# Cherry Shrimp v Amano - as algae eaters!



## craynerd (Apr 20, 2006)

Hi,

I am looking to heavily stock my newly planted tank with shrimp and i do not know whether to go for amano or cherry.
I have kept both in small quanities i.e 5 cherries and 10 amano so i couldnt fully gage a comparison.

I understand the Amano will be the master algae eater, but do you think there is much in it. 

There is no question that i prefer the "look" of cherry shrimp but if they are not going to do a good job cf. amanos then i will change my mind and go with amano.

I was considering stocking a 20g with 30-40 shrimp. Does that sound reasonable.

Chris


----------



## trustbran (Jun 27, 2006)

They are both great algae eaters......now the difference between the two would be that cherries do a good job by the numbers, meaning they reproduce easily and therefore you would have more troops to fight the algae war. Amanos on the other hand do not reproduce as easily but do a better job of eating algae individually.....


----------



## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

Trust said it very well. Cherries are okay as algae eaters, but the reproduce and go at it in numbers. If you want just a few shrimp that will not reproduce with out great effort on your part, go with the ammano!


----------



## endparenthesis (Jul 13, 2004)

Just get both...


----------



## Architect1 (Feb 19, 2006)

Hey You stole my Idea I was going to say get both then you have both of the best worlds.


----------



## endparenthesis (Jul 13, 2004)

As far as I know they may prefer different types of algae, so it's a way to have more bases covered.


----------



## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

This is a question I have been trying to decipher myself for awhile. I was trying to decide between amano's and another shrimp, possibly tiger. In the end I went with the Amano's because I wanted a shrimp with a proven record of algae eating and a shrimp that wouldn't clash with the hairgrass only aquascape. I have kept cherries in the past and the red may have been too much for the aquascape.


----------



## craynerd (Apr 20, 2006)

Greatttt thinking! My idea is a hairgrass carpet. I have put so much effort into designing the aquascape and plant choise, didnt even consider the red of the cherries would clash.

Hummm, i`m not sure now. 

I don`t plan to have many fish, if any so i`m wondering if the red in large amounts would look nice.

Maybe not

Chris


----------

