Amano Shrimp - Medium x 5

Shrimp are shipped Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday only.

The ultimate ALGAE EATERS.

Does your tank suffer from algae in any way? Are you like many others tearing your hair out and wondering what you might be doing wrong with your aquarium and where all the algae is coming from? Amano shrimp are the ULTIMATE algae eaters working day and night, consuming huge amounts of aquarium no matter what time of day it is. Amano shrimp are strong, full of character and HUNGRY for algae. They've been the best algae eaters ever since they were first introduced into this hobby.

History of Amano Shrimp:

The Amano Shrimp was discovered in the 1990s in Japan and made famous by aquascaper Takashi Amano who harnessed the power of these shrimp as they consume vast amounts of algae. Larger than all the other freshwater shrimp, they work tirelessly keeping the algae levels down at all times and you would be amazed at the sheer amount of algae they actually consume in 24 hours.

Will my fish eat them?

All shrimp are part of the food chain so they must not be kept with fish they may try and eat them (angels for example) and their preferred tank mates are community small fish. However Amano shrimp are strong and no walk over (especially the XL one's we sell).

How many can I have in my tank?

1 per 5L is recommended. But you can have as many as you like as they have little impact of stocking density. In a 100L tank I suggest 20 Amano shrimp.

What conditions do they prefer?

They're not particularly fussy but in general an acidic environment, preferring a pH range of 6.3-7 and will accept water temperatures up to 28 degrees.

Do I acclimatise them like fish?

The short answer is no. Although they are hardy you must acclimatise them slowly. You'll be provided with instructions.

Note: The picture with 3 tanks shows how efficient the Amano shrimp is when it comes to keeping a plant aquarium free from algae. The aquarium to the left had 3 shrimps, the one in the middle had none, while the one to the right had one shrimp during the start-up. They were all planted in the same way: 3 Anubias barteri var. nana and 3 Eleocharis parvula. The picture has been taken 3 months after the start-up. It is experiments like these that make Tropica recommend 1 Amano shrimp per 5 L water during the start-up of a new plant aquarium. Once a biological balance has been achieved in the aquarium, you can easily settle for fewer shrimps - e.g. 1 per 15 L water. However, if you have many fish that you feed, then we recommend that you maintain the population of 1 Amano shrimp per 5 L water.