Where are my shrimp

I bought 28 shrimp and once I planted the tank, I maybe see 1-3 out at once! Is hiding all the time normal for these guys? My anxiety is always going crazy thinking if they die while they are hiding I would never know.

20 gallon tank
Also have 4 kuhli loaches, 13 cloud minnows, a nerite snail, and a few snails that came in with the plants.
I added prime after I took the photo of the perimeters.

 

There is a good chance the loaches are eating them. Shrimp are known to hide but loaches are also known to like them as a snack. Shrimp need a mature tank with lots of biofilm and very stable water parameters or they tend not to make it. It is usually recommended not to add shrimp for at least 3-6 months but a minimum of 1 month with mixed success.

 

There is a good chance the loaches are eating them. Shrimp are known to hide but loaches are also known to like them as a snack. Shrimp need a mature tank with lots of biofilm and very stable water parameters or they tend not to make it. It is usually recommended not to add shrimp for at least 3-6 months but a minimum of 1 month with mixed success.

That would suck… I had no idea the kuhli loaches would eat the shrimp. I mean I knew they would eat babies. But most of the shrimp are over half an inch. And the loaches are also very young and small.

 

The rule is if it fits in the mouth it can be eaten. If some of the shrimp died they would definitely eat the body and you would never even known. Shrimp are good at hiding so you may have more than you think, but there really isnt a good way to know unless you feel like tearing the tank apart.

 

They do like to hide, even in my 10 gallon that's not super densely planted they can go missing for up to a week, then I'll see them again. They tend to hide more after molting because they're vulnerable, and it's possible the kuhlis are snacking on them.

 

I've observed that shrimp tend to hide more often in a tank if there are fish present, even if the fish are too small to eat adult shrimp.

 

Oh no, I’m so defeated right now and feeling so dumb. I just cleaned out my filter and found a shrimp graveyard, along with 2 dead kuhli loaches out of 4. I was able to save 2 shrimp from the filter alive. So from what I can see, there is 4 alive shrimp in the tank at least out of the 26ish I had. It’s a shrimp specific filter so I never thought this would happen. After further investigation the suction cups were off of the filter and left behind two holes perfect size for shrimp and loaches to get inside and die. Ughhh. The suction cups were reattached and I put silicone bands around them to completely cover the holes. I can’t believe this happened. I feel like a terrible fish mom.

 

Oh no, I’m so defeated right now and feeling so dumb. I just cleaned out my filter and found a shrimp graveyard, along with 2 dead kuhli loaches out of 4. I was able to save 2 shrimp from the filter alive. So from what I can see, there is 4 alive shrimp in the tank at least out of the 26ish I had. It’s a shrimp specific filter so I never thought this would happen. After further investigation the suction cups were off of the filter and left behind two holes perfect size for shrimp and loaches to get inside and die. Ughhh. The suction cups were reattached and I put silicone bands around them to completely cover the holes. I can’t believe this happened. I feel like a terrible fish mom.

No it's ok. This hobby is trial and error. Keep trying!