't look good enough this morning.

But the floor of that aquarium doesn't have much surface space to hide, so I dunno how much I could have missed. :/

 

I found mine behind my dresser,I had to take a yard stick to get them out...

 

I found mine behind my dresser,I had to take a yard stick to get them out...

Like I said, I did look behind my dresser. Ill have to look again later. There is a clump of dust behind it, and I looked for little scuttle marks in the dust but nothing.

Though, if they happen to actually be there it might be too late. Its a shame, I need those little guys to help clean lol.

If that is the case, are there any other suggestions for tank mates along the same likes as what the amanos do?

 

I looked behind my dresser and didnt see anything,then I took a yard stick and scraped around and found them.youll probably miss them if you just look,they get flat and clearish when dry...

 

I looked behind my dresser and didnt see anything,then I took a yard stick and scraped around and found them.youll probably miss them if you just look,they get flat and clearish when dry...

Hmm. :/ Guess ill have to move the dresser to take a better peek.
Thank you though!

 

UPDATE: Found both on the floor dried up about 5ft away from the tank in different directions. Welp, that sucks.

 

I have read up on this and can tell you that your amanos probably jumped out of your tank as they were trying to get away from your almost 100% water change. shrimp are especially sensitive to wide swings.

think of it like just plopping them in a whole different tank without first acclimating them. they probably had ph shock or temp shock. that's why you found a dead shrimp a little after your water change as they couldn't tolerate the shock.
sorry to hear. try doing no more than 30-50% maximum water change.

 

So sorry about that. I was going to say that I have 3 amanos and there have been a couple times when I was only able to find one of them for 2-3 days! They hide exceptionally well. I'm sorry this wasn't the case for you this time, but if you get them again in the future it might help to know that sometimes they are just reclusive.

 

I'm sorry for your loss. As far as adding anything else into the tank to replace them, though, I would not recommend it. I don't know if you have asked about your stocking or have another thread for it, but the tank is rather overstocked currently, and not ideal for the glofish to be in with the betta, especially with the limited space in the tank.

 

I have four amanos that I just moved from my shrimp tank because I was worried about them outcompeting my cherries for food. I put them in my 29 gallon which has neon tetras, black neons, glowlights, embers, a sparkling gourami and a glass catfish (he's a temporary resident - I put him there originally because I didn't want him to be scared or stressed by the fish in my main tank, and now I'm trying to find more so he can have a school and live in a bigger tank). When I first let them into the tank they were all over the driftwood and what not, acting normal and shrimpy. I didn't see any when I looked quickly before work, and now I've just come home and really stuck my head up behind the tank and everything, and I don't see them anywhere. I'm pretty sure no one could have eaten them, they're huge. There aren't really that many hiding places...

Ok well after I wrote all that last night I did see one poke it's head out of the hole in the middle of the driftwood. I can usually see one in there but I'm not sure if it's the same one every time I look. So what's more likely, that a few got attacked and completely consumed, or they're all holed up in the wood and they're just gonna stay there forever? The driftwood has a flat area where it was cut that was previously covered in a layer of green algae, and it's all gone now. So are they coming out while I'm not home and the lights are off and just hiding when I turn them on? Will rhey ever come out and cruise around the tank or is this just what they do in a tank with a lot of fish?

 

They might be playing it safe with all those fish in there. I'd take a hard stare after lights out and see if they've gone nocturnal on you.

Another possibility is they have moved into your filter. More than one person has reported finding missing shrimp in their HOB or cannister.

You might try adding more plants, including floaters, to encourage them to come out during the daytime.

 

Shrimp are great at hiding.

You have some stocking issues, if you'd like to discuss them

 

They really are, I've realized they're all still in there, they've just found every tiny crack and hole in the landscape and made use of them.

Are you referring to this specific tank? I'm aware the gourami prefers a higher temp than the tetras, but as far as I know the rest are temp compatible. The long term plan I think is going to be putting the gourami and embers in their own 10g, but it's currently serving as a quarantine and I'm trying to not have to set up another. I think I already said that the glass cat is temporary for lack of schoolmates, he's wild caught and I don't want to stress him by throwing him into a different community by himself. He's not a good eater either, I can only get him to eat because he sits in the plants in front of the filter outtake and he'll catch the pellets that I drop into the flow for him. Is there something else you're referring to?

 

@TexasDomer I'd love to hear your opinion on the stock in this tank, it's my oldest and favorite tank and I thought I stocked it pretty well overall. It seemed like the safest place for the glass cat while he's alone (he's been solo for over three years since his prior owner bought him, poor thing). Not sure if my profile is accurate with the numbers, it's now 8 glowlights, 9 neons, 7 black neons, 8 embers, one sparkling gourami, 5 cories and four amanos.

edit: I guess it may seem like a lot reading the list, but they're not crowded at all, the fish have all staked out their own spaces, and there are never spikes of ammonia or nitrite. The tank is pretty well planted now so the nitrates stay right around 20 even if I slack on water changes.

 

Sorry, I've been a bit busy with RL stuff. I'll come back and edit this later!

EDIT:

When are you getting more glass cats?

Cories need to be in larger groups, so I would get more of the same species.

4 schools of mid/top dweller is too many for a 29 gal. 2 is recommended.

I'd move the gourami and the embers to the 10 gal and get more gourami.

I'd rehome one of the other schooling fish and put it into the new tank where you put the glass cat school.

 

I recently got 6 amanos and would often do a head count and old never count more than 4-5 at a time and just the other day, a couple weeks at least since adding them, I finally counted all 6! I have a tall rock almost up against the glass with enough of a crevice for them to get in ... they stay there a lot. I also have several large shells that I've seen shrimp come out of here and there ... those little suckers are definitely good at hiding! Biggest fish in that tank are cories.

 

Ugh. I wrote a big thing and thought it would auto save like it always does, and it disappeared.
TexasDomer do you think the gourami and embers could live with my cherry shrimp without issue? I figure the gourami might try to eat a small one here and there but I don't think he could hurt the population. Then again he might not, he really just likes to pick flakes off the surface and plants. He won't eat micro pellets because they're too big. I'm in the process of rehoming a bunch of fish that I got impulsively before I really knew better, and I don't want to but I'm trying to break down my smaller tanks so it'd be ideal if I could just have the gourami, embers and shrimp together, and keep one more 10 gallon on standby in case I need a quarantine.

As for the cories, I now have 5 different types (bronze, albino, peppered, panda and false julii) and they're all in groups of 5 except the pandas and false juliis, that's why the two pandas and three false juliis live here. I have one big false juliI that came from the same person as the glass cat and had been alone for 3 years as well, and I just found two more at an out of state petco so I bought them - they were labeled as juliI cories, which aren't on Maine's unrestricted species list so that makes things a bit more difficult. The pandas I bought because they were alone in a tank at my LFS, there were three but one was acting weird and died within a few days. Again they claim their distributor can't get any more - this is the same issue I've been having with them trying to get more sparkling gouramis.

The shrimp are done hiding in the driftwood, they're all over the tank now. I have a theory on what happened... At one point I had five albino cories in this tank, but when I moved them maybe a month ago I only ever found four. Never figured out what happened to the fifth, but now I'm wondering if he got stuck inside the wood and died, and the shrimp were hanging out in there eating the remains until there was nothing left and they had to come out to find food elsewhere.

 

Ugh. I wrote a big thing and thought it would auto save like it always does, and it disappeared.
@TexasDomer do you think the gourami and embers could live with my cherry shrimp without issue? I figure the gourami might try to eat a small one here and there but I don't think he could hurt the population. Then again he might not, he really just likes to pick flakes off the surface and plants. He won't eat micro pellets because they're too big. I'm in the process of rehoming a bunch of fish that I got impulsively before I really knew better, and I don't want to but I'm trying to break down my smaller tanks so it'd be ideal if I could just have the gourami, embers and shrimp together, and keep one more 10 gallon on standby in case I need a quarantine.

The ember tetra, should be fine. The gouramis will probably eat small shrimplets. You could always try!

As for the cories, I now have 5 different types (bronze, albino, peppered, panda and false julii) and they're all in groups of 5 except the pandas and false juliis, that's why the two pandas and three false juliis live here. I have one big false juliI that came from the same person as the glass cat and had been alone for 3 years as well, and I just found two more at an out of state petco so I bought them - they were labeled as juliI cories, which aren't on Maine's unrestricted species list so that makes things a bit more difficult. The pandas I bought because they were alone in a tank at my LFS, there were three but one was acting weird and died within a few days. Again they claim their distributor can't get any more - this is the same issue I've been having with them trying to get more sparkling gouramis.

Keep trying to find one of the species, and rehome the other species when you do. It must be frustrating!

The shrimp are done hiding in the driftwood, they're all over the tank now. I have a theory on what happened... At one point I had five albino cories in this tank, but when I moved them maybe a month ago I only ever found four. Never figured out what happened to the fifth, but now I'm wondering if he got stuck inside the wood and died, and the shrimp were hanging out in there eating the remains until there was nothing left and they had to come out to find food elsewhere.

That might have been the case! Glad they're out though!

 

You'll be happy to hear I just rehomed a RIDICULOUS amount of fish today - traded them on Craigslist for some really nice decor. All together I offed all 5 of my adult platies (still raising a few fry that I think I may keep), 10 flame tetras, 10 serpae tetras, one black skirt and two pristellas, two bristlenose plecos, four danios, two hatchets... So I now have a lot more room to figure out my stock situation. Most of them came from my 55 angelfish tank, so all that's left there now are the Angels (4), pictus (4 - can't add more until I find my 100g+ Christmas present lol), a dwarf gourami, two baby keyhole cichlids, and a grand total of 14 cories - one has apparently disappeared. It was really hard to do but the remaining fish seem happier. One of the Angels is going to my mother, the other three will stay until perhaps two of them pair off, and once I set up all this awesome new stuff I just got I'd like to possibly move the black neons into that tank.

So in your professional opinion, how the heck can I get the black neons out of the smaller tank without destroying everything? The 55 isn't planted so ripping it apart to catch all those fish today wasn't too terrible, but the 29 is almost fully planted, full of awesome decor (I think I posted a pic up there?) and those fish love to hide out in the way back behind all the plants and driftwood... I would really like to move them, they'd look great in the 55 (black and white everything, marble angels, spotted pictus, keyholes and then the black neons? Yes please!) but I REALLY don't want to ruin my tank, and they won't go easily. I thought the easiest way would be to just catch one or two whenever I can without tearing the tank up and eventually hopefully I'll get them all moved? Would it be really overly stressful to them though to split the school like that? They're super skittish as it is, they all hide when I walk up to the tank. Too bad they're too small to go fishing with a line, lol!!

Thanks for talking to me and being helpful, seriously. And not too harsh or condescending. I was hesitant to even join the forum because I knew my stock situation was so messy that I couldn't figure out where to start. I was having a hard time accepting having to get rid of ANY of them, and this little talk finally got me thinking hard about the whole picture and gave me the necessary push. I sat down and made a list of every fish I could bear to part with and posted it up on Craigslist open to any offers. I think I only have about ten fish now that need homes, the tiger barbs and opaline gourami who are living with my cichlids because they're mean. I feel good about it though!! It's good to do the right things for the fish when so many others are just trying to cram as much color into their tanks as possible without regard for the fishies. And now that I have a better grasp on the concept of proper stocking, I actually feel okay about the empty space in the tank that I spent so much money to fill in.

 

You'll be happy to hear I just rehomed a RIDICULOUS amount of fish today - traded them on Craigslist for some really nice decor. All together I offed all 5 of my adult platies (still raising a few fry that I think I may keep), 10 flame tetras, 10 serpae tetras, one black skirt and two pristellas, two bristlenose plecos, four danios, two hatchets... So I now have a lot more room to figure out my stock situation. Most of them came from my 55 angelfish tank, so all that's left there now are the Angels (4), pictus (4 - can't add more until I find my 100g+ Christmas present lol), a dwarf gourami, two baby keyhole cichlids, and a grand total of 14 cories - one has apparently disappeared. It was really hard to do but the remaining fish seem happier. One of the Angels is going to my mother, the other three will stay until perhaps two of them pair off, and once I set up all this awesome new stuff I just got I'd like to possibly move the black neons into that tank.

I'd wait until two pair before giving one of the odd ones to the your mother. If you leave three in the tank, you run the risk of two beating up the one before you can take it out.

Pictus aren't temp compatible with angelfish, so the faster you can get them into their new 100 gal tank, the better for all involved They'll be okay for a few months at the higher temp, since you already have them.

So in your professional opinion, how the heck can I get the black neons out of the smaller tank without destroying everything? The 55 isn't planted so ripping it apart to catch all those fish today wasn't too terrible, but the 29 is almost fully planted, full of awesome decor (I think I posted a pic up there?) and those fish love to hide out in the way back behind all the plants and driftwood... I would really like to move them, they'd look great in the 55 (black and white everything, marble angels, spotted pictus, keyholes and then the black neons? Yes please!) but I REALLY don't want to ruin my tank, and they won't go easily. I thought the easiest way would be to just catch one or two whenever I can without tearing the tank up and eventually hopefully I'll get them all moved? Would it be really overly stressful to them though to split the school like that? They're super skittish as it is, they all hide when I walk up to the tank. Too bad they're too small to go fishing with a line, lol!!

Use two nets and do it during a water change, when the water level is low. If you need to catch a few every day for a few days, that should be fine!

Thanks for talking to me and being helpful, seriously. And not too harsh or condescending. I was hesitant to even join the forum because I knew my stock situation was so messy that I couldn't figure out where to start. I was having a hard time accepting having to get rid of ANY of them, and this little talk finally got me thinking hard about the whole picture and gave me the necessary push. I sat down and made a list of every fish I could bear to part with and posted it up on Craigslist open to any offers. I think I only have about ten fish now that need homes, the tiger barbs and opaline gourami who are living with my cichlids because they're mean. I feel good about it though!! It's good to do the right things for the fish when so many others are just trying to cram as much color into their tanks as possible without regard for the fishies. And now that I have a better grasp on the concept of proper stocking, I actually feel okay about the empty space in the tank that I spent so much money to fill in.

We don't want to scare people away We always try to be nice and helpful, but sometimes we get a bit passionate about the fish and come across as harsh. I know I've been guilty of it, but it's definitely not on purpose

And the fish will appreciate the extra empty space - or you can always fill it with plants