# which types of shrimps eat algae?



## markopolo (Jun 2, 2008)

does anyone know which types of shrimps eat algae?? Thanks


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

just about every shrimp will eat some algae. some good ones are amano (arguably the best), cherry, and some sites say tiger are good also. the only shrimp i have kept are amano and ghost. amanos do a much better job then the ghost did.


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## Ozymandias (Jan 17, 2008)

Charry shrimp and amano shrimp to name a few off the top of my head


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## volatile (Feb 13, 2007)

I probably have some of the laziest/pickiest cherries ever. They don't eat any algae off my glass, or rocks, or plants. They are constantly sifting through my aquasoil but never eat the algae off of it. I am considering amanos but they are bigger than my fish and I don't want the amanos frightening my shrimp.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Dont buy ANY shrimp if your intent is for them to eat algea. You will be dissappointed.


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

Nerite snails? Does anyone have any good luck with them eating algae?


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## xcooperx (Jun 21, 2006)

Best Algae Eating shrimp is the Amano and Tiger Shrimp especially when it comes to HAIR AlGAE, not sure with other algae though.

Least is the Red Cherry Shrimp, they like the Shirakura and Crab Cuisine more.Actually i haven't seen them eating any algae at all.


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## phanizzle (Jun 28, 2007)

I agree with those above, that amanos are the best algae eating shrimp. 
Like bsmith said if you are buying shrimps because you are having algae problems then you will be disappointed, they will just be more interested in the fish food and other things you feed into your tank. I hear good things about nerite snails, but I myself have not had any.


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## Natty (Apr 2, 2008)

In respect to everyone roud: . I'm just talking in good terms, just a heads up so there's no misunderstanding.



xcooperx said:


> Least is the Red Cherry Shrimp, they like the Shirakura and Crab Cuisine more.Actually i haven't seen them eating any algae at all.


Hey, stop putting down cherry shrimps, they prefer real shrimp food more than algae but is that really bad? Is it really bad for them to know which is more tasty? Think about it this way, what if you did buy some shrimp food and you put some food in there and they ignore it and actually prefer algae? That's not too good either, just means you wasted money on some bad shrimp food. I think the companies that made these shrimp food, Hikari/HBH/SHIRAKURA/etc, made it so that they are tastier than the algae that grows in the tank. They're meant to be more delicious and therefore more sought for than algae or else they'd go out of business.

I've had a tank completely packed with moss and it was the best looking moss I've ever had because of them constantly picking at it and cleaning it. When you see them picking around, it means they're doing their job. If they aren't, something is wrong with your water.



bsmith782 said:


> Dont buy ANY shrimp if your intent is for them to eat algea. You will be dissappointed.


I doubt there's any shrimp that'll eat mature algae like BBA, string, hair, etc. They're active but like all other algae eaters, they have limitations. If you have algae problems, don't blame it on them. Try checking your tank parameters, lighting, etc. They tried their best.

I can't think of one single algae eater that'll eat full blown mature grown out algae. They are there to help you prevent it BEFORE it gets bad as best as they can. 

People say SAE's eat BBA and are one of the best active algae eater, but in honest truth, they still prefer real fish food and only go after BBA if its in small quantity or those that are dying. You buy them to keep it under control, but don't expect much help when your tank is completely infested with BBA. You'll have to find a way to stop it from spreading and weaken the BBA and you'll still have to remove some manually. There's still string/hair algae growing in my tank and I can't competely depend on them to keep it in check, I still have to check the water parameter and remove it manually as well.

Same for snails, I haven't found a single snail that'll actually really go after hair/string algae. Once the hair/string algae really starts growing in mass and toughens, good luck. Snails aren't going to do much about it.

Every algae eater has a good and bad side to them, have a strong and weak point.

Just backing up my cherry shrimps! :angryfire (I'm not mad though...) I think cherry shrimps are great at keeping the algae down and the more you have, the better job they'll do.

:hihi:


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

I have amano, ghost and red cherry in my tank and I have to say that amano are the best with controling your algae, red cherry would not eat that much mainly because they are smaller and my ghosts are always first to the waffers, ignoring algae. But, as other are saying, shrimps will not clean all your algae, they are useful just for controlling it. For me best advantage of keeping them is that they are eating leftover food that has been stucked beetween the leaves or that fell on the gravel, so I am sure everything has been eaten.


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

One more thing- don't expect that shrimps will eat your hair algae, even if they do, you can't keep them for that purpose. From my experience guppys will eat much more HA than any shrimp or snail, but still it will not solve your algae problems.


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## xcooperx (Jun 21, 2006)

marcinsmok said:


> One more thing- don't expect that shrimps will eat your hair algae, even if they do, you can't keep them for that purpose. From my experience guppys will eat much more HA than any shrimp or snail, but still it will not solve your algae problems.


Very True, If your having Hair Algae or other algae problems that means you have problems on your water, maybe unbalance nutrients, co2 deficiency or too much lightning. This shrimps will just help you to reduce or minimize the algae but sometimes you still need to correct the problem or clean the tank manually. But base on my experiance amano shrimp is still the best Hair Algae eater.


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## markopolo (Jun 2, 2008)

yeh i have an SAE already for algae control but i was just thinking about a good secondary algae eater that isnt that big


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## xcooperx (Jun 21, 2006)

Maybe ottos  i haven't tried them though. but i heard a lot of stuff that they are good in eating brown algae.

Amano shrimp, SAE and Otto's are great algae army i think.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

xcooperx said:


> Maybe ottos  i haven't tried them though. but i heard a lot of stuff that they are good in eating brown algae.
> 
> Amano shrimp, SAE and Otto's are great algae army i think.


All my ottos do is look nice. IME they suck at algea eating too. The only algeas they have had to eat in my tank was green spot, black beard and hair. I dont think anything eats those.

Simply put... Dont count on any animal to keep your tank algea free thats up to you and your dosing/lighting schedule.roud:


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## Natty (Apr 2, 2008)

bsmith782 said:


> Simply put... Dont count on any animal to keep your tank algea free thats up to you and your dosing/lighting schedule.roud:


Amen! I mean I concure! :hihi: 

You are the master of your tanks, they are just your helpers. You still have to do the majority of the job in maintaining the tank. Don't expect to drop in a few algae eating critters and think you'll be safe from algae.

They're getting paid with algae wafers, don't expect a thorough professional job roud: .


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## markopolo (Jun 2, 2008)

oh yeh of course you have to put in elbow grease, but it never hurts to have help from our finned and 10 legged friends!


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## customdrumfinishes (Apr 4, 2008)

only thing i have that does eat the bba is a farlowella.
amano is the best algae eater of all the shrimp


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Same here, my ottos don't seem to eat a lot of algae, however they completely ignore waffers, flakes and cucumber, but they are always happy and active, so I know they are not starving.


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