How many Amano shrimps in the fishtank?

Aman shrimps (Caridina multidentata) are among the most popular shrimps in the aquarium. No wonder, as they are easy to socialize with other fish and invertebrates, because they are very peaceful and have very low demands on water quality. With an average size of 5cm, the Amano shrimp are in no way suitable for small "shrimp aquariums".  The Amano shrimp has made a name as an algae-eating invertebrate in aquaristics. In fact, unlike relatives such as the blood Red Fire Shrimp or the Bee Shrimp, Amano shrimp are particularly effective at destroying algae. Of course, they should not be seen as a miracle weapon either. Effective control of algae requires more than one shrimp. Starting from 20-24 inches edge length (20 gallons fishtank) one can hold a swarm of Amano shrimps. But how many Amano shrimps are the right number? - The following table provides information.

How many Amano shrimps in the aquarium - on what does the number of animals depend?

As already mentioned, the 20 gallons aquarium is a minimum for the 5 cm tall Amano shrimps. Here one should take the swimming ability of the animals into consideration and use correspondingly fewer Amano shrimps in such small fishtanks. It becomes even more critical, if there are already species in the tank that live near the ground area are as well. Amano shrimps are spawn predators. For this reason, special consideration should be given to species spawning on the ground, such as ram cichlids. If you already have such species in a 20 gallons aquarium, you should not consider keeping Amano shrimp at all. The animals suffer from stress that can quickly lead to their death. Otherwise, the Amano shrimps can be well socialized with almost all aquarium fish.

If the tank becomes larger, the number of amano shrimps can be increased accordingly. Especially with large tanks, in which 25-30 animals can be kept, the swarm behaviour of the animals can be observed particularly well. Not rarely, the other Amano shrimps then follow a "leader" and graze the aquarium plants together. The size of the other aquarium inhabitants should be taken into account. With only 5cm in size the Amano shrimp can be considered as food for lager fish, which you can keep in 65+ gallons fishtanks.

In forums one often reads about the fact that even in mid-sized 50 gallons aquariums you can keep up to 40 Amano shrimps. Such quantities are not recommended for the other inhabitants of the fishtanks. When it comes to feeding, aman shrimp can become aggressive and do not even shy away from larger species. In this case the shrimps would literally suppress the other aquarium fish and they are exposed to permanent stress.