# Good algae eating shrimp



## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

What are some good algae eating shrimp, specifically for long green hair algae? I've been getting some algae growth lately and I've been told that some Amano shrimp would really help out. I was wondering if there are any other good hair algae eating shrimp, preferably ones that are somewhat easily available. I'm going to start looking around for amano shrimp, but it would be interesting to know of other possibilities as well. Thanks in advance.


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## Disturbed (Aug 17, 2011)

Most shrimp will eat some to some degree but Amanos are by far the best. There are 2 vendors on planted tank that have them right now


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## bjielsl (Sep 20, 2011)

+1 on amanos


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## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

Sounds like amanos really are the way to go, I'll look around for some. About how many do you think would be good for my tank? It's a 29 gallon, high-light, heavily planted tank. Right now the hair algae is pretty bad, but I think that when I get CO2 running it will hopefully go away or at least there will hopefully be less of it. What do you think?


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## NatureAquariumGarden (Nov 19, 2011)

Amanos, does not always work out. Usually they won't eat green algae, they prefer brown algae.


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## singolz (Oct 27, 2011)

Fishguy10 said:


> Sounds like amanos really are the way to go, I'll look around for some. About how many do you think would be good for my tank? It's a 29 gallon, high-light, heavily planted tank. Right now the hair algae is pretty bad, but I think that when I get CO2 running it will hopefully go away or at least there will hopefully be less of it. What do you think?


I love the cherry shrimp. nice color, breed like crazy, clean up nicely, and very adaptable.

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## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

I've thought about Cherry shrimp in the past, but I never got any. They are actually pretty expensive where I live (or at least they seem like it) and whenever I do see them in stores, they look almost clear with very faded light pink bodies. I don't think that I've ever seen a really nice red one like the ones in pictures. The fact that they breed easily is kind of nice though, and if they can take care of hair algae, I'll have to consider them again.


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## bjielsl (Sep 20, 2011)

Yup, Amano's


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## aquaman555 (Mar 22, 2011)

Fishguy10 said:


> I've thought about Cherry shrimp in the past, but I never got any. They are actually pretty expensive where I live (or at least they seem like it) and whenever I do see them in stores, they look almost clear with very faded light pink bodies. I don't think that I've ever seen a really nice red one like the ones in pictures. The fact that they breed easily is kind of nice though, and if they can take care of hair algae, I'll have to consider them again.


Amanos are usually good for algae as well as many other shrimp like cherries. Amanos seem to have the have the best algae eating rep. Cherry shrimp will be pale when you first receive them or at a store(which probably recently received them). They have to get settled in to start coloring up nicely. They will breed easily however pretty much all fish will eat the babies. Then again if your tank has lots of plants and you cover the filter intake you may have success with getting some babies to adulthood.


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## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

That is good to know about cherries coloring up once they are more acclimated. If I were to get cherries I wouldn't count on all of the babies surviving, but It would be nice if a couple of them did. It sounds like cherries tend to stay smaller, where as Amano shrimp get bigger. Is this true? Also, which of the two in general would you say is more active?


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## singolz (Oct 27, 2011)

cherries definitely stay smaller. amanos are wayyy more active. also they are alot bigger. about double the size of cherry shrimp. the LFS I go to has a bunch of them and they are huge! almost 3". I figure they'd look too big for my 10g tank.


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## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

Cherry shrimp always seem really small when I see them. Active bigger shrimp may be a little bit better for me, even if they aren't very colorful. The LFS near me has both for the same price, but they seem to have a lot more Amanos and they are pretty good sized, where as the cherries are really small and there aren't very many of them. I think that I'm sort of leaning towards Amanos.


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## ProjectCode858 (Nov 29, 2011)

I think ottos and cherries are the best in numbers. ammanos are such bullies I wouldn't want to add them to tanks that have shy or sensitive shrimps.


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## TooManyTanks (Dec 4, 2011)

I have RCS in my planted tanks except my 20 gallon due to having an angel. They do very well at cleanup and def do breed like crazy. I heard people doing combinations of Tigers, RCS and Amanos but not conisdered doing so yet. Might consider it soon but still doing research. I also keep Marbled crayfish in my55 with my RCS they do great together


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Have no experience with amanos, but cherries are pretty nice. They do breed like crazy. I started out with about 6 and now have a 20 long that is well stocked with cherry shrimp. Everywhere you look you see anything from tiny babies to adults. Whatever you buy throw them an algae wafer or two once or twice a week. I also have no other fish in the 20 long, I want to be able to keep a supply of shrimp.


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## TooManyTanks (Dec 4, 2011)

Yeah. Local fish store likes them also people all over the net lol


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## SHWAGert (Nov 10, 2011)

amano and cherry shrimp are the best tank cleaners IME. Cherry's are smaller and eat less, but they are also going to reproduce. The amano shrimp require brackish water for their babies to survive, so you will have to restock those manually (by buying more). I have always kept both when I had an algae problem. In terms of activity level, I see about the same from one shrimp to the other, however the amanos are certainly larger and easier to see.


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## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

Sounds like cherry shrimp are pretty popular. Do they ever get a solid red color or are they always a semi-see-through orange-ish pink color?


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## singolz (Oct 27, 2011)

Fishguy10 said:


> Sounds like cherry shrimp are pretty popular. Do they ever get a solid red color or are they always a semi-see-through orange-ish pink color?


they do get solid red, they are actualy sold in grades at my LFS. I have a couple that are a little see through, almost like the tiger shrimps. I also have really solid and bright red ones.

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## SHWAGert (Nov 10, 2011)

Females get quite solid in color after the initial acclimation period, if conditions are good. The males however are often a little smaller and will always have that slight see through appearance.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Does anyone have any experience with other shrimp species? Like blackberry, crystal red, or cardinal shrimp? How well do these breed? What about compatability?


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## Fishguy10 (Aug 6, 2011)

Travisk, I have some low grade crystal reds. They do breed and I'll usually be able to see the tiny baby shrimp, but the babies always seem to disappear/die. It could be just because they are in a very small tank right now or something else, but I have not had much success with raising the babies to adulthood. I only have 4-5 shrimp and I may have gotten one baby shrimp to a decent size in 4-6 months or so. 

I got some Amanos today, only 5 for my 29 gallon, but if they work out well I might get more. The cherry shrimp at my LFS are always very light pink, semi-see through, and small. Hopefully the Amanos help out with my algae problem.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

I only have experience with rcs, want to try some of the other species. Red cherry shrimp are awesome. Breed fast. How powerful is your filter?


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## aquaman555 (Mar 22, 2011)

travisk said:


> Does anyone have any experience with other shrimp species? Like blackberry, crystal red, or cardinal shrimp? How well do these breed? What about compatability?


I have experience with blue pearls, but they are the pretty much the same as snowballs and cherries. Not positive, but I believe RCS and CRS can be kept together, not 100% though.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Thanks aquaman, I really want to try crystal red shrimp. Really I want to try several species of shrimp, OK now I sound like Bubba. Shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew, fried shrimp...... lol! There are a lot of species, pick your favorites, right?


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## singolz (Oct 27, 2011)

travisk said:


> Thanks aquaman, I really want to try crystal red shrimp. Really I want to try several species of shrimp, OK now I sound like Bubba. Shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew, fried shrimp...... lol! There are a lot of species, pick your favorites, right?


I had 2 crystal reds in my tank, unfortunately 1 died, but the other is doing well. and yes, you can keep RCS and crystals. i wouldn't see a problem keeping all sorts of species together

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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

My local pet stores don't carry shrimp. Most of them only carry ghost shrimp. Don't really want them. Got lucky and found rcs once. Has anyone had luck ordering them online?


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## SHWAGert (Nov 10, 2011)

CRS and RCS can and will live together. Cherry shrimp are Neocaridina Heteropoda, whereas crystal reds are Caridina cantonensis. You can mix Caridina and Neocaridina, but you cannot put two of the same together or else they may interbreed. If they interbreed, the ensuing generations will lose their coloration and revert to the natural colors. Crystal shrimp are far more sensitive to water quality than cherry shrimp. My advice is to get successful with raising cherry shrimp for a while before moving to the more expensive shrimp. In terms of ordering shrimp online, their are various factors that need to be taken into consideration. Factors like DOA guarantee, where they are coming from, transit time, weather. Shipping is rough on shrimp, more so with the delicate types. On the other hand, I have had success getting shrimp through the mail on several occasions.


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## aquaman555 (Mar 22, 2011)

I've gotten blue pearls online, once I had 2 of 12 die within 3-5 days not sure why...maybe stress from shipping. No other problems though. Winter isn't optimum time to ship, especially since a lot of people only want to pay for Priority on cheaper neocaridina shrimp. However just make sure they have a DOA guarantee regardless.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Ya, I will be waiting till spring to order any. But will probably order from an APC member.


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## Ivyrose (Aug 9, 2011)

travisk said:


> My local pet stores don't carry shrimp. Most of them only carry ghost shrimp. Don't really want them. Got lucky and found rcs once. Has anyone had luck ordering them online?


I recently got some rcs on Aquabid and I'm very happy with them. I looked at the feedback of the seller before I bid, I know some people have had mixed experiences with Aquabid but there are lots of shrimp on there and I got a really good deal. Sometimes on this forum people have offered shrimp for sale, keep watching.


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