Shrimp tankmates

[NGUYEN TRI TAI]

I have a 200 litters tank with 1 rosy barb, 1 red tail shark, 1 leopard pleco, 1 featherfin catfish, 4 siamese algae eater, guppies, mollies, platies all live in peace. But the algae is getting out of hand. I plan to buy some amano shrimps for their algae eating ability. Is this a good idea? Are they gonna get eaten? Will it be ok if the shrimp is about 2cm long? I would really appreciate your advice. Thank you for your help!

 

[Naughts]

What is a corybarb?
I would be wary of any fish that could fit the shrimp in its mouth.

 

[NGUYEN TRI TAI]

What is a corybarb?
I would be wary of any fish that could fit the shrimp in its mouth.

Sorry I meant Rosy Barb. The amano shrimps are quite big, I don't think they would fit any of the fish mouth. I'm worry that the fish would nip them on the legs and antennas. What do you think?

 

[Naughts]

Might be worth a try then, I wouldn't fully stock the shrimp, maybe start off with a small amount to see if they become an expensive lunch. And don't add any loaches once you have the shrimp. Do you have somewhere for the shrimps to go if it didn't work out?

 

[Lilyann]

Sorry I meant Rosy Barb. The amano shrimps are quite big, I don't think they would fit any of the fish mouth. I'm worry that the fish would nip them on the legs and antennas. What do you think?

That is a real concern. Fish will harass shrimp and injure them as well. If your tank is heavily planted and provides cover with rock, wood, etc... then adding shrimp would be fine. If not, I would not add shrimp until you provide adequate cover for them.

 

[seangee]

Am I correct in thinking this tank is outdoors. Algae is cause by an imbalance in light, nutrients and plant life. The most likely culprit here is sunlight. Are you able to move the tank so it is not in direct sunlight, or not for so long. It may be neccessary to black out some of the walls. Also plant more plants and make sure you do regular water changes. If the algae is out of control no amount of shrimp (or snails or anything else) will get it under control, you have to remove the source.

If the algae is floating green algae (i.e. the water looks green rather than algae growing on surfaces) a UV filter may be an idea. This is usually not recommended for indoor tanks but outdoors you have far less control over the light. Please note a UV filter will only be effective against this single cell floating algae and won't do anything against other types.

 

[NGUYEN TRI TAI]

Might be worth a try then, I wouldn't fully stock the shrimp, maybe start off with a small amount to see if they become an expensive lunch. And don't add any loaches once you have the shrimp. Do you have somewhere for the shrimps to go if it didn't work out?

That is a real concern. Fish will harass shrimp and injure them as well. If your tank is heavily planted and provides cover with rock, wood, etc... then adding shrimp would be fine. If not, I would not add shrimp until you provide adequate cover for them.

My tank has a good amound of plants, rock,... for them to hide. I also have a smaller (50 litters) tank too. So I did what you said. I bought 4 shrimps and put them in the small tank. Then I over fed the fish and introduced one. He's fine, explore around and start eating the algae. The fish look like they don't care that much.
I monitored him for the next 5 hours, everything was ok so I put the rest of them in. It's been almost 24h and they are all good. Thank you guys so much for your advices.

Am I correct in thinking this tank is outdoors. Algae is cause by an imbalance in light, nutrients and plant life. The most likely culprit here is sunlight. Are you able to move the tank so it is not in direct sunlight, or not for so long. It may be neccessary to black out some of the walls. Also plant more plants and make sure you do regular water changes. If the algae is out of control no amount of shrimp (or snails or anything else) will get it under control, you have to remove the source.

If the algae is floating green algae (i.e. the water looks green rather than algae growing on surfaces) a UV filter may be an idea. This is usually not recommended for indoor tanks but outdoors you have far less control over the light. Please note a UV filter will only be effective against this single cell floating algae and won't do anything against other types.

Yes you're correct, it's an outdoor tank. It's under my rooftop stair, not in direct sunlight most of the day but still getting lot of reflected light. I can't move it but I'll try cover the front glass. Do you think more floating plant would help blocking the light?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4CN1XVMPENmWBwhe7
It's hair algae. I'll plant more plants and pull out as much as I can. Last week I pulled out a tennis ball big of algae but they grew back like nothing happen in just 2 days. Anyway, thank you. I really appreciate your help.