# Advice on keeping Amano shrimps



## Achilles1 (6 Jan 2015)

Hi all,

I need your advice. after reading a lot it's still not clear to me if it's a good idea for me to keep amano shrimps. I want around 10 of them as a little cleaning crew. Here are the specs of my tank:

- medium light, 2x 39w on 190 liters 
- medium co2 (drop checker is lime green
- medium planted
- tank is running for 5 weeks now
- I'm usin the Estimative Index with a 50% wc every week
- medium flow(all leaves gently swaying
- no big fish
- the lid is not completely closed because of tubes (can the shrimps escape?)

What are your thoughts?


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## Wisey (7 Jan 2015)

I think all of the above is fine, but you would need to let us know your water parameters. You can test the water or just have a look at your local water report if you are using tap water and see whether your water is soft or hard. I was just looking at this myself and I live in Aberdeen where the water is soft, just 2 german degrees and apparently this won't be good for shrimp unless I was to alter the hardness.


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## Zak Rafik (8 Jan 2015)

Achilles1 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I need your advice. after reading a lot it's still not clear to me if it's a good idea for me to keep amano shrimps. I want around 10 of them as a little cleaning crew. Here are the specs of my tank:
> 
> ...



Hi
When you're transporting home the shrimps from your LFS, be sure to have some plants inside the bag along with the shrimps. This will give them something to grab onto during the journey.  Better still bring plant cuttings from your tank. I have seen LFS taking plants from tanks which have fish covered with Ich  (I'm not joking)

Also please be mentally prepared to lose a few of them in the first week. I lost some when they jumped out of the tank (especially during the night) and for some unknown reason, some will go missing.  If you have a surface skimmer like an Eheim, be extra cautious when cleaning it. You are sure to find quite a few inside. I have also observed that shrimps don't prefer strong water movements. So be sure to have lots of hiding places for them in your tank. 

Last of all, you will also see some of these guys taking a leisurely stroll on your floor or furniture near your tank. They won't die immediately like fish when they're out the the tank but you do need to act fast.

If you intend to have 10 then I suggest that you get a extra few for the expected AWOLs.
Cheers


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## Achilles1 (10 Jan 2015)

Thanks for you replies. I bought 6 of them today, figuring it would be a trial and if all went well I'd buy a few more.

Well, the first few hours everything was ok, but the last time I checked I spotted only 3 of the fellows, but it's hard to say for sure, because they're hard to spot    And so quick. God I hope they don't went awol considering they cost 4 euro a piece 


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## foxfish (11 Jan 2015)

I have found them to be very tough creatures & a great asset to my tanks.
I do feel a bit guilty though as they cant actually reproduce  in our fresh water tanks but very often carry eggs for months on end.
My present stock must be 6-7 years old!


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## Achilles1 (11 Jan 2015)

Did you ever "lose" them or thought they had escaped from your tank?


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## Zak Rafik (11 Jan 2015)

Achilles1 said:


> Thanks for you replies. I bought 6 of them today, figuring it would be a trial and if all went well I'd buy a few more.
> Well, the first few hours everything was ok, but the last time I checked I spotted only 3 of the fellows, but it's hard to say for sure, because they're hard to spot    And so quick. God I hope they don't went awol considering they cost 4 euro a piece
> Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met behulp van Tapatalk



I don't blame you for buying only 6 which is a very small population. But seriously 4 Euros a piece!!!! You've got to kidding me.
Sorry if I'm rubbing salt in the wound. In my area you can get Euro 0.65 ( 65 euro cents) per piece. In fact I'm going to get some later this week.
I'm sure there there must be other LFS with more reasonable price.

I've observed that when first introduced, they tend to hide. They don't seem to prefer bright light and strong flow. If you need to do a head count, you can set your lights at the lowest setting, switch off your pumps. Give them some time, those guys will bravely step forward to the front. I find this works best in the evenings. I try this method for my Red Cherry shrimps too.

If you do find there is some missing, fret not. These things happen. This has happened to me.
Cheers.


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## Zak Rafik (11 Jan 2015)

foxfish said:


> I do feel a bit guilty though as they cant actually reproduce in our fresh water tanks but very often carry eggs for months on end.


Ditto as your feeling. I was so excited when my shrimps started to have eggs.



foxfish said:


> My present stock must be 6-7 years old!


Hummmmm... what are you feeding these guys? Ginseng tonic! 

Seriously, what's your secret! Please share.

Have a great weekend.


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## foxfish (11 Jan 2015)

No secrete really, I do  a 10% daily water change and have a trickle filter but otherwise it just a standard high tec tank.
I do feed my fish and shrimp 4-6 times a day as I am home much of the time. I quite often see the shrimp feeding upside down from the suffice.


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## Zak Rafik (12 Jan 2015)

foxfish said:


> No secrete really, I do  a 10% daily water change and have a trickle filter but otherwise it just a standard high tec tank.
> I do feed my fish and shrimp 4-6 times a day as I am home much of the time. I quite often see the shrimp feeding upside down from the suffice.



So do your shrimps look like Jabba the Hutt after the the 4-6 feeding per day.

Have your shrimps have become too lazy to clean the algae in the tank?
Do you have any big fish in your tank?
The reason I'm asking this that my Congo Tetras seem to snacking on the smaller sized Red cherry shrimps or chasing my Amano shrimps.
I've witnessed this more than once in my tank. Could it be due to less feeding? I feed my fish twice but most of the time it's one feeding per day.

Cheers


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## foxfish (12 Jan 2015)

I don't really have any nussance algea, all my shrimps are pretty big (& fat) however I did have some issues with a few blind cave fish attaching my shrimp but they have gone back to the shop now.


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## foxfish (12 Jan 2015)

Sorry about the attaching instead of attacking in the above post ... Ipnone  screen V old man V no editing post after 15min forum rule!!!.
I don't think your Congo tetras would attack an adult amano as they get a lot bigger than cherrys do...


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## Zak Rafik (12 Jan 2015)

foxfish said:


> Sorry about the attaching instead of attacking in the above post ... Ipnone  screen V old man V no editing post after 15min forum rule!!!.
> I don't think your Congo tetras would attack an adult amano as they get a lot bigger than cherrys do...



Yes you're right. My Congos don't chase the Amanos for food but they get very hyper active whenever anything floats or swims in the tank. So these Amanos shrimps get spooked and they seem to just jump out of the tank. But I can confidently say Congos eat Cherry shrimps . I'hv caught them red handed once or twice. But luckily my cherry shrimps reproduce enough to make up for the shortage.

As there is a big field next to my house, I often get small beetles and moths flying into the hall and some land on the tank. My Congos would grab the insects and tear it apart within a few seconds and eat them up.

BTW, do your shrimps swim about actively after a water change? After my 50% water changes, many a times I see a shrimp or two on the floor in the early mornings - dead. This doesn't occur regularly but quite a few times. I don't know why this is so.


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## foxfish (12 Jan 2015)

I don't often do really big water changes but I cant say I have ever had any problems with them of any sort.


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