Amano shrimp are translucent, dash-marked shrimp popularised by aquascaper Takashi Amano for one reason: no other widely available animal eats soft and hair algae so relentlessly.
They are the standard clean-up crew of planted tanks.
Larger and more robust than cherry shrimp, they live happily alongside most community fish and work every surface of the tank around the clock.
Housing
A cycled tank of 38 litres (10 gallons) upward suits a working group of five or more; they are sociable foragers that fan out across wood, plants, and glass.
Provide moss or cover for moulting shrimp to hide in.
They tolerate 18-27C and a wide range of hardness, but like all invertebrates they need stable, mature water and absolutely no copper-based medications.
Tight lids help — they climb when water quality dips.
Diet
In an established tank, algae and biofilm do most of the feeding; the classic posture is an Amano marching along a leaf, shovelling green fuzz into its mouth with both claws.
Supplement with sinking wafers, blanched courgette, or spinach in cleaner tanks.
Do not over-supplement: a slightly hungry Amano is a working Amano.
They will also steal pellets from fish with shameless confidence.
Health
Amanos are tough once acclimated, but acclimate them slowly — drip acclimation over an hour prevents osmotic shock losses.
Moulting problems usually trace to unstable parameters or mineral-poor water.
They cannot breed in freshwater: larvae need brackish water to develop, so the population never explodes, and every adult in the shop was likely wild-caught or specialist-raised.
Check medications for copper before dosing a tank containing them.
Temperament
Completely peaceful and comically bold, Amanos shove past fish many times their size to claim food.
Expect them at the front of every feeding.
They are safe with plants, snails, other shrimp, and any fish too small to eat them; large cichlids and goldfish view them as expensive snacks.
Group living keeps them visible and confident.
A good fit for
Planted and aquascaped tanks battling algae
Beginners wanting easy, useful invertebrates
Community tanks with small, peaceful fish
Keepers who do not want shrimp overpopulation
Common mistakes to avoid
Copper in fish medications — lethal to shrimp
Fast or careless acclimation on day one
Housing with fish large enough to eat them
Expecting them to fix algae caused by excess light
Is your enclosure big enough?
Minimum volume38 litres (10 US gallons)
CompanyCannot be kept alone. The minimum is 5, and the space above is for that group.
In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat — dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.
Go now
Any detectable ammonia or nitrite in a stocked tankLarge water change now with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water. Stop feeding. Test again in 12 hours. Both are directly toxic. How toxic the ammonia reading is depends on pH and temperature, so the same number can be harmless or lethal.
Now
Fish gasping at the surface, or crowding the filter outflowIncrease surface agitation immediately, then test the water. Either the oxygen has crashed or the gills are being chemically burned. Both are hours-scale problems.
Now
Sudden deaths, more than one fish in a dayTest ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature before doing anything else. Do not add medication yet. Multiple simultaneous deaths point at the water or the equipment, not at a pathogen.
Now
Today
Flashing — repeatedly scraping against decor or substrateTest the water, then look closely for parasites. Irritation is either chemical or parasitic; the test tells you which before you medicate.
Today
White salt-grain spots over the body and finsBegin the appropriate treatment today and check the temperature. The parasite's life cycle is temperature-driven, and it multiplies with every cycle you wait.
Today
Soon
Clamped fins, hiding, or refusing food for more than two daysTest the water and review recent changes. Usually the earliest visible sign of a parameter drifting.
A few days
Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.
This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.
What it really costs
Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.
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