What are Amano shrimp armed with?

Of all the Atidae family, AMANO SHRIMPS are the most useful and active. Being among the most potent deterrents against algae, they have spent their entire lives obstinately cleaning the surfaces they inhabit.

Furthermore, the arrow shows what its first two pairs of legs are "armed" with.

The terms "Amano shrimp" (scientific name Caridina multidentata) and "Algae Eating Shrimp" (AES) are the most commonly used to refer to them. Other names for them used by aquarists are Algae Shrimp, Yamamoto Shrimp, Japanese Shrimp, Caridina japonica (which is not a recognized Latin name), and just amanki.

It will be evident from the images provided here as to why amanki "mow" algae so effectively and why they are unmatched in the struggle against filamentous algae. Let’s first, however, quickly discuss keeping them in an aquarium.

Keeping Amano shrimp is not at all difficult.

They are quite unpretentious and feel good in a wide range of pH values: from 6.0 to 8.0 and hardness from 1 to 20 or more German degrees. However, shrimp do not like sharp fluctuations in hydrochemical parameters and can die if quickly transplanted from one water to another, so they should be transferred at least twice as slowly as fish. Amano shrimp lovers should also remember this. If overdosed, shrimp first begin to swim actively, then die. Amanki react in a similar way to the planting of recently imported plants in the aquarium, which have not yet washed off insecticides and molluscicides. Copper salts are especially dangerous for shrimp. Amano shrimp also react negatively to too much saturation of water with carbon dioxide. The dangerous limit for them is 20-25 mg / l. Therefore, if your shrimp suddenly start swimming restlessly around the aquarium, be sure to establish the cause and eliminate it (at least change a third of the water volume).
The range of temperatures acceptable for Amano shrimp is also wide: 15 (and according to some sources even 12) – 30 ° C. True, high temperatures significantly shorten their lifespan, and at the optimal temperature of 23 – 25 ° C they can live in the aquarium for several years (up to 5).

An aquarium for Amano shrimp should not be too small.

Amanki aquariums are not suited for Amanki. They become depressed in small volumes and will often leap out of an aquarium that holds less than 20 liters.

Feeding Amano shrimp is not difficult.

Firstly, they feed on all kinds of fouling, which they diligently clean off from the leaves of plants and decorations. Secondly, distinguished by intelligence and ingenuity, shrimp do not miss a single feeding and successfully compete with small and medium-sized fish when sharing food, sometimes snatching the best pieces. Any quality aquarium fish food is suitable for them.
Like all shrimp, Amano shrimp periodically molt. Moulting is the most crucial moment in the life of shrimp. In soft and acidic water, it can be difficult: shrimp can die during molting or in the first hours after it. Special shrimp and crab food will help solve this problem, covering the deficiency of minerals and ensuring the formation of a new strong chitinous shell.

Amano shrimp compatibility with other aquarium inhabitants is quite high.

They rarely irritate small shrimp and don’t pose any threat to small fish. Additionally, they deftly dodge medium-sized fish attacks. They cannot be kept with fish that are predatory or very active and inquisitive, like African cichlids.

Reproduction of Amano shrimp, how the male differs from the female?

Amanka cannot be bred in the conditions of a standard freshwater aquarium. There is another article with more details. On the other hand, females are not unusual in carrying eggs.

How Amano shrimp tolerate fish medications?

Overall, excellent. Fish in an aquarium with Amano shrimp can be treated with products like protocide, FMC, punctol, costapur, aquamed, baktopur, baktopur-direct, furazolidone, chloramphenicol, doxycycline, kanamycin, delagyl, and analgin-quinine; however, anthelmintic medications and treatments for argulus and lerna are not allowed.

Photo 1. What you need to pay attention to is marked with arrows. These are the claws of Amano shrimp Something brownish is visible on the tips of the claw segments. What is it and what is it for?

Photo 2. Two The shrimp"s front legs are armed with miniature claws called "fingers" which are crowned by a dense row of bristles.

Behavior of Amano shrimp, how they scrape off algae?

Shrimps typically move swiftly along the ground and vegetation while making heavy use of their two front pairs of legs. Seeing what’s at the end of the leg is a challenging task. All that is visible to the unaided eye is that it is arranged peculiarly. However, it’s unclear exactly how because the movements are too quick. Here, the structure and function of these Amano shrimp’s food-gathering (grasping) legs come into question. Let’s attempt to respond to this query, then.

Initially, the fully extended claw presses against the surface the shrimp is moving along. At that point, the claw starts to progressively close as the bristles at the tips of its fingers scrape the surface, removing anything that they can. Then the claw snaps shut tightly. Everything that was able to scrape gets trapped between the bristles and enters the mouth. All of this actually occurs very quickly. It appears as though the shrimp steps on the substrate. In fact, it uses the bristles on its claws to clean the ground it walks on at this moment.

Photo 3. Let"s look at the claws of a quietly sitting shrimp. It is interesting that neither the claws themselves nor the brushes themselves are used to hold large pieces of food. Large pieces are clamped between the bent segments of the limb, as if we were clamping something in the bend of the elbow. Thus, the grasping legs of the shrimp grab food in different ways: what they scrape off – with claws, and large pieces are clamped between the claw and the previous segment of the limb.

Amano shrimp do more than just scuttle across the aquarium’s substrate and vegetation. They almost always use four hands to clean every surface they come into contact with. It makes sense why the renowned aquadesigner adored them so much. However, how successful can such cleaning be? Let’s examine the claws under magnification to find out.

	Photo 4. Amano shrimp claw under a microscope. Magnified about 100 times. You can see that the fingers of the claw are topped with very dense tassels of bristles.
Photo 5. The bristles on the claws of the grasping legs of Amano shrimp are very numerous, elastic and, in fact, each of them is a serrated sickle. These teeth on the cutting side of the bristle saw off fouling. That is why filamentous algae cannot resist Amano shrimp.
	Photo 6. Claw of the grasping leg of the bumblebee shrimp (Caridina cf. breviata "Bumblebee"). In principle, the claw is designed the same way. But it is too miniature and has much fewer bristles-micro-sickles on it than the "amanka". That is why bumblebees, as well as other small aquarium shrimp are more likely to be collectors of small pieces of food than cleaners and mowers. Accordingly, they are of very little use in the fight against algae.

So, the shrimp of the Caridina multidentata species are equipped with serious weapons. This was used by Takashi Amano in his time to combat thread algae in his aquariums and the shrimp really helped a lot. Now they are called by his name, and also algae-eating shrimp.
Green thread algae can create and usually create a serious problem in the first months of an aquarium"s life. Their needs are very close to the needs of higher plants and they successfully compete with them, growing very quickly. Using Amano shrimp to combat them allows you to do without the use of algaecides and the tedious removal of these algae from the aquarium manually, by winding them on a wooden stick. There is only one nuance: there should be a lot of shrimp (up to 20-30 pieces per 100 – 120 liter aquarium). They should be fed moderately, because well-fed shrimp will be lazy. But you can"t not feed them at all. Very hungry shrimp, having mowed down and scraped off everything they can, will take on higher plants. This does not happen often, but look at the documented case.

Video 3: Amano shrimp are great cleaners for aquariums. They are great at spotting the tiniest food particles in the ground, but they are occasionally mischievous when there is not enough food. You can see how they consumed the Hydrocotyle tripartita leaves here.

With their strong exoskeleton that protects them from predators, their keen sense organs for identifying food, and their specialized claws for gathering algae and debris, amano shrimp are armed with all the tools they need to survive and thrive in an aquarium. These microscopic organisms actively contribute to preserving the equilibrium of their surroundings rather than merely acting as passive tank cleaners.

Amano shrimp eat other types of algae much less willingly, but they still eat. It is important to keep in mind that they need to be planted in the aquarium before the algae grow. The same Vietnamese bushes are difficult to mow down when they are already large, but shrimp are quite capable of destroying them in their infancy. In addition, they clean the leaves from microparticles of organic matter, which are the growth points of red algae. In general, keeping the aquarium clean is the best way to prevent the appearance of algae and shrimp Amano does a great job with this! Purchase of Amano shrimp. The survival rate of shrimp and the ease of their adaptation to a new aquarium are greatly affected by the conditions in which they were kept in the pet store. Before buying shrimp, look where they sit and how they feel. Shrimp should be in an aquarium with live plants and, preferably, fallen leaves (Indian almond, oak leaf). Be active and respond well to food, but do not swim randomly in the water column.

Video on the topic

AMANO SHRIMP in a community aquarium

Amano shrimp in an aquarium. Maintenance, care, compatibility and what to feed.

Amano shrimp – killers of filamentous algae