# the BEST algae shrimp defender



## trustbran (Jun 21, 2006)

Hey guys, of all the shrimps available, which 1 shrimp do you guys feel is the best at algae eating or at least controlling it fro that matter..... I know there will be alot of mixed answers on this but try to sum it down to just one overall shrimp based on your guys experiences.. I am kinda leaning towards the amano.........


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Amanos, hands down. I've had a tank with cherries, tigers, bees and they did good jobs but were not as agressive against algae as Amanos. Everytime I start a tank I use them. The problem with them is that the Amanos are sometimes too vicious and after algae they start ripping up plants like moss, riccia and hc. Clears algae in a couple days max.


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

I ALWAYS see my cherry shrimp picking at something. They seem to be the most productive algae eaters based on my experience (I've had bee's, cherries, and amanos). The amanos I have are pretty much useless. I think the people I bought them from fed them flakes, so all they do is pick at the driftwood and go nuts when I feed my cardinals. And for those who think I have malayan shrimp, I don't. They are true amanos.

I hear though, that caridina gracilirostris (rudolph/rednose shrimp) are even more efficient and voracious than cherry shrimp. I'm planning on adding three to five of them in my ten gallon to help keep algae under control.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Well, I have cherries and they never pick at Black beard algae and green hair algae. However, they do pick at green spot algae and brown algae. I guess it kind of depends on the algae that you have.

I never had any other shrimps other than cherry shrimps.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

In my experience cherries eat algae very well due the the shear numbers that they reach. Amanos eat a pretty good amount too. 

If one of each shrimp were placed in a ring with an algae platter (all types) then I believe the Amano would eat the most.

Green Shrimp and snowball shrimp have also done a comparable workload as my cherries.

-John N.


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

I have 3 Amanos mixed in with 15 cherries right now, and I can tell you: 
1. The Amanos will damage (not real bad) thin leaved plants like R. wallichi, Myriophyllum & HC.
2. The Amanos don't usually come out until after lights out whereas the cherries are always out.
3. My cherries have eaten the small amount of hair algae I had on my java moss. The Amanos may have helped, but I never saw them do it even after lights out.
4. Cherries to me look a lot better :lol:


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

I find a lot of Cherries on a patch of Cladophora sp. but they don't seem to make a dent on it. Unless of course, they don't eat it - which is a whole different story.

But I agree, Cherries are great creatures. Interesting to watch, especially the way they congregate and communicate with each other.


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

Cherries seem to be the king algae eaters in my tanks... mostly I think this is because of the numbers they reach due to their prolific breeding habits, whereas the Amanos will not reproduce in freshwater.

I keep a ten gallon tank of just cherries so then I can rotate the plants from my large tank out to be cleaned (I have to do this because shrimp would never survive in that tank with the bichirs and jack dempsey)... they literally swarm over the newest batch of plants when I put them in and within a few days even the most algae choked plants are clean. They will go through, just about any algae I've given them... the only one they are no use with is green spot algae (but I have ottos for that). So, if you've got a setup where the cherries can breed safely and won't be eaten go with them because even a small population will boom into a little army of algae eaters.


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## Hoobahans (Mar 4, 2006)

I agree the cherries rule. I started a 95 gallon tank with 20 cherries and after a few months I probably have 300. My cherres eat BBA and even pick at BGA. Maybe 30 amanos would have initially eaten more algae than 30 cherries, but in the long run the amanos just can not compare.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

raven_wilde said:


> Cherries seem to be the king algae eaters in my tanks... mostly I think this is because of the numbers they reach due to their prolific breeding habits, whereas the Amanos will not reproduce in freshwater.
> 
> I keep a ten gallon tank of just cherries so then I can rotate the plants from my large tank out to be cleaned (I have to do this because shrimp would never survive in that tank with the bichirs and jack dempsey)... they literally swarm over the newest batch of plants when I put them in and within a few days even the most algae choked plants are clean. They will go through, just about any algae I've given them... the only one they are no use with is green spot algae (but I have ottos for that). So, if you've got a setup where the cherries can breed safely and won't be eaten go with them because even a small population will boom into a little army of algae eaters.


wow...want to trade shrimps?


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## trustbran (Jun 21, 2006)

wow, it looks like cherries are the pick so far for being good algae defenders. How about bumble bees, are they good at eating algae also?


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## ianiwane (May 6, 2005)

Amano's eat way more algae than cherries.


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## Hoobahans (Mar 4, 2006)

I dont have bumble bees, but I have bees. I think they are the same species, at least they should be since they can interbreed, and they are not great algae eaters. They will pick at it, but they prefer to scavenge. Also, they dont seem to like the light very much. They come out in force at night, but when the lights are on they prefer to stay under cover. Althought that might have something to do with the fact that they share the tank with cherries (although that only goes to show that cherries out compete them!).


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