Common Names: Amano Shrimp, Yamato Shrimp, Japanese Algae shrimp

Scientific Name: Caridina multidentata (formerly C. japonica)

Availability in the UK: The Amano is probably the most commonly sold shrimp in the UK. It is the species most seen in pet/fish shops and most online retailers that sell shrimp will stock it.  

Overview: This popular shrimp is named after Japanese Aquascaping Legend Takeshi Amano as he tends to keep these in most of his spectacular tanks. They are renowned algae eaters but should not be relied upon to clear a tank. As this shrimp grows a little bigger it can be kept with some fish species in a community tank that would not be suitable with smaller dwarf shrimp.

Feeding: This shrimp will eat anything. They are renowned for eating algae in planted tanks, but if they get the chance to scavange some fish food they much prefer that. I feed my Amano Shrimp with Hikari Crab Cuisine, but they will eat any fish food that sinks to the bottom of the tank. They are cheeky shrimp and will try to steal food from my Corys, often succeeding!

Sexing: The sexing of Amano shrimp is quite easy. Apart from the obvious only females carry eggs, when adults the females are noticably bigger than the males. The other way to sex them is by the row of dots on the side of their bodys. Males have a row of smaller dots, females have a row of dashes.

Breeding: Before trying to breed these shrimp you have to understand their life cycle in the wild. The Adults live in Freshwater streams relativly close to the sea. They breed in these freshwater streams and give birth to larval shrimplets here. These larvae are free swimming and get washed down steam, eventually out to sea. The Larve then spend the next couple of months developing into adult shrimp until they are ready to swim back up steam to live with their parents.

To breed these successfully you need to replicate the water conditions expected by the shrimp. This is not something I have attempted myself but the most successful reports advise to isolate the egg laden female into her own freshwater tank when she is ready to give birth (about 4 to 6 weeks from mating and the eggs becoming visible). When the babies have been born give them a day in the fresh water then transfer them over to an unfiltered tank of full marine water. Acclimatising them to salt water by slowing adding it to a bucket with them in over a few hours.

If you haven't got a Marine tank you can either buy all the bits like a hydrometer and salt and make your own or just buy pre-mixed salt water at an LFS. I would probably go for the second option as its easier and probably cheaper as you wont need salt water for too long, but i would double check the prices first.

While they grow you will need to feed them liquid fry food and/or green water, moving onto small bits of algae tablets and crushed shrimp food when they are a bit bigger. At about 12 weeks the biggest shrimp should look like miniature versions of the adults, which means it is time to start acclimatising them to fresh water again. To do this you start using fresh water for the weekly water change instead of salt water. At week 16 the biggest should look like small adults and are ready to be transfered to the same tank as the adults.

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