shrimp for algae

[TexAg08]

what can i add to control algae without over stocking? i have 3 kuhliis, 1 dwarf gourami, 1 oto, 6 bloodfin tetras, and 4 amano shrimp. can i add more shrimp or not?

 

[Grumpy_Marine]

what type of shrimp? Ghost shrimp you can add alot as the bio load for them is super small if any at all. But beware of tank mates the shrimps might come up missing as someones dinner like mine did.

 

[jen0910]

Cherry shrimp are supposedly good at eating algae. They also supposedly breed very easily and they are cute. They are smaller than amano shrimp though.

 

[Balance]

im going to buy some shrimpies tomorrow for my 20G.

probably ghost shrimps, but if im lucky ill find some cherry or amano....

 

[TexAg08]

yea, all i can find at the moment are ghost shrimp but they are too tiny and will most likely get eaten so im not going to waste my time. however, in a few weeks i will have access to almost any shrimp i want at this awesome store in houston so....is the general consensus adding more shrimp wont increase the bio load too much? im thinking like anything from 5-10 more...if this is too many can someone please let me know so i dont really increase the load?

 

[Lotus]

If you already have four amanos in a 10g, I don't think adding more shrimp will help.

 

[jen0910]

"Cherry Shrimp eat many more types of algae unlike the Caridina japonica (Amano shrimp) which are more limited to just hair algae and detritus, and are currently regarded as the best cleaners for fish tanks."
Aquarium Plants, Pond Plants, Freshwater Aquarium Plant & Aquarium Accessories – Arizona Aquatic Gardens

So, maybe if you found some cherry shrimp it would help with the algae problem insead of adding more amanos.

 

[TexAg08]

those would be awesome, but would it be too much??

 

[jen0910]

I don't think they really add to the bio-load, I have 7 assorted shrimp in my 5 gallon and haven't had problems. You might want to feed them something besides algae too, mine like the betta pellets that I put in for them.

 

[Lotus]

I found the Amanos much better at algae cleaning than the cherries.