Amano Shrimp

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

Do the Algae eating Amano Shrimp use up the same stocking quota as ordinary fish in your tank? For example if i put 20 in at 1.5" long, is that the same as stocking with 20 fish at 1.5" ?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i've been told that shrimps don't count towards your stocking, not 100% convinced if I believe it though!

 

[Phoenixfish]

i've been told that shrimps don't count towards your stocking, not 100% convinced if I believe it though!

from what i understand is that yes the do count for the bio load but you cant really use the 1" rule as they give off tiny bioloads compared to most fish, so its a bit more of a guess, as far as i can tell people generally "chuck" them in and dont really bother counting towards the bioload....if you get me (that wasnt ment to offend anyone)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i've been told that shrimps don't count towards your stocking, not 100% convinced if I believe it though!

from what i understand is that yes the do count for the bio load but you cant really use the 1" rule as they give off tiny bioloads compared to most fish, so its a bit more of a guess, as far as i can tell people generally "chuck" them in and dont really bother counting towards the bioload....if you get me (that wasnt ment to offend anyone)

thats what i thought, i don't believe they don't count towards the bioload at all, but it's such a small amount it's not worth counting unless you have shed loads of them. also (not amano) but some shrimp are filter feeders so surley they'll help clean the water.

But I don't think you can discount them entirley as they do still take up tank space and therefore take away swimming space from other fish.

 

[juliehainsworth]

I found personally that when I had amono shrimp they seemed to poo more or less continously so I'd have thought they had quite a high bioload.

 

[Qays]

hmm... you could probably say somthing like.

Bioload of:
2 amano shrimp = 1 neon tetra

 

[Phoenixfish]

meyeh im just going on what ive read and researched

 

[gtexan02]

meyeh im just going on what ive read and researched

It all depends on if you feed them or not. Bio-load is an interesting topic for debate. In a closed aquarium environment, where no food is added at all, the bioload (irrelevant of how many fish are in there) should be the same. So think about it like this:

If I add 10 amano shrimps to a 50 Gallon aquarium, and don't change my feeding regime at all, does it raise the bioload? Logically, it would seem like it should not, because a shrimp can't produce more waste than it can consume, right? Fishfood decays into ammonia, as does shrimp or fish excrement. Something cannot possibly excrete more than it can take in (laws of physics and all), so if you don't increase the feeding of your tank after adding shrimp (and you don't have to, because they eat leftovers), it shouldn't increase the bioload in your tank.

This is all assuming that they aren't eating algae (which doesn't decay into ammonia). If they consume only algae, then they are turning a non-nitrogen producing material (actually a nitrogen consuming material!) into a nitrogen waste product, thus increasing your bioload.

 

[scubadoo]

Hmmmmm all very interesting


me, well I'd just get a few of the little blighters, bung 'em in the tank and keep a close eye on the water stats if you're already fully stocked

... but I'm a simple man

 

[jayjay]

Shrimp do produce quite abit of waste though not alot compared to fish. I wanted to see how much waste they produce, so I have 9 amano shrimp in a bare-bottom tank ATM i've found out they do produce quite abit.

On fan feeders, you can overstocked easily, they need to not be outcompeted for food etc.