# Amano shrimp vs Cherry shrimp in terms of effectiveness



## Arturosito (15 Sep 2020)

What are the difference in effectiveness. Is there something a cherry shrimp can't do that the Amano can?

I bought 4 amanos and 5 cherry shrimps for my 25 gal. I still have the 4 amanos but 3 cherries disappeared/died. I was thinking, if the cherry can do the same that the amano can then it is just a matter of them reproducing, but since I only have 2 left I don't know if that's going to happen and it would be a shame that they actually do breed but turns out cherries don't eat a specific type of algae.


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## lilirose (15 Sep 2020)

What are you seeking in terms of "effectiveness"? Algae removal?

The main thing a cherry shrimp can do that an Amano can't is breed in freshwater. 

The Amano is more voracious in terms of what it will eat- but there are loads of algae types that neither of them will touch at all, and IMO they tend to be the ones you most want to be rid of (BBA, staghorn, hair algae of various types, and green spot algae are all left by both Amano and cherry).


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## milla (15 Sep 2020)

Try Snails they are more affective at algae removal than shrimp. 
Ramshorns will eat all types of algae that shrimp wont touch.  Mine love bba.


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## Mr.Shenanagins (16 Sep 2020)

milla said:


> Try Snails they are more affective at algae removal than shrimp.
> Ramshorns will eat all types of algae that shrimp wont touch.  Mine love bba.


I’ll attest to this, my olive nerites are excellent at removing diatoms, GSA, ANNNNND BBA! Yes that’s right, BBA. I’m more so convinced they are eating the organic waste BBA likes to feast on which in turn is killing it. Olives may not be as pretty but I feel they work harder than the more decorative nerites.


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## tiger15 (16 Sep 2020)

lilirose said:


> What are you seeking in terms of "effectiveness"? Algae removal?
> 
> The main thing a cherry shrimp can do that an Amano can't is breed in freshwater.
> 
> The Amano is more voracious in terms of what it will eat- but there are loads of algae types that neither of them will touch at all, and IMO they tend to be the ones you most want to be rid of (BBA, staghorn, hair algae of various types, and green spot algae are all left by both Amano and cherry).


True.  One on one, Amano will out eat cherry because it is more robust.  But Cherry can self multiply and will out eat Amano in mass.   Amano is often cited as the best algae eaters.   Is it overrated if Amano eats (and avoids) the same types of algae as Cherry.



milla said:


> Try Snails they are more affective at algae removal than shrimp.
> Ramshorns will eat all types of algae that shrimp wont touch.  Mine love bba.



Snails have sucker mouth that is better in grazing soft algae on surfaces than shrimp.  Shrimp have mandible that can pick out filamentous algae better than snails.  So the two together will compliment each other.

But I am not aware that Ramshorns and shrimp eat tough bba, cladophora, gsa  or spirogyra at all.


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## Wookii (16 Sep 2020)

Definitely cherry shrimp - my own Amano's are frankly quite lazy and seem to wait for fish food to appear - but as other have said, they are most successful once their population has maxed out in your tank. Whilst they won't help get rid of large tufts of BBA, I'm fairly convinced they help prevent it, and most algae, getting a grip to start will by their constant cleaning of the plant leaves under normal well maintained aquarium conditions.

If you do have a sudden outbreak of, say BBA or Staghorn, due to letting maintenance slip or similar, the shrimp also help get rid of dead algae post an Excel treatment. I've had cases before where some clumps of BBA have appeared very rapidly when I've not been on top of filter maintenance, I've misted it with one application of Excel, and the shrimp are all over it like a rash within about half an hour, as if they can already tell its dead and ready to eat - it's typically gone within a couple of days.


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## Zeus. (16 Sep 2020)

I have both , thousands of RCS and about 50-60 Amanos in 500l, been giving the amanos away to son as they do seem to like eating my Bolbitis Heuelotii more than the algae  but have Ramshorns and MTS as well plus pest snails 

Plus the amanos get so Big so spoils the scale of tank IMO


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## dw1305 (16 Sep 2020)

Hi all,





tiger15 said:


> But I am not aware that Ramshorns and shrimp eat tough bba, cladophora, gsa or spirogyra at all.





Wookii said:


> Whilst they won't help get rid of large tufts of BBA, I'm fairly convinced they help prevent it, and most algae, getting a grip to start will by their constant cleaning of the plant leaves under normal well maintained aquarium conditions.


My guess is that the <"nipping in the bud"> aspect is important for both shrimps and snails. 

cheers Darrel


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## tiger15 (16 Sep 2020)

Zeus. said:


> I have both , thousands of RCS and about 50-60 Amanos in 500l, been giving the amanos away to son as they do seem to like eating my Bolbitis Heuelotii more than the algae  but have Ramshorns and MTS as well plus pest snails
> 
> Plus the amanos get so Big so spoils the scale of tank IMO


Takashi Amano has mass of Amano in every one of his tanks, but seldom RCS.  Having mass of Amano will work but is not cheap, since they don’t self multiply. 



Wookii said:


> Definitely cherry shrimp - my own Amano's are frankly quite lazy and seem to wait for fish food to appear - but as other have said, they are most successful once their population has maxed out in your tank. Whilst they won't help get rid of large tufts of BBA, I'm fairly convinced they help prevent it, and most algae, getting a grip to start will by their constant cleaning of the plant leaves under normal well maintained aquarium conditions.
> 
> If you do have a sudden outbreak of, say BBA or Staghorn, due to letting maintenance slip or similar, the shrimp also help get rid of dead algae post an Excel treatment. I've had cases before where some clumps of BBA have appeared very rapidly when I've not been on top of filter maintenance, I've misted it with one application of Excel, and the shrimp are all over it like a rash within about half an hour, as if they can already tell its dead and ready to eat - it's typically gone within a couple of days.



If you keep fish with shrimp, their effectiveness will be compromised  as they prefer fish food than algae, and it’s hard to hold back food with fish.  All algae eaters will eat dead bba killed by excel.  But are you not concern about killing or stopping cherry shrimp from multiplying?


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## Zeus. (16 Sep 2020)

Also worth noting that some fish do like to eat RCS even when the RCS are fully grown, as the RCS are close to the bottom of the food chain !!! I had to relocate some SAE ( Siamese Algae Eaters ) as they got a taste for them when the SAE got bigger.
 Population of RCS soon grew after removal of SAE


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## Wookii (16 Sep 2020)

tiger15 said:


> If you keep fish with shrimp, their effectiveness will be compromised  as they prefer fish food than algae, and it’s hard to hold back food with fish.  All algae eaters will eat dead bba killed by excel.  But are you not concern about killing or stopping cherry shrimp from multiplying?



All the shrimp I have will eat fish food, but the Cherry shrimp graze constantly, not just within the 15 minute per day feeding window - the Amanos however seem to be happy resting on the underside of the hardscape most of the day. As for Excel I only spot dose it as needed, and it has no notable effect on any livestock.


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## tiger15 (17 Sep 2020)

Wookii said:


> All the shrimp I have will eat fish food, but the Cherry shrimp graze constantly, not just within the 15 minute per day feeding window - the Amanos however seem to be happy resting on the underside of the hardscape most of the day. As for Excel I only spot dose it as needed, and it has no notable effect on any livestock.


There are many videos that show hungry Amano clean up filamentous algae on plants.  If you feed your shrimp 15 min per day, that’s a lot of food.  Amano are more aggressive eater than cherry and will grab the food and take all.  So they won’t be hungry, get lazy, and just wait for the next hand out.  

I used to feed my Invert bowl every other day, and the Amano, cherry and snails are always active.  The bowl is high energy that receives sunlight in the afternoon, so there is plenty of bio film and algae to feed the invert.  I have recently reduced feeding to once a week and may eliminate feeding altogether in the hope to get rid of cladophora and spirogyra which the invert dont seem to touch.


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## Zeus. (17 Sep 2020)

My RCS don't touch hair algae (or dont keep it under control) in my 50l pot scape, but popping the potted plant in 500L and its cleaned up in no time by the Amanos


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