# Do amano shrimp eat brown diatom algae?



## 6 bar

I know otos do a great job, but I can never seem to keep otos for longer then 3 months. Could amano shrimp do the trick or are there any other algae eaters that will do it?


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## 6 bar

Judging by the lack of response, I'm concluding that they do not eat brown algae. So, I got some otos. Hopefully, I can keep these guys alive for longer than 3 months. Anyone have any success with keeping otos alive for longer than 3 months. What are you feeding them?


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## manifresh006

Suffering same problem(Brown algae) and have amanos and can clearly say they dont
Do great with hair algae but not with this type of hair algae(silica or glass)


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## Jeanine

I have the same problem with these fish. I know someone else that also has problems keeping them. It makes me wonder if it has something to do with the species. Actually, I do have one that I've had for about 5 months now. The last two died within 5 days of getting them home and gave the rest of my fish Ich, which I'm still fighting. I have Amano Shrimp in my tank and can't find any copper free meds in my town. I would suggest a pitbull plec, they're excellent algae eaters and don't get very big. I had one but he died from the Ich.


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## Dielectric

i can never keep them either... very delicate


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## Shad0w

I don't think Amano shrimp will eat brown algae, otos does. I have otos for years. Most people in my part of the world never have problem with otos. Maybe because of the water condition.


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## Philosophos

I keep Yamato's just fine, and I've seen them eat almost everything save for green scale algae. Right now I actually have issues with brown diatom in the lower growth of H. micranthemoids on the side of the tank that a female A. hongsloi is spawned in. I used to have a little on the opposite side, but it's disappeared now that all 7 Yamato are stuffed in to that area.

I'm not sure why everyone here is having trouble with Yamato shrimp; I find that with regular water changes and reasonable parameters, they do just fine. pH in my tank swings between 6.2 and 6.8 day/night, KH is 4-5 right now, GH something like 7-8. I've heard of them being kept in far higher pH, or with less KH. If you can manage Yamato though, I've heard that CRS manage a better job when cleaning the tank. Might be worth looking in to.

-Philosophos


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## chagovatoloco

I have never had any problem keeping oto's IMO they are strong fish.


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## Philosophos

True enough chago, outside of the infamous mortality rate when first introduced, they're usually pretty hard to kill.

6bar, have you bothered trying to troubleshoot your problems with the oto's? If they're your first choice, an average fish keeper shouldn't have too much trouble. Maybe you're overlooking one variable. You could always post the usual water parameters (pH/gH/kH/NH4/NO2/NO3/temp) and maybe some info on what you're feeding, algae levels, anything being dosed in to the column (ferts, meds, buffers CO2 etc.) symptoms before death, and whether you're always buying from the same source. If none of these are out of line I'd start looking at the water quality report for your area (things like copper) and maybe decor.

-Philosophos


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## stepheus

Amanos should eat brown diatom algae on everything in the tank except for the glass. They dont perch very well on tank glass unlike cherry shrimps.

I ve always got problems with ottos and amanos as well. When a it is hardy, I need them to last for at least a year or two before going to fish heaven. I'd rather have small plecos, starved cherry barbs and sae to solve my issues.


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## Philosophos

Stepheous, have you tried changing your source for either? I've found if you end up with a store/town that's supplied by some place like Africa West Importers, you can expect short life spans on certain species. Hormone pumping and bad genetics aren't too uncommon. I can't find a good source for rams- I can keep sensitive appistos, but rams never live more than 6 months for me. Everyone else buying the same fish from the same sources complains about the same issue.

-Philosophos


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