Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hi everyone,

I kept a pair of these guys in my old 25 about 7 years ago and they were always running around in my tank, competing with the ghost shrimp for food. The pair in my lone tank (10 gal, 28 CF hood) are always hiding during the day and only come out when the lights are out (and quickly run into the rock formations if they lights go back on). Is there any way to encourage them to come out? So far the tank is fairly baren except of the anubias clustered around the rocks. Its the way I plan to keep it, with some Hemianthus callitrichoides to fill in the rest. They are full adults, will young ones be more tolerant?

Thanks,
Jayson

Hi Jayson and welcome.

I've heard that "complaint" more than once, so it seems they are by nature shy and prefer not to be out in the open when the lights are on - and there's nothing wrong with them acting "normal." I think Chlorophyll mentioned Atya gabonensis are nocturnal, but don't know if that means Atyopsis moluccensis are supposed to be too? Maybe he knows. Anyway, are they new to your tank or have you had them for a while now?

When I first got mine, I do recall they were sometimes startled when the lights first came on, but they don't take notice anymore. My two are not shy at all; I suppose it's just their personality. Whether a younger one would be shy or not would probably depend on their personality too. I'm also wondering if it's the smaller size of the tank along with the brighter lights.

Something I learned from this forum is that they do best in larger (20gal & up) tanks, so I took them out of my 10gal and put them into a larger tank. I can see they are much happier and I enjoy them so much more now! They have a couple places they like to hang out the most, and are usually filtering, regardless if it's day or night, lights on or off.

-GB

Yeah, I feel like a dick for keeping them in a small tank considering how little room they have. I can't take them back to the store, so maybe I can find them another home 'cause I won't be putting up a big tank any time soon

actually, anyone want my two adults? 1 male, 1 female, full grown, live in the socal area