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Why Your Amano Shrimp Disappeared!

After publishing our article going over keeping amano shrimp and cherry shrimp together, we noticed a number of people reaching out and saying that their amano shrimp disappeared.

People initially seemed to think that their cherry shrimp may be eating their amano shrimp but we doubt that this is what is happening and then after seeing other people asking why their amano shrimp disappeared, we decided to publish this article to try and help as many of our readers as possible.

Many people who initially think that their amano shrimp disappeared will later find that their amano shrimp was simply hiding either amongst the plants of the tank or that the amano shrimp has burrowed into the substrate of the tank.

There are a huge number of places where an averaged sized amano shrimp is easily able to hide for an extended period of time within most aquarium setups.

Keep in mind that many fish will end up eating shrimp in their aquarium that they find with bottom dwelling fish often being the most likely type of fish to find and eat your amano shrimp too.

This is why some of your amano shrimp may actually disappear due to the fish in your tank having eaten them as a quick and easy snack.

We know that more and more people are starting to keep shrimp only tanks though and if this is how you have your setup organized, this is not possible due to a lack of fish so one of the points covered in our article below will be far more likely.

Is It Normal For Amano Shrimp To Disappear?

It is normal for amano shrimp to “disappear” in most tank setups but they tend to only disappear for a short period of time as amano shrimp tend to like hiding, especially if they are in a tank with fish.

Not only do amano shrimp bury themselves in the substrate of their tank on a regular basis but they will also hide in any fish hides that you have in your tank as well as rocks, decorations or plants too.

The vast majority of modern aquarium setups tend to have a soft substrate as well as some type of plant be it live or fake with many tanks also having rocks or decorations too.

Being a tiny little amano shrimp that is an average of 2 inches in length when fully grown, they can easily hide in a huge number of places often confusing the person who cares for their aquarium as one day you may see a huge number of amano shrimp and the next day there may be only a fraction of the shrimp on display.

The partially translucent body of an amino shrimp can also make them very difficult to see in some tank setups too due to them being able to quickly and easily hide against the substrate.

If your tank has a high or even moderate light intensity then this just makes it easier for the amano shrimp to hide against their substrate even though they are in full view.

Why Did My Amano Shrimp Disappear?

The most common reason that amano shrimp disappear in their aquarium is due to them hiding in difficult to find spots, burying themselves in the substrate or the fish in the tank eating the amano shrimp.

The majority of your amano shrimp that seem to have disappeared will usually just be hiding and will show up again a few days later.

One thing that you are able to do to help bring your amano shrimp out of hiding is to drop a treat food in the tank to help draw them out of hiding.

There are a bunch of foods that can work well for this but one of the most reliable are definitely shrimp lollies with most shrimp loving to eat them making them willing to come out of hiding to grab a bite.

If you do think that the fish in your aquarium may be eating your amano shrimp then it may be a good idea to look into setting up a shrimp only tank.

The lack of potential predators will allow most shrimp to thrive and breed at a surprisingly high rate allowing you to move shrimp out of your shrimp only tank into your main aquariums quicker than the fish eating them can work their way through them.

This offers a cheap, easy, and reliable way to replace your shrimp to make sure that the detretus, algae, and discarded food in your main tanks is always being eaten by shrimp even if your fish like to eat your shrimp.

Do Amano Shrimp Burrow?

Amano shrimp love to burrow and bury themselves, especially if they feel threatened in a heavily stocked tank with plenty of fish in the tank.

Unlike other species of shrimp though, amano shrimp tend not to dig much other than burying themselves or burrowing slightly under rocks or tank decorations that you have in your aquarium.

We would guess that the burrowing habits of amano shrimp are the main reason that so many people who choose to keep amano shrimp in their tank commonly think that their shrimp have disappeared.

If you look closely at your substrate, you will often see the signs of it recently being disturbed or be able to notice little bumps in the substrate that commonly have amano shrimp antenna sticking out from them.

We have seen some people blame there amano shrimp for any holes or tunnels in their aquarium substrate but this is not common behaviour for amano shrimp.

It is more likely that the tunnels in substrate are usually due to other species of shrimp as well as potential signs that you may have various types of worms in your aquarium.

Depending on your aquarium setup, we would highly recommend that you investigate further though as some species of worm can end up causing problems in your tank in the future.

Why Do My Amano Shrimp Hide?

The more common reasons that amano shrimp hide is due to the shrimp feeling threatened from their tank mates, just wanting to get some space to themselves, and when looking for new sources of food.

There are some less common reasons that the amano shrimp in your aquarium will hide but those are the most common reasons by far.

You will often find that your amano shrimp will explore areas of the tank that also serve as good hiding places when searching for new types of food.

This is common in setups with a large number of rocks as the amano shrimp go looking for new sources of fresh algae or detritus that they are able to eat.

If you are actively trying to breed your amano shrimp in your aquarium and have shrimp breeding tubes then it can be common for some amano shrimp to hide in them even if they are not mating.

This is surprisingly common and many people often fail to realize that shrimp breeding tubes are more of a home and source of cover for your shrimp rather than something that will only be used for mating.

Will Amano Shrimp Jump Out Of Their Tank?

In rare situations, amano shrimp can jump out of their tank and essentially “disappear” with the most common cause of this being over population of the shrimp in the tank.

This can be very common for a shrimp only tank setup due to the aquariums usually only being small and amano shrimp being able to rapidly reproduce in the ideal situation causing their population to rapidly grow.

This is why so many people who do keep a shrimp only tank will usually use it to breed their shrimp to then move into their main tanks to use them as working shrimp to eat algae, detritus, and discarded fish food.

This is very common and serves as a way to regulate the population of your amano shrimp in your shrimp only tanks to prevent over population and stop the shrimp trying to jump out of their tank or leave the water.

The majority of healthy amano shrimp will usually not leave the water and try to jump out of their tank provided water parameters are fine and that they have plenty of food.

This is why it is so rare for this to be the reason that amano shrimp will disappear in their tank and the reasons that we have covered earlier in the article being far more likely in most situations.

Conclusion

That brings our article going over why your amano shrimp disappeared in your tank to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better identity the reasons that your amano shrimp may have disappeared per month but you will usually notice that they were just hiding temporarily and that they will commonly end up coming back out of their hiding space after a number of days.