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Do you mean collateral damage, @Tiger15?
Dennis is partially wrong/mistaken about this. Rather, he doesn't delve deep enough in explaining this at least as far as Amano Shrimp go. He just scratches the surface in an attempt to quickly deal with things. That's fine and dandy but it leads to quite a bit of confusion.
Amano Shrimp only eat plant leaves - AR, specifically - when they're nearing the end of their plant life or when they're freshly grown/really tender. And when freshly grown, only usually in the first few hours of opening up. If they're tissue-cultured, though, all bets are off and pretty much any shrimp will devour them until they adapt to their new environment. I've only really seen AR get devoured by Amanos when there's a deficiency that's not yet fully apparent or diagnosed. Almost always in tanks that aren't ideal for shrimp to begin with. (Tank is too new, there's not a well-established food source, et al similar issues.)
My guess is since AR is also such a finicky, complicated plant in terms of what we usually keep in the hobby? It's tougher to get right all the time. Hence people struggling to keep it fully red/pink on a regular basis. So it's frequently devoured by shrimp and other herbivores/detrivores.
In the photo above, it looks like the AR is relatively new to the tank. About 5-6 weeks? I see roots/runners that aren't usually noticeable when AR is mature and fully adapted to a tank. I think I recall this being a newly set up tank, so I'd chalk this up to the plants still adjusting to their new environment. Edit: Yep, your tank is new. Almost too new for shrimp, even.
Amanos never touch mine once plants are well-established. Most of the folks you see posting about this issue ultimately have some underlying issue with the plant that they aren't considering.
And a note about Downoi being eaten by Amanos (as mentioned by Dennis at the link above in attempt to justify his claim) - It's one of the most delicate plants you can grow in the hobby (contrary to what the the Buce drop-shippers & smugglers claim) and will melt in a heartbeat if you aren't careful with CO2, ferts and water parameters. It's so easy to screw up that some of us still consider it a bit of a fad. On top of it only being in the hobby for about a decade. Pogostemon helferi is also one of those plants that grows like Utricularia graminifolia in a partially emersed natural environment.
Dennis is partially wrong/mistaken about this. Rather, he doesn't delve deep enough in explaining this at least as far as Amano Shrimp go. He just scratches the surface in an attempt to quickly deal with things. That's fine and dandy but it leads to quite a bit of confusion.
Amano Shrimp only eat plant leaves - AR, specifically - when they're nearing the end of their plant life or when they're freshly grown/really tender. And when freshly grown, only usually in the first few hours of opening up. If they're tissue-cultured, though, all bets are off and pretty much any shrimp will devour them until they adapt to their new environment. I've only really seen AR get devoured by Amanos when there's a deficiency that's not yet fully apparent or diagnosed. Almost always in tanks that aren't ideal for shrimp to begin with. (Tank is too new, there's not a well-established food source, et al similar issues.)
My guess is since AR is also such a finicky, complicated plant in terms of what we usually keep in the hobby? It's tougher to get right all the time. Hence people struggling to keep it fully red/pink on a regular basis. So it's frequently devoured by shrimp and other herbivores/detrivores.
In the photo above, it looks like the AR is relatively new to the tank. About 5-6 weeks? I see roots/runners that aren't usually noticeable when AR is mature and fully adapted to a tank. I think I recall this being a newly set up tank, so I'd chalk this up to the plants still adjusting to their new environment. Edit: Yep, your tank is new. Almost too new for shrimp, even.
Amanos never touch mine once plants are well-established. Most of the folks you see posting about this issue ultimately have some underlying issue with the plant that they aren't considering.
And a note about Downoi being eaten by Amanos (as mentioned by Dennis at the link above in attempt to justify his claim) - It's one of the most delicate plants you can grow in the hobby (contrary to what the the Buce drop-shippers & smugglers claim) and will melt in a heartbeat if you aren't careful with CO2, ferts and water parameters. It's so easy to screw up that some of us still consider it a bit of a fad. On top of it only being in the hobby for about a decade. Pogostemon helferi is also one of those plants that grows like Utricularia graminifolia in a partially emersed natural environment.
