I really have to praise these little creatures. I bought approx 10 for my 19 gallon, but I think approx 4 died off within the first couple of weeks or so. The rest have remained and grown incredibly.

However I really wasn't sure what real good they were doing - if any. They are always busy with their little "hands", but I had my doubts on their real "worth".

That was until I bought an extra two for my small 6.6 gallon miniature guppy tank (similar to endlers and they don't grow larger than 1"). I only have two adults and 3 fry so that waste levels weren't great, but every weekly clean, the substrate was quite grimy and the Hornwort always had to be rinsed as it had debris collecting on it.

Well, it's been a month since I've added these two shrimp, and the results are simply astounding to say the least ! On such a small scale I can really watch them and it's just fabulous to see how the walk along the black quarts rolling each and every single top layer piece to clean it. Non-stop. It's just simply amazing.

And cleaning the tank has shown an incredibly change too - far less debris and uneaten bits of food (not that I ever fed much - and only every second day or so).

Anyway - just thought I'd spread the good word about these amazing little creatures

Here is on of the pics I used for the profile I did in the Index.

That's great Bloozoo! I just wish these guys ate snails! They seem perfect.

These are Japonica shrimp aren't they? they have these in the lfs where i get my plants, only 3 euro each i think so pretty cheap, i really want to get some but im afraid they will just climb out of the tank, they could either climb up the heater or the output pipe on the filter, both of which are in the same corner to make the escape, i will have to think about some method to make it a bit harder for them to escape from the tank, right now i think it would be far to easy.

I was reading up on these the other night and given good conditions (clean healthy tank, which i think i have and no doubt you have as well) they will live for about 2 years which seemed quite a long time.

Nice shot btw, the grains of substrate look like big lumps of coal.

I would love to have shrimp; that picture of your amano is great -- so colorful. But I'm positive my mollies would eat 'em up.

This post has been edited by wendywc: Mar 12 2006, 03:06 AM

Yes they are indeed. Well I haven't had any escapees yet, and my lids aren't exactly tight - there are some spaces around the gaps for the pipes etc. but they don't seem to bother going anywhere near the top of the tank (mostly bottom - mid levels). So if you can get them that cheaply (they are £2.50 each here in most of the UK!), I'd say go for it


Mmm not sure, I'm afraid they might. But you could try one decent sized shrimp and see how it goes. They might be OK if the shrimp is adult.

Wow bloozoo2 that amano is quite colorful! Is he kept in slightly brackish water? Im asking because they often are more colorful when kept in slightly brackish waters. But from an experienced source I read their colr is more due to how much algae is consumed wheter it be "real" or algae wafers. (but if you have ever owned a brackish aquarium youd know how much algae they produce!)

My Amano are real characters, they even compete with the fish for food.
The ones in my tank have now grown pretty big, I have only had them about 3 months, but they have shed their skin so many times, and are really a lot bigger than I thought they would be!
They are the real comedians in the tank.

After reading the profile you did bloozoo2, I went out and brought 3 on Friday. Within seconds of being in the tank they where busy at work. They are absolutely fascinating to watch! My girl friend and I are so happy with the first 3 we brought 6 more, 3 for my tank and 3 for my girlfriends tank. They are only £1.65 for 1 or £8 for 6, at our LFS. IMHO, worth every penny, might even buy some more!


PS: They clean everywhere!



This post has been edited by DaveW: Mar 12 2006, 11:34 AM

If you ever have babies contact me, shrimp are on of my favourite things at the moment along with moss( my obsessions never make sence to anyone else)

I have about 10 shrimps I bought as algea shrimps and presumed to be amano but after seeing those pics they aren't the same maybe post some pics later for ID. Also got two cherries that I am trying to track down tank buddies for.

Great pics and shrimps by the way, they are really amazing.

This post has been edited by shrimply: Mar 12 2006, 12:18 PM

Thanks AMS No, it's not a brackish tank. They only "need" to be in brackish water for the beginning / first stages of life (from what I read - and I've done a lot of reading about them!).


You're absolutely right - they are comedians and really lovely to watch Mine also shed their skin very often - and I almost weekly have a "carcass" to fish out - because they don't seem to decompose well for some reason.


wow that's fab - and for such a great price ! Great excuse to buy more - they're so expensive here in London, and when I got mine, they were almost microscopic but they've now grown really big and


Thanks Shrimply. But breeding in captivity (again from what I've read) is fairly rare - and they require brackish species tank to do so. Here is a fabulous article I actually just found (and learnt a couple of very interesting things ! - in relation to duckweed and ramshorn - my two arch enemies)

This post has been edited by bloozoo2: Mar 12 2006, 12:45 PM

Well, I wouldnt say "need" but do seem to do better in backish. Adult amano lay their eggs in brackish, and the babies dont wander far from their home until they grow some. As you already know theyre a naturally brackish shrimp, but they do live in freshwater as much as they do brackish in the wild. From my knowledge, they are even once in a while found in acidic FW. They are very hardy too. Perhaps thats why they do so well in planted tanks with acidic/neutral waters.

There are certainly no reports I could find of Amano shrimp breeding in freshwater - so from that point of view they certainly need brackish water to breed. But yes, thereafter they seem quite adaptable and hardy

Does anyone know where i can find these shrimp for sale in Canada, my lfs doesnt carry them, and i cant find any websites that ship to canada.

they wont escape zig mine are in a open top tank and are fine i don't think they can servive out of water!? i put them in my 29g which was overd in a blanket of algea, left the lights out for 4 day and it's now spot less! that was two weeks ago and its still clean.

so many good reports, i think i will have to buy some for my new tank

They sound great, but does anybody know if larger/Predatory fish eat these?

At the price I paid for them - and really not going to try and find out ! I certainly won't even think of putting them into my tank with Pictus catfish, and I'm quite certain other large predatory fish will have a go.

I too love the shrimp for the work they do in your aquarium and their interesting swimming patterns. They're real 'characters' to have in the tank and mine often roost on the bogwood in the tank.

HOWEVER the same can't be said for when they escape. I'm quite simply petrified of them, when they actually get free of the water instead of crawling they jump, like giant fleas. You'll often hear me screaming like a big girls blouse if they get out

I remember once I had taken some bogwood out of my tank to clean it, and had been busy working away on the tank not really paying attention, as I was confident I'd shook all the shrimp off the bogwood. I happened to glance behind me at the newspaper on the table and to my horror spotted a lone shrimp. Shaking with fear I grabbed the nearest net and advanced towards it, but the shrimp must have guessed my plan and made a pre-emtive jump off the table and onto the floor. I screamed