Keeping amano shrimp is one of the best alternatives to using chemicals for stopping algae growth. In fact, they are more effective than commercial chemicals. Even though the manufacturers claim that these chemicals are water-friendly, who knows? After all, they are not a nature-based solution to your algae problem in the tank.
Thus, when it comes to controlling algae in your tank, nothing beats an amano shrimp. So with the popularity of their algae-eating habit, do amano shrimp eat hair algae?
Let’s venture further.
Do Amano Shrimp Eat Hair Algae?
Amano shrimp are relentless in consuming algae. They mostly rely on hair algae, along with several other types of algae – brush algae, string algae, and even black beard algae.
These hair algae are one of the most common algae that grow in a tank. They can grow profusely and will cover your tank if no measures are taken. These hair algae can be manually removed because their holdfast isn’t strong enough to resist. The cause behind hair algae growing in your tank could be too much light, not enough nutrients, low or fluctuating CO2, or a spike in ammonia.
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What Types Of Algae Do Amano Shrimp Eat?
Apart from the apparent hair algae that I have mentioned above, amano shrimps eat most kinds of algae. They eat green spot algae, green dust algae, brown/diatomic algae, hair algae, black beard algae, red algae, staghorn algae, and green water algae.
Can Amano Shrimp Eat Green Spot Algae?
Green spot algae are the algae that you can see on glass, plants, driftwood, rocks, and substrates. They remain short and flourish rapidly, especially in hard water. Amano shrimp can eat green spot algae, but as these algae stick mostly on the glass, they will find it hard to keep their spot clean. Snails like nerite snails can clean the ones that stick in the glass.
Can Amano Shrimp Eat Green Dust Algae?
Amano shrimp eat almost all kinds of algae in the tank. They eat green dust algae, but these green dust algae grow stuck on the glass, and they will have a hard time consuming it off the glass.
Green dust algae are soft and edible for amano shrimp, but if any measures to remove them aren’t taken, these algae can cement. Once cemented, it will become tough enough for amanos too.
Can Amano Shrimp Eat Brown Algae?
Brown algae are not your usual kind of algae. They are made up of diatoms, tiny animals, which you cannot see with the naked eye. But amano shrimps have a unique eating technique (filtering method) that allows them to consume these minuscule algae. However, they will have a hard time scraping the ones that grow on the tank’s glass surface.
These brown algae grow in tanks where there’s too much cycling of water. They are also common in a new setup where the ammonia content is high. They grow due to the poor water parameter in a tank.
Can Amano Shrimp Eat Black Beard Algae?
Even though black beard algae are the notorious, tough, resilient algae in the algae category, an amano shrimp can eat them with ease. No matter how resilient these algae are, an amano will prowess it with its inhuman active mode.
These black beard algae result from too much light, inadequate filtration, and overfeeding in the tank. So if you want to rid your tank of it, you need to underfeed your amanos for a couple of hours and they will be hungry enough to consume these algae.
Can Amano Shrimp Eat Red Algae?
Red algae aren’t plants, even though they have similar cell walls to plants. They can be red, purple, or reddish-purple. Amano shrimp will devour these microscopic algae with the filter-feeding method, like the bamboo shrimp.
This type of algae results from lousy water circulation and the accumulation of nutrients in the tank. Few aquatics can only eat these kinds of algae, and amano is the most favored when it comes to removing red algae from your tank.
Can Amano Shrimp Eat Green Water Algae?
Green water algae are floating algae that won’t settle on an aquarium’s surface or glass. An amano shrimp, just like the bamboo shrimp, will use its filter-feeding technique to consume this type of algae when hungry.
When there’s a high ammonia presence with low CO2 in an aquarium, these algae flourish quickly. Not all shrimps can eat this type of algae, so amano shrimp and bamboo shrimp are the few shrimp breeds that can consume these algae.
Why Isn’t My Amano Not Eating Algae?
There are certain reasons your amano isn’t feeding on the algae. Even though they are considered the best algae-eating shrimp, there could be times your shrimp is reluctant to consume them. Factors like overfeeding, water parameters, and bad tank mates could be the reason your shrimp isn’t feeding on algae.
We will discuss this in more detail.
Overfeeding
You need to know that no matter what you heard about how relentless amanos can be while grazing on algae, they won’t eat algae if you are feeding them algae flakes yourself. They need to be hungry to feed on algae. So, overfeeding could be the issue why your amano shrimp are not feeding on algae.
Bad Water Parameter
No matter how good your amano is at grazing algae, low water quality can make them ill and decrease their algae-feeding activity. Take a testing kit and measure the composition of elements like nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia in your water. Lower these parameters, and you will see your amano back on feeding again.
Bad Tank Mates
The wrong pairing of tank mates is also the reason your amano shrimps aren’t feeding on algae. Amanos are gentle creatures and are easily frightened by bigger tank mates. When frightened, they will hide in the plants and corners and don’t come out for grazing. That is why you need to pair them with suitable tank inhabitants. Pair them with other shrimps, guppies, neon tetras, and snails, and you will see them back in business.
Last Words On Do Amano Shrimp Eat Hair Algae.
Amano shrimps are the best of the best algae eaters in all the shrimp family. Their relentless active mode of theirs puts them in a league of their own. They will feed on almost all kinds of algae.
However, you need to keep them hungry enough to graze on their own if there are enough algae in the tank. Overfeeding should be avoided if you want to keep your tank algae-free with the help of these excellent algae feeders.
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