Amano Shrimp Q

[Cinnebuns]

I'm considering getting amano shrimp for my 29 gallon primarily for eating extra food but also algae doesn't hurt. I'm not new to shrimp and have had blue dream for over a year now but this would be my first time with amano. My main question is how many would you put in a 29 gallon?  Also, any tips as to differences between care of them and neos?  From what I know they are MUCH easier, have far fewer requirements and are much hardier so I don't have much to worry about but any tips help. Ty. 

[nabokovfan87]

I care for amano shrimp about the same as I do for plecos.  Make sure you feed the bottom once or twice a week, but just be sure you don't overfeed, they will just do their own thing and they will spend a lot of time grazing on surfaces.  Whether it's prefilter sponge, wood, plants, or other surfaces they really tend to just do their own thing.

Amano shrimp are far more outgoing than something like neo shrimp.  A small amano shrimp is pretty close to the size of a near adult neo shrimp.  Once they "feel at home" it's just like an oto or pleco or something where they just go about thier own business and don't really bother or get bothered by others in the tank.  They will steal food on you, but it's not much of an issue.   I've had mine on pretty intense GH, I did have struggles when PH got a bit too high (7.6+) and it could have been due to using buffers and things changing too fast, but there is a relation between PH getting a bit "too high" and stress on the amano shrimp.   Reported range for their care is pretty much anything is sufficient all the way to including brackish conditions.  I keep mine at ~7.0 PH, KH is ~80 ppm (3-4 degrees), and my GH is anywhere from 100-550 ppm (minimum I would suggest is 6 degrees, pref 8, up to about 25 or so is plenty fine).

[Lennie]

I have 3 in a 33g. I always see my neocaridinas whether it is a community tank or not, but I never see my amanos. In fact, the only clue I have that they are alive is molts I find randomly. I have seen my amanos 2 time only in months, and It was me diving into my bedroom with flashlight for something. They are worse than my pleco/ancistrus. And they are also nocturnal, as expected. Idk maybe I had too many hiding places for them 

I personally wouldn't get them again because I haven't observed any positive effect on my tiny bit of existing hair algae in that tank and I can't enjoy them doing shrimp stuff around like I do with colorful cute neocaridinas. Technically if you starve them they may go for the algae, sure, but I won't dedicate them a tank to eat algae, or starve my community to make them go for the algae. It does not work for me really. Anytime I feed the tank or at least bottom dwellers, they will get their part at wherever they are hiding at 🤷🏼‍♂️ It may sound valid on paper, but I don't think it works in practice to have them starving to go for algae

In terms of parameters, I've kept mine up to 8.0 ph high kh and medium gh water  and I personally haven't observed any negative effect. 

 

If I could have a chance to buy any new ones for algae eating purposes, I would try Green Leaf Algae Eating Shrimp I guess. Check this video out:

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Lennie

[lefty o]

in a 29, id probably go for 3 of them, possibly up to 5. if you can keep any other shrimp alive, amano's are stupid easy.

[TOtrees]

Planted tank aficionados will often recommend 1-2 amanos per gallon, in a well planted tank. At that level, you'll run out of money before you run out of tank space/capacity. I've had a dozen in a 30 gallon, with zero issues. 

[MattyM]

I have 3 in my 20g - they have gotten fairly large, but have a small bioload. As others have said they are easy to maintain and there may be periods where you don't see them, but I love watching mine - they are hilarious, like the comical acrobats of the tank. Until they really settle in they may try to jail break, so keep that lid tight and plug up any openings (I use foil). 

With my water I've found my shrimp and snails do much better with a bit of cuttlebone in the tank, and I feed crab cuisine pellets b/c they have calcium too. 

In my experience as far as algae goes, those army green colored nerites seem to enjoy eating it the most. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/9/2023 at 7:24 AM, TOtrees said:

Planted tank aficionados will often recommend 1-2 amanos per gallon, in a well planted tank. At that level, you'll run out of money before you run out of tank space/capacity. I've had a dozen in a 30 gallon, with zero issues. 

Agreed.  It's pretty much "as much as you wish" for a lot of the how many amano questions.  In my 29, I think they did pretty well when it was ~10-16 or so.  It all depends on the activity you want as well.  More of them, a bit more activity from the group during feeding and that might spook some pretty timid fish.  A higher plant load, feel free to add more.

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/9/2023 at 11:16 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Agreed.  It's pretty much "as much as you wish" for a lot of the how many amano questions.  In my 29, I think they did pretty well when it was ~10-16 or so.  It all depends on the activity you want as well.  More of them, a bit more activity from the group during feeding and that might spook some pretty timid fish.  A higher plant load, feel free to add more.

This helps a lot. I saw that 1-2 per gallon recommendation too and was confused. I've also seen suggestions as low as 3 for 29 gallons. With such a huge range as 3 up to 58, I was getting confused. This comment helps make sense of it though. Aquahuna sells them in packs of 10 so I think I'll go with 10 for that reason. Sounds like a good middle ground too. 

[Tanked]

On 8/9/2023 at 9:35 AM, lefty o said:

in a 29, id probably go for 3 of them, possibly up to 5. if you can keep any other shrimp alive, amano's are stupid easy.

My 3  must have been just stupid.

[TOtrees]

From my own observation, I see them more when there are more in the tank. Eg in some of my 5 or 10 gals, I might only have 1, and I will rarely see it. But in a 20 or 40 that has 10+ in it, I can always see 1 or 2 or more every time I look. Is that because they feel safer in numbers so they're more likely to be out and about (like many community fish), or simply that more shrimp = more observations? Or is it a case of "embrace the power of 'and' "? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/9/2023 at 12:14 PM, TOtrees said:

From my own observation, I see them more when there are more in the tank. Eg in some of my 5 or 10 gals, I might only have 1, and I will rarely see it. But in a 20 or 40 that has 10+ in it, I can always see 1 or 2 or more every time I look. Is that because they feel safer in numbers so they're more likely to be out and about (like many community fish), or simply that more shrimp = more observations? Or is it a case of "embrace the power of 'and' "? 

The amanos are a bit like batman at times....

They like the shadows, they like the off hours for lighting.  It is what it is.  They love to clean moss and plants and they definitely will (over time) end up on the plants as opposed to running around stealing corydoras wafers!  Females tend to be more grazer types while the males fly around all over.  This is similar to behavior I have seen with neos as well.  I have the piece of wood in my tank with a branch sticking up.  The amanos are either on the moss rock grazing, underside of the wood hiding / grazing, or on the filter hiding and grazing.  They like the black on the back glass as well, very similar to hillstreams because they tend to just run all around it and graze all over it.  This likely could just be because I am not scraping it either. Hard to say.

Edited August 10, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[_Eric_]

I have 4 in a 29 right now.  I feed corys in that tank a sinking Hikari pellet and the amanos will snatch them.  One likes to get one and swim to the top of the pirate ship in the tank to eat it there which is kind of funny.  He is the biggest one and just free swims through the tank sometimes like he owns it.  The rest grab and dash into the plants or a cave.

anyway, for just cleanup without algae benefits it is hard to beat ghost shrimp since they are so cheap at Petsmart / Petco compared to what you will spend on Amanos.  They look like aliens to me which fits in with the Glo-fish tank I have them in and my kids like them.  They are the only shrimp in there and do a good job with cleanup.