How can I tell how many Cherries I have?

[evil Nick]

Is there any way to lure these little guys out?

It took me FOREVER to finally find some for my tank and when I did they were itty bitty.

They instantly ran and hid, which was understandable (plenty of places)

Once in a blue I see ONE pop out but as soon as I look away and back its gone, like a [Moderator edit] Leprechaun!

I only had two because the store didn't have many and my friend wanted 2 as well. Im hitting another store tonight who says they have some but they are also WAY mroe expensive than my ghost shrimp were.

Im looking for 2 more cherries and maybe 2 amanos.

I know most species will hide more if there arent enough of them around, so is there a safe number to have in cherries?
Is there some food they LOVE so much they would come out of hiding to get it?

I saw what I thought was a dead one yesterday at lunch but didnt get to remove it until I got home where it was gone. So either a fish ate it (doubtful in my tank) or it possibly molted and the shell was eaten.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Tell us how your tank is set-up. Shrimp should hide initially, but then should come out and be hanging around on filters, moss balls, etc. Yes you do need to feed them shrimp food (variety of sources), and they will come out to eat.

 

[evil Nick]

Tell us how your tank is set-up. Shrimp should hide initially, but then should come out and be hanging around on filters, moss balls, etc. Yes you do need to feed them shrimp food (variety of sources), and they will come out to eat.

Mine generally eat the algae and falling food

tank is a 29 gal planted with driftwood and rocks.

The Cherries I have are SUPER small so they could be hiding anywhere. Did see one this morning, they are like little UFOs in my tank

 

[Fishfur]

Shrimp, in nature, are prey. So their instinct, especially when young, is to hide. Once they become used to the environment, they usually will be seen more, but numbers sure help.

In my 29G tank, two dozen cherry shrimp I got at first appeared to vanish. So in your tank you might not see more than one or two any given time. The smaller the tank, the more likely you are to see one. I have about 60 of them in well planted 10G tank, and I see them every day, crawling on the plants and generally just around.. and there are fish in there too, though very tiny one that don't appear to bother the shrimp at all.

A couple of months ago, I got 40 painted fire cherries from another hobbyist. Two were berried, and I had babies within a couple of weeks - I'm guessing I have 60 now, it might be more. I've seen moulted shells, which is a good sign that more females may be berried soon. Chances are the shell you saw was a moult.

With only two shrimp, you might never see one.. if at all possible, get a dozen at least. Amano and Ghost shrimp get on fine with them, though both will sometimes eat new born or very young cherries, if they can catch one. Given plenty of places to hide, they won't catch many, if any.

Most shrimp do eat anything at all that's dead, just so you know. Normal behaviour for them. If you were to drop a tiny, tiny shred of shrimp meat into the tank, chances are they'll come and get it, though maybe not instantly.

 

[evil Nick]

Just bought a couple more and 2 amano today. Those amano are awesome!e

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[ScotJudd]

Don't lose heart. I thought my colony of 20 RCS were slowly disappearing. Especially as they are in with tetras. But they seemed to just be hiding until they felt safe. Safety came in numbers and now there are hundreds. At feeding time the bottom of the tank is orange.
I am fairly certain many of the baby shrimps are eaten by the fish but enough survive to increase the colony. I recently moved 10 out into a shrimp only tank and they have multiplied at a huge rate - no predators.
Give them time.


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