Cherry Shrimp - Nocturnal??

hurricanejedi

hurricanejedi

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Apr 4, 2005
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Raleigh, NC
www.flowerspride.com
My cherry shrimp seem to very rarely come out. Occasionally I will catch them out in the morning when the lights come on. The other day I thought maybe they just weren't alive anymore. I decided to lift up a piece of driftwood and got a flashlight to shine under it. Sure enough, clinging to the bottom of the driftwood, were all my cherry shrimp! They seemed to scurry away from the flashlight light as I moved it over them. I never see them and they are so gorgeous! Are they nocturnal? If not why are they behaving this way?

Oooh and when I went to lift up the driftwood I saw a baby cherry shrimp for the first time (well I think thats what it was)! I didn't even know I had pregnant shrimp, I've had these guys since babies... It was clear, looked like an itty bitty shrimp and swam over to cling to a plant.
 
If it looked like a baby shrimp, it most likely was.

The shrimp will come out when they feel safe. Is there anything in the tank that may be harassing them when they're out? Fish tend to settle down at night so the shrimp would feel safe to come out. Seems like you should at least be seeing adult shrimp out walking around unless you have a fish that just likes picking on them?
 
I haven't seen a sign of a fish picking on them... Most of my fish are very peaceful. Actually all of them are. I see the rams chase each other but dont' go after other fish/shrimp. My bamboo shrimp are out all the time, as our the ghost shrimp. Hmmm.

Otherwise they are growing nice and molting frequently and I take the sign of babies as a good sign.

Just sort of strange and to bad. They are so gorgeous!!

For a while I wondered if I had any males because they are all so vivid red.
 
Are you on an alternate plane? My bamboo shrimp only come out at night! If your other shrimp are out, I don't see a reason why the cherrys wouldn't be out. The ghost shrimp aren't picking on them are they?
 
Hehe really? I see the bamboo shrimp taking breaks to hide during the day but they will come out more often. The ghost shrimp are happy just zooming around the tank, not so much sticking to the bottom.

This morning one of my cherries was out and about. But thats usually how it is..1 of 7 or so will be out in the morning. I doubt it will be out when I get home. They used to hang out in the back of the aquarium, in a corner that was densely planted. Since then I have redone things and that corner isn't as planted as before (I have a serious algae issue and just did a thorough cleaning and cut back about 75% of my plants which is ok because my hornwort grows inches everyday it seems).

These are the cutest shrimp!!

This isn't very heavily planted yet. I've just ordered a bunch of plants (and some groundcovers!) so maybe that will help...
 
Ok I think I figured it out! I've been messing with ferts as my I've had some serious algae issues. Well today I got home and my cherries are everywhere! I was so excited. Later I tested my nitrates and they were 0 (7ppm out of tap and I did a water change yesterday, can't remember if I did ferts, might have forgotten)... and I know they are nitrate sensitive. Well I just dosed my ferts and I must have made a super strong batch because I think its at 20 or 30ppm!! Ugh!!! Luckily this is the end of this batch and I am going to halve the next batch. But anyway, cherries are gone!! I don't see them anywhere.

One of the bamboo's is out and about, the other is hiding.
 
Nevermind..they are still out and about. Well I'm at least glad they are not hiding anymore even if I don't know what was causing it!
 
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