Amano shrimp are popular freshwater aquarium shrimp that are available in many stores today. Amano Shrimp can also be named: Caridina multidentata, Caridina japonica, Algae Eating Shrimp, Marsh Shrimp, Yamato Shrimp, Japonica Amano Shrimp, Yamato Numa Ebi, and Japanese Marsh Shrimp.
An Amano shrimp can be described as the fiery inhabitant of a shell. They are great swimmers and always on the hunt for food. An Amano shrimp can be kept in tanks of almost any size, as long as the usual rules for counting fish are followed.
Be careful not to over-store. Amano shrimp produce waste and tax an aquatic environment like any other living organism in a reservoir. Amano shrimp like to be in a habitat with many living aquarium plants that provide them with interesting places to climb. They also seem to charge a fee for swimming from plant to plant when looking for different places to explore, settle in, or hide.
Size and Appearance of Amano Shrimp
An adult Amano shrimp size can be up to 2 inches long. But at the pet store, Amano shrimp are often about an inch long or a little less. Buying small shrimp is okay because they ripen and grow quickly. Small doesn’t necessarily mean junk or unhealthy.
Caridina multidentata can grow relatively quickly in a healthy, well-established aquatic environment.
Amano Shrimp Color
An Amano shrimp color is usually a translucent light gray. It can also be translucent with shades of green, light brown, or light reddish-brown. Amano Shrimp’s color features also include the many solid stitches and lines that run their body’s length.
These dots and lines can be gray-blue or red-brown. Amano shrimp also have a narrow, lighter band on their upper surface that runs the entire length of their body, along with two large eyes, relatively long antennae, long, nimble legs, and a wide translucent tail.
Care and Shelf life of Amano Shrimp
Fortunately, the care of Amano shrimp is relatively straightforward and requires little practical attention. Amano shrimp like to live in small and large groups and are good at living with their own species, they are comfortable outdoors and explore small hiding places, and they love whatever they can choose from in an aquarium.
This is why it is a good idea to have aquarium plants in your aquarium. Amano shrimp are adaptable and hardy but are best suited to stable, established water in the area of tropical freshwater community reservoirs:
- Water Temperature: 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit
- PH of the Aquarium: between 7.2 and 7.5
- Aquarium Lighting: standard lighting in community pools is sufficient
Amano shrimp seem to like hard, well-circulated water with a moderately moving current. And as with other freshwater aquarium shrimp, you need to watch out for medications, ammonia spikes, high nitrate levels, and most importantly, avoid copper.
The Shelf Life of Amano Shrimp
The lifespan of an Amano shrimp is between two and three years. That said, sometimes they die right after adding them to a tank. This is most likely the result of transport stress or changes in water parameters. But when the water conditions are right, food is plentiful, and predators are absent, these algae-eating shrimp should live long and healthy lives.
When an Amano shrimp dies, it turns bright orange. Other shrimp or snails can eat their shells to absorb their minerals. But once they seem to be done with that, it’s a good idea to remove the dead shrimp from the tank to avoid ammonia spikes.
Amano Shrimp Diet: Eat and Nourish
Fortunately, feeding Amano shrimp is relatively easy. Caridina multidentata is often viewed as an algae-eating shrimp and is considered a hard-working aquarium cleaner. They like to feed on certain forms of soft algae.
Fortunately, feeding Amano shrimp is relatively easy. Caridina multidentata is often viewed as an algae-eating shrimp and is considered a hard-working aquarium cleaner. They like to feed on certain forms of soft algae.
In addition to aquarium algae, feeding Amano shrimp can also include food sources naturally in a planted tank. Live aquarium plants constantly release edible substances. Caridina multidentata eats dead plant matter that would otherwise accumulate on the ground.
Therefore, do not keep Amano Shrimp in a “too clean” tank. Amano shrimp feed may also include shrimp pellets, fish pellets, fish food flakes, seaweed waffles, raw green zucchini, and blanched spinach.
Amano Shrimp Feeding and Algae Eating Shrimp
In the hobby, Amano shrimp are sometimes seen as a wonder that feeds on algae. It is a misunderstanding that they are “eaten” in a tank when there are algae problems. If an aquarium has algae problems, adding half a dozen Amano shrimp is not the best solution. Instead, the root cause (s) of the algae problem should be identified. Once identified, the best way to properly and methodically address issues is.
A good example of this is common aquarium algae – Green Spot algae. This form of algae is green, tough, and grows in small circles on solid surfaces in a tank. An inexperienced aquarist sees Green Spot algae and is tempted to feed shrimp to the algae to solve the problem. Only about twenty bucks later, to find out that Amano shrimp don’t eat green algae like Green Spot algae.
So imagine Amano shrimp not just as algae-eating shrimp, but as constantly fidgety large scavengers who work tirelessly as meticulous tank cleaners, feeding on otherwise uneaten food scraps and searching for particles of importance. Edible too small to not be seen with the naked eye.
In this sense, Caridina Multidentata contributes to the general cleaning of the tank. It is a factor in maintaining a healthy aquatic environment that helps combat algae problems. So don’t just rely on aquarium algae as the main food source for these creatures.
How to Nourish Amanos?
Fish flakes, shrimp pellets, and seaweed waffles can be added whole to the tank or crushed into small pieces. When the pellets are added whole, Amano Shrimp will quickly reach a pellet. And Amano shrimp steal pellets from other shrimp. When the granules are crushed and the fine particles poured out, a cloud of food can put the shrimp into binge eating.
Either way, the standard rules for aquariums feel apply. Do not overfeed and feed only what can be eaten within a reasonable time.
Interesting how the Amanos behave when adding small amounts of nutritional supplements. A group of Amano may be busy eating algae from the tank’s bottom on one side of the tank. When an inferior feed pellet is thrown on the opposite side, the Amanos will recognize it and move towards it.
Start swimming at the bottom to access the food first. It is as if they “Converge” on a hot spot. Whatever Amano gets to the pellet first, the food will hold until a larger shrimp appears. It is a lot of fun to watch.
Interestingly, Amano Shrimp seems to be particularly fond of Marimo Moss Balls. Caridina multidentata does not eat moss balls per se. Instead, they like to climb up the moss ball and collect small pieces of food as they cross the surface. Amano Shrimp also likes sponge filter tanks. The sponge filters capture the edible pieces of material that these shrimp enjoy.
Molecular Behavior of the Amano Shrimp
Debarking occurs when an amino throws away its old shell and turns into a new one. Since the empty shell appears to be missing the shrimp, many new hobbyists believe it is dead. Amano Shrimp Molt occurs approximately every five to six weeks.
It is sometimes difficult to determine exactly when the molt will occur, as Caridina multidentata is often kept in larger groups. With everyone on the move, it’s hard to identify which shrimp molted and when.
Shortly after molting, Caridina Multidentata may sense weak, so they can hide for a bit until their new shell is ready.
When you feed the Amano shrimp, the shell can also be eaten empty. So could you leave them in the tank for a day or two? Caridina multidentata must reabsorb minerals from the empty shell to prepare for the next cycle of dandruff.
Amano Shrimp Tankmates
Choose your tank mates wisely – Amano’s shrimp tank mates should not contain aggressive fish such as goldfish, cichlids, or other rough fish or aquarium crabs, mandarin lobsters, or lobster hammers cobalt blue. Caution is advised as the Amano will be attacked and eaten.
Amano Shrimp’s tank mates can also include other people of their own kind and most small to medium-sized non-aggressive tank dwellers in the community, including Otocinclus catfish and catfish.
Freshwater snails can include nerite snails, Malaysian trumpet snails, mysterious snails, golden Inca snails, ivory snails, rabbit snails, Japanese snails, assassin snails, and ramshorn snails.
Other roommates can be other freshwater shrimp-like bamboo shrimp, vampire shrimp, red cherry shrimp, and ghost shrimp, as long as the means are bigger. As with other styles, if you have any questions about the compatibility, please contact the seller before purchasing.
The Amanos are generally sympathetic. They search for the natural food tank without incident. Amanos seem happy enough to feed on their own or in groups of others of their kind. But if a single pill falls into a tank, a fat domineering Amano will grab it and take it to a safe place to eat.
The large shrimp moves its body so that small amanos, ghost shrimp, and cherry shrimp are deterred. If a smaller Amano gets on the pill first, they will eat better quickly.
When a larger Amano appears, food is taken. In this regard, large whiskered shrimp often outperform even the largest amano when it comes to feeding priority. So there is certainly a pecking order in place to supplement the diet.
Check Amano’s Anatomy Before Buy for Aquarium
In unscientific terms, the anatomy of an Amano is similar to that of other small freshwater shrimp. Amano shrimp have sets of antennae that grow outward from the head’s sides and start below the eyes.
They also have two pairs of antennae that grow from the front of their head to the front of their eyes. They have a translucent shell section whose legs are attached at the bottom. As you move towards the back of the shell, your stomach sections are up. These sections are linked together so that the stomach remains flexible.
An Amano can often be seen flexing its section of the abdomen and looking a lot like an inverted “U.” The last section of the abdomen connects to your tail. The tail is made up of flatter, thinner and lighter shells.
These parts can expand or contract slightly, making the tail a little wider or slightly narrower as needed. On the edges of these thin tails, shells are wonderful hair-like filaments. These filaments look like the short hairs of an excellent brush.
