# Help with my Amano shrimp!!



## Erika (6 Jan 2017)

Hi all, I have started keeping Amano shrimp last year. One was being a bit bullied by the larger ones, so I separated him 6 months ago, and he has been happily living in his tank since. I will get more companions of his size when I'll have more time off work soon.
He was always brightly marked with several dots, lively and eating well.
But of course now I started having problems! He is still eating very well and lively, but in the last month he has changed his colour: no more dots, he has become completely transparent.
The aquarium is a 7 Litre with filter. Water temperature is 21-22degrees, no sudden changes (checked daily). pH7, no Nitrites/nitrates or ammonia (checked daily).
He is fed a diet of catappa leaves, blanched spinach and occasional treat of bee pollen which he greatly enjoys.
I  try to do water changes every 2 weeks, but it sometimes can be less frequent due to being busy at work (but this is the norm with all my shrimp, also the color change happened only 4 weeks ago). Water is obviously dechlorinated and I compensate evaporation on a weekly basis, topping up the water level with distilled water.
I attached 2 pictures of my little shrimp for you to see, the before and after. (Apologies for the second picture, he was eating so would not sit still: it is a bit blurred)
Do you think I'm suddenly doing anything wrong? Any advice? Looking forward to hearing from you.
Many thanks
Erika


----------



## louis_last (7 Jan 2017)

I don't think this is necessarily cause for concern, especially if he's eating and has been this way for a month. Every amano I've ever bought has taken on different colours and markings than they show in the shop once I add them to my tank. They're often very blue when I buy them but this fades quickly once I get them home.
There's a combination of different factors such as diet, stress and how exposed the shrimp feels that can affect their markings. Amanos in my experience much prefer to live in groups and will be more timid and less colourful when kept in small groups or in isolation - especially in brightly lit tanks.
Even in my shrimp only planted tank, if there are less than three amanos in there, they tend to only come out at night.

EDIT - just to add that I wouldn't worry about amanos bullying each other, they always seem to have a pecking order much like chickens in my experience. Eventually I believe you would find they settle.


----------



## Erika (7 Jan 2017)

Thank you Louis! He is quite inquisitive and very bright, and always swims up to fetch the bee pollen off my small tweezers, when I Introduce it into the water near a moss ball. I was worried I was doing something that could damage him in the long term! Thanks again for the advice!


----------



## Jessica sergeant (28 May 2018)

Most shrimp i would agree like to be in groups all though they dont really socialise. I would think is more safety in numbers kind of thing. I have heard of amanos shunning other shrimps and have read that this can be rectified by simply adding more shrimps. X


----------



## BubblingUnder (28 May 2018)

Sounds like its just moulted. It will hide away but return to normal self when the new shell hardens - Normal predator avoidance behaviour (mine do the same)


----------

