[Teebo]

I have a problem with holding shrimp in my 5 gallon Betta tank, I have been practicing with Ghost shrimp and they die after about a month. There are a few theories on why and I need some help from you experienced folks because I finally just found a small batch of Amano shrimp so I bought 3!

My water is always balanced (as far as I thought) I use an API master test kit and always get 0-0-0 the tank is well cycled but I did not know GH & KH mattered so I just ordered that test...so there is one possibility? Another is diet, I really did not feed them anything special but I gave them .5mm NLS sinking pellets once a week and they had plenty of junk to eat in my established tank. Someone told me to look for food formulated for dwarf shrimp and none of my LFS carried it or even a crab cuisine, these foods have things needed for molting I was told not sure what else in the food is needed except calcium? They did molt just not that often, so possibly they died molting that is another potential cause. So there was another additive suggested; Marine (Iodine/Iodide) I am not sure which but all I found was Iodide. I also found "Liquid Calcium" both of these should be beneficial to my dwarf shrimp right? I am just not sure about dosage yet and I do not want it to hurt my snails or most importantly my Betta! Another thing to note or rule out, I use Excel & Flourish dialed back slightly but that is suppose to be safe with shrimp.

If anyone can verify the importance of dwarf shrimp food I can possibly save the hassle with the two bottles of Kent Marine I already bought? I say this because I have frozen food my Betta does not eat, that the shrimp could possibly benefit from. I have a variety pack of SanFran-freshwater cubes the shrimp would love this right? Keep in mind I have Amanos now not Ghosts and I read they like some meaty food sometimes like some of this frozen food?

I am amazed at the difference in behavior with these Amanos, they are very social and school, they are much faster and have beastly hands, no claws, tighter eye gap, better looking body and overall an amazing shrimp in comparison! The only thing I do not like is they hide from light and seem to be nocturnal where the Ghost shrimp seemed to be attracted to the light, but this is also a good thing because my Betta sleeps at night and that must be when they come out to work so they are on different schedules. They seem to be more scared of my Betta then the Ghost shrimp so they would get stressed easier, and they move faster so they catch my Bettas attention more and basically stress each other out; long story short the opposite schedules has its benefits.

Ghosts turn white when they die, I heard Amanos turn bright orange? How do I tell if an Amano is about to molt? Ghosts would get darker in color and sometimes their eyes would turn white which were signs of molting.

 

[theatermusic87]

I've never kept amanos before so I can't speak exactly to them, however with the cherry shrimp I keep, they need to be fed every couple days not weekly, I actually feed daily because I like to keep a large population. There are ~100 in a 5 gallon and they get 4 mini sinking hikari algae wafers a day. I also feed instead 1 day a week mini sinking bottom feeder pellets (I think hikari as well) to supplement a bit of a meaty diet, though I don't think it's as necessary with amanos and cherry shrimp as it is with ghost.

As to calcium, I have hard water so that's not a concern for me, and within reason they are very hardy as far as water conditions are concerned. That being said, i was also having an issue with my shrimp dying after molting. 1-2 drops per GALLON of iodide, kents same as you have, seems to have helped immensely. I dose with every water change and have seen no issues with that does rate in my community tank or my shrimp tank. I also dose trace, npk iron and 2x recommended dose rate of excel all without issues, so you should do fine with those as well

Good luck

 

[Teebo]

Thank you, sounds like they were not being fed enough and possibly the lack of iodide too I appreciate the dose info!

Amano shrimp being that I never see them (always hiding in the dark cave) will be hard to feed. I will try putting some frozen food at the entrance. That variety pack has Freshwater Frenzy™, Emerald Entree™, Bloodworms, and Spirulina Brine Shrimp...however I can not tell them apart lol I am sure they will eat any of those.

 

[Zoidborg]

I hardly every directly feed my Amano and Cherry Shrimps. They are great foragers finding all the food that drops into crevaices and eap up the algae aswell. They even grab food away from the fishes then scurry away to a spot to eat. I feed all my Fishes/Shrimp/Snails/Frogs New Life Spectrum .5 size pellets and once or twice a week i drop in a Hikari Mini Algae wafer or two. To vary their diet I also feed Hikari Frozen Bloodworms twice weekly.

I Use the entire line of Seachems Dosing Schedule biweekly and the shrimp do fine with them. I do however keep my gh (7-9) and kh (0-2) aswell as weekly water changes.

At first they hid in caves every chance they got. After awhile your Amanos will come out and flourish in the light like mine do. Some even like surfing on leaves and hanging onto my floating plants going for a ride around the tank.

 

[dzega]

amano is the most durable badass shrimp there is. you need to literally pee in the aquarium to kill it. in all other events it will kill you first.

 

[theatermusic87]

Targeted feeding isn't really necessary, they will find the food if you put it in the tank, and surprisingly quickly too also I wouldn't worry too much about over feeding (within reason) they take a while to pick at their food so leave it there until it's gone, if it takes until the next day, skip feeding the next day... They'll be fine and it won't hurt your water equality

 

[OrangeAugust]

I had three amano shrimp for a few years. They seemed to be the most resilient thing in the tank. They were in my 55 gallon aquarium and outlived every fish I've ever had in there. It seems as if two of them have died recently, though. I had noticed one of them turning pinkish, which means they are dying of old age, right? That's what I've heard anyway. So I just have one left and I moved it to a new tank last night (in which process it escaped its acclimation cup by flinging itself 8 feet across the room). So anyway, I've had it for about 3 years and they seem to be super resilient. I never added extra food for them because they were put in an aged tank that had a lot of stuff for them to forage on.

 

[Teebo]

I did notice they are amazing jumpers compared to Ghost shrimp, but I only see 1 at a time since the first night so 2 of them must be hiding in the cave or dead in there lol. I just got my GH/KH kit so I will see where my water is at tonight since nothing else seems to be an issue as far as water chemistry.

Nobody here uses Iodide or Calcium supplements??

 

[72hondo]

Didn't you say your water parameters are all zero??

0 ammonia
0 nitrites
0 nitrates

 

[Teebo]

I found all 3 Amanos out this evening! They were in this back corner where the filter, heater, and other hardware are hidden. There is only one way into this area and once my Betta gets over here the filter stream hits him and he gets claustrophobic and leaves haha. I did see an Amano molt behind the filter then stay hidden there while his shell hardens while the other two graze under it...let the filter do the work and pull all the debris toward it anything that does not make it in falls under the filter.

Didn't you say your water parameters are all zero??

0 ammonia
0 nitrites
0 nitrates

Correct. My test kit came in today for GH/KH (API) and I tested both my tap water after conditioned with Prime and my tank water. I am not sure if I am suppose to count the first drop in the conversion chart so I have two numbers/range. My conditioned tap reads 35-54ppm GH & 18-36ppm KH, the tank water read 72-90ppm GH & 36-54ppm KH.

 

[newbieshrimpkeeper]

Nice! Amano shrimps are masters of hiding, and they are even better at escaping put 3 in 1 tank and they climbed out and ran away! They can survive on land for a bit of time, but will evnetually dry up, especially in a dry environment like a typical house. They were found soon luckily, and were put back in the tank-with extra security measures. They are can 'run' quite fast on land as well as being ept climbers! They are also quite peaceful, so yeah an awesome shrimp! Thety dont climb out any more though. They are fully established.

 

[72hondo]

Correct. My test kit came in today for GH/KH (API) and I tested both my tap water after conditioned with Prime and my tank water. I am not sure if I am suppose to count the first drop in the conversion chart so I have two numbers/range. My conditioned tap reads 35-54ppm GH & 18-36ppm KH, the tank water read 72-90ppm GH & 36-54ppm KH.

If everything is reading Zero, your tank is not cycled. That could be the reason your losing shrimp.

 

[Teebo]

I do not think they can clear the gap above my water line but when first introduced they were running into my Betta and jumping out of the water and getting stuck to the side of the dry glass above my water line however they have completely calmed into that back corner and love hiding between the filter and glass since the suction cup gives them just enough clearance.

I am thinking about moving 1 of my 3 into another tank I have with nothing in it but driftwood that is cycling out its nutrients which creates a ton load of BBA the Amano will eat BBA right?? I also think I should add a Siamese Algae Eater to this tank because they eat BBA as well.

If everything is reading Zero, your tank is not cycled. That could be the reason your losing shrimp.

Of course it is lol my tank is loaded with bacteria and has been cycled for half a year I literally let my tank "stew" with all the dirty filters from the LFS for a month! Ammonia is instantly converted to Nitrite then instantly to Nitrate, and I have a heavy plant load that keeps the Nitrates at 0. Look at it as dialed in and balanced, if my tank was not cycled I would have Ammonia readings and I do not. The used filter cycling may not have been the best idea now that I look back and is probably how I got my infestation of tiny bugs and worms but those are surely eating waste and creating waste themselves which would create Ammonia.

 

[72hondo]

I do not think they can clear the gap above my water line but when first introduced they were running into my Betta and jumping out of the water and getting stuck to the side of the dry glass above my water line however they have completely calmed into that back corner and love hiding between the filter and glass since the suction cup gives them just enough clearance.



I am thinking about moving 1 of my 3 into another tank I have with nothing in it but driftwood that is cycling out its nutrients which creates a ton load of BBA the Amano will eat BBA right?? I also think I should add a Siamese Algae Eater to this tank because they eat BBA as well.

Of course it is lol my tank is loaded with bacteria and has been cycled for half a year I literally let my tank "stew" with all the dirty filters from the LFS for a month! Ammonia is instantly converted to Nitrite then instantly to Nitrate, and I have a heavy plant load that keeps the Nitrates at 0. Look at it as dialed in and balanced, if my tank was not cycled I would have Ammonia readings and I do not. The used filter cycling may not have been the best idea now that I look back and is probably how I got my infestation of tiny bugs and worms but those are surely eating waste and creating waste themselves which would create Ammonia.

Interesting, it takes a very light bio load, and lots of plants, to pull off all zeros. You must be religious with trimming and substrate vacuuming.

 

[Teebo]

I actually let it go for a long time without vacuuming, none of my plants rot and my only bio-load this whole time has been a single Betta fish that eats all his food. Holding 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite is not hard, if anything it is the nitrate that may be a challenge for some people. My biggest rooting plant at the surface is a bog grass I pulled from a pond myself and the root system is massive I have to continuously trim it back between that and my Peace Lily the roots are always stretching, plus Frogbit loves nutrients as well. I fight myself with other tanks but this one is crazy stable, with that being said I do not see how the Liquid Calcium is going to help since my level on hardness seem fine even the tap water is almost spot on. I am using the Iodide now (1-2 drops per gallon) and a second Amano has now molted, I think with the use of Iodide I may add some Ghost shrimp again and see if they make it...they will clean in the lighted areas that my Amanos do not seem to touch.

 

[newbieshrimpkeeper]

SAE need aquariums of at leaast 20-25 gallons, and prefers quite a bit of cover, and shud be kept in shoals or at least trios. But if thetank is cycled, amans will be fine in that set up, preferably with more shelter and plants.

 

[Teebo]

SAE? Amanos need 20-25+ ?

I did notice how the 3 stay together for the most part, I want two more to make 5 and do not want to separate them now that they are used to their new environment plus each other. They will not come out of their back corner though or at least not during the daylight so I am thinking a mix of Ghost shrimp will really help.

 

[Teebo]

I added some blanched Zucchini for the snails, the Amanos showed some interest in it as well. Since they have adopted this back corner as a long-term base I do not see them venturing very far into the rest of the tank or at least not very often. This is kind of a good thing as far as feeding, I can target feed right next to my filter...shrimp make a mess they tare the food apart and let pieces go flying so at least this way the filter catches any floating debris!

 

[Tvadna]

Amano shrimp are very hardy. They're tougher to kill then ghost shrimp and have done just fine with german blue rams for me. I kept the rams in practically 100% RO water for breeding and the Amano shrimp lived for years. As they got older and larger they even would compete with my rams for food, going upside down at feeding time and snatching flakes off the surface. I would be very careful with dosing in a smaller body of water.

 

[Teebo]

I went back to my LFS that I found these Amano's at to pickup a few more, they did not have any as I expected but they had another variation that was all but the same thing they said only they were $2.50ea instead of $3.00

Usually the tag says Amano, they have the same body build but seems a tad bit smaller with a blue tint. The dots that are usually red on the sides seem black, they do not seem to have any issues schooling with my Amano's and also break off with their own kind as well. I saw cherry shrimp and similar today at the LFS, they are smaller than Amano shrimp they look useless for eating algae...Amano's really are badass! The other difference I think I can see is the vertical spike on the nose of these Japanese shrimp: