# Do i have baby Amano's?



## Mark Evans (31 May 2012)

I've kept this quiet for some time now.

I've disscussed this with a couple of people mow. 1 says' 'No' the other ' Nathan hill from PFK'says it's possible with brackish water.He's seen it happen apparently.

Now for some time....months i've seen the odd Amano in my tank which is about 2 cm. I simply didn't put any in at that size.

When i transferedd them from the 120 to the 90, 80% were pregnant. There's not one pregnat now. I've seen about 3 or 4 small amanos in there.

I can promise this you this.....They are not male cherries! Fact. They are 100% Amano's. 

I'm baffled.


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## Ady34 (31 May 2012)

is it possible they are a hybrid from a male amano and a female cherry thus the eggs hatching in fresh water but  looking like an amano? 
I dont know if this is possible but just a suggestion to get the ball rolling for others with more knowledge.
It may well be just another example of your midas touch   
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Mark Evans (31 May 2012)

That has been mentioned Ad actually. But also, on the other hand, i've been told, amano and cherry wont mix....

it's baffling me. I think i'm going mad when i see them, but they are for sure Amano's. The markings etc. are of a an Amano.

As with the baby cherries, they small stuff hide until of a certain size, then once bigger the emerge. If they come out, i'll try and take an image. 

Thanks for the input Ad.


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## mvasingh (31 May 2012)

Why don't you ask Amano?
Mike


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## Ian Holdich (31 May 2012)

I'd still say it can't be done...do you have any pics Mark??


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## Radik (31 May 2012)

There is product available with claims this.

"It diminishes the need to use brackish water for the development of some species of shrimp larvae in captivity. In most cases, shrimp larvae die in captivity due to the lack of microscopic food. Shrimpton food size ranges from 8um to 200um. This is an ideal food size for all stages of a shrimp larvae’s life."

so I would not rule it out completely if Mark can successfully grow plants I think he can be good at growing algae too


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## Ian Holdich (31 May 2012)

but that kind of food needs Brackish water to survive. The shrimp don't actually need Brackish water, it's the food the shrimp need from my understanding.


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## spyder (31 May 2012)

I posted this a while back.

About a year ago, during my research upon returning to the hobby, I stumbled upon a thread of a members tank. He had a few YouTube videos too and had young Amano's in there. Fresh water planted, no intervention. I would say it is possible. The thread was on a US forum and I've not come across it since.

Mark, I believe


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## Mark Evans (31 May 2012)

I'll try to get a pic. 

I think all baby shrimp could live on detritus maybe?....thats small food.

 Algae wise, there's not much of that stuff in my tanks. Micro algae maybe, but then an ultra clean tank wouldnt be a scientific perfect environment would it?

The only algae i tend to see is Staghorn maybe at 3 month intervals, that means a filter clean, then its gone.

GSA is a minor issue. I've stopped using easycarbo too. Maybe shrimp are happier without it?

I just dont know if it's possible for them to breed. I do have them though, trust me.


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## Ian Holdich (31 May 2012)

Wiki does claim that there has been claims of this...

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Caridina_multidentata


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## Viv (31 May 2012)

On another forum I've been on someone else said they had amanos breeding in their freshwater tank. They put up photos of the shrimplets in the filter box. Apparently it was a regular thing for them. They were in the UK too, not the US. I've been trying to find it again but it was a while ago and haven't had any success yet 

Viv


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## NA-Fan (31 May 2012)

It's impossible to breed Caradina multidentata (commonly known as Amano shrimp) in freshwater. What you likely have is not true C. multidentata, but very similar in appearance. So you've bred these shrimp, there's no denying it, but they're not the true species.

There is a school of thought that believes most 'Amano' shrimp in the UK aren't actually C. multidentata, hence the reports of breeding.

There's an old thread on here mentioning it (see George's post). viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12627

At the end of the day, if the shrimp eat algae and they're breeding then all is good! 

If you really want a definitive answer then you can try to get hold of Werner Klotz and send him a specimen to analyse.


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## Mark Evans (31 May 2012)

Here's the best i can do.

It's the smallest one there...obviously. I never put a shrimp of this size in the 90cm. I caught them all by net individually, and they were all massive.

This is one of about 4. You can also see the pregnant amano's...which is a constant thing. 

Click on the image for a bigger view. I'm pretty damn sure they're amano's


baby-2 by saintly's pics, on Flickr


baby-1 by saintly's pics, on Flickr


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## frothhelmet (31 May 2012)

Well Mark, I must say those shrimp look like amanos to me. Whatever their identity, if your 'amanos' eat algae like real amanos, who needs a real amano...So, do they?


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## Mark Evans (31 May 2012)

They do the same job as an amano. Side by side, they're the same...apart from size.

I was tempted to take the tank apart, but i'm going to hang on a while now. There's lots of different things happening in the tank that are interesting. Shrimpy things, plant growth, and a couple of new plants. 

I think i'll hang on to this for a few more months. I may even reach 1 year   now that would be a novalty.


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## Garuf (31 May 2012)

There was threads about this a few years back and I second what NA Fan says, they're not true amano's, in the same way that some plant species are impossible to tell apart without looking at a microscope the same is said for the above shrimps. It's a case of mistaken identity compounded by a common name being applied to all insubstantial looking brown shrimps. 
I remember a thread on one of the shrimp forums, possibly cursta10 and it turned out to not be the true caradina multidentata but instead one originating from Hong Kong and not the true Japanese Amano most people think they have.


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## Mark Evans (1 Jun 2012)

So when we buy, what we think are Amano shrimp, they really are not? 

I'm not fussed. They do the same job, and look identical, so if they carry on breeding, i'm happy. They're busy little things


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## somethingfishy (1 Jun 2012)

I really hope i have the fake kind too ... these are great shrimp


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## Liam (1 Jun 2012)

The plants look lovely and lush. As already said there were lots of reports some years ago of a species that look the same as amano that do breed in freshwater, it’s surprising that they have not been marketed as a separate species, I for one would buy them. They may breed like Sri Lankan dwarf shrimp or some ghost shrimp having a very short larval stage.


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## Garuf (1 Jun 2012)

Indeed, most shops don't know any better, it's on their lists as Amanos, why would they think they're not. That and they are ill equipped to give the correct species when they're outwardly identical especially if they don't suspect otherwise.


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## james3200 (3 Jul 2012)

I have just spotted this littlen when introducing my amanos back into my main tank while it was clcyling. Definitely an Amano / Hybrid as there are no other types in there


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## Tim Harrison (4 Jul 2012)

I've had _C. japonica_ breed in one of my low energy tanks.

That is I was sold them as _C. japonica_, and they look distinctly like _C. japonica_ however they may have been another _Caridinia _spp, but not being an expert I am not sure if the difference between species of this genus is significant, and whether they require different conditions to grow from larvae to adult. 

Anyway, I had a couple of the females heavy with eggs for a while, and immediately after a substantial water change I noticed a swarm of larvae suspended in the water column.

Unfortunately, my glutinous angels polished most of them off, and I was quite happy to let them since I believed at the time they wouldn't survive anyway. Their natural history involves being swept down to the ocean, where they mature before returning to freshwater.

However, I've been fascinated by natural history since a small child, and it has influenced my career path and hobbies (obviously) and I have often seen natural phenomena that runs contrary to established wisdom.

So...maybe Marks shrimp didn't read the text book!


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## tim (9 Jul 2012)

just a question for experts scientifically minded people would the need for saltwater for shrimps food to thrive be possible in an ei tank as they are salts we add to the tank as ferts possible ?


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## frothhelmet (15 Jul 2012)

Mark, you will sell them to the forums at some point won't you? Not only do I want them, but med-size shrimp that are peaceful and breed in freshwater are super rare, and there have to be quite a few hobbyists who would be interested. And if they eat algae like the amanos so much the better for us aquascapers.


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## FreshWater Shrimp (15 Jul 2012)

Mostly all "Amanos" in the UK or Germany are from Hong Kong as we are not aware any importer directly importing from Japan. They all import HK, China, Taiwan, Indonesia ...

It still does not rule out they are not true amanos. Everybody would already breed them readily otherwise. Or nature found it's course. As said before Mosura is claiming it is proper micro food dispersed in water not salty water required to raise this shrimp. Found berried amano in our tank so only way is to test it out now.

Anyway it does not matter as long as they do proper job cleaning algae and are fun to watch, when hungry they destroy everything including some plants.


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## greenink (15 Jul 2012)

I've been wondering this myself for a while. I've definitely got some tiny very-Amano-like shrimp (1cm) in my big tank, and I definitely didn't buy any that size.


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