My bamboo shrimp always hides - normal?

[fatboy]

I have one Bamboo shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) in a small, heavily planted tank. For about 3 weeks he was sharing the tank with cherry red shrimp and now has some panda corydoras, scarlet badis and 2 chocolate gouramis with him.

He has always hid during the day and only appears at night to feed. When he's feeding he seems confident, pushing corys out of his way to get at their sinking tablets. The badis and gouramis ignore him and treat him like a piece of wood.

Is this common behaviour for bamboo shrimp? When other people mention their shrimp they seem to be a lot more active than mine. Do you think he would be more lively if he had another bamboo shrimp in the tank?

[Walter]

It is probably normal, maybe due to the fishes it felt insecure in the day. But at night maybe it feels it is better camouflaged? I'm not sure but shrimps do have different characters as well sometimes. :)

In my opinion as long it is eating well like you described, there should be nothing much to worry about. :)

[Rupert]

I have one Bamboo shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) in a small, heavily planted tank. For about 3 weeks he was sharing the tank with cherry red shrimp and now has some panda corydoras, scarlet badis and 2 chocolate gouramis with him.

He has always hid during the day and only appears at night to feed. When he's feeding he seems confident, pushing corys out of his way to get at their sinking tablets. The badis and gouramis ignore him and treat him like a piece of wood.

Is this common behaviour for bamboo shrimp? When other people mention their shrimp they seem to be a lot more active than mine. Do you think he would be more lively if he had another bamboo shrimp in the tank?

When I first put to Bamboo Shrimp in my tank, they disappeared for 5 weeks, I thought that they died, and then one day they just appeared. I think that these are shy shrimp and prefer to come out at pre dawn, certainly they prefer low light.

Even with 5 of them now I notice no social behaviuor amongst the group, although they will share the same prime site for feeding. So I don’t think that by adding another one that it will make any difference to behaviour

[GunmetalBlue]

Sounds like as Walt mentions, shrimp do sometimes have different characters. For I have to admit mine are not shy at all. I think their normal nature is to be shy, but mine are not. The only time they try to hide is if they get scared, like if I'm moving some things around inside the tank and accidently get too close.

Mine are also different from Rupert's in that mine do interact; they sometimes push each other with their legs for better fanning territory (Rupert, you must have well-behaved Bamboos! :joking: ). However, they don't hurt each other.

Fatboy, sounds like what we're discovering here is that they can have a variety of personalities, so it should be fine for your shrimp to behave the way he/she does. Also wanted to mention due to their size, a larger tank helps them display their various behaviors and be more active. I recently moved mine from a ten gallon (too small) to a 20 gallon (which is still not that big, but the best I could do), and they're visibly much happier. :happy:

-GB

[Rupert]

Mine are also different from Rupert's in that mine do interact; they sometimes push each other with their legs for better fanning territory (Rupert, you must have well-behaved Bamboos! :joking: ). However, they don't hurt each other.


I am not sure that they are better behaved, but I might have given them a good spot for them to sit and fan as I have seen three Wood shrimp all sitting next to each other in my tank. One has been out all day, which has surprised me.

I have read that they are territorial in that a dominant male might eventuate. But really not sure?