It has been over five years since Takashi Amano, the discoverer of amano shrimp, passed away. But his introduction of amano shrimp to the aqua space has popularized amano shrimp with unceasing intensity and growth. Along with the bigger craze for amano shrimps, we will shed some light on how big amano shrimp get in this article.
How Big Do Amano Shrimps Get?
Amano shrimps can grow up to 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) when fully matured. Female amano shrimps grow up to 3 inches. One can see their full growth after six months. Some amano shrimps have small bodies, which is normal, and it doesn’t mean that your shrimp is unhealthy.
How Fast Do Amano Shrimps Grow?
Amano shrimp can reach their maturity just after six months if the feeding and living conditions are right. Also, genetics and feeding culture play an essential role in amano’s growth.
Several factors are essential for amanos’ growth. Let’s discuss some of them.
Water Parameters
Water parameters are essential for every aquatics, and amano is no different. Whenever you are introducing your shrimps to a new tank, specific criteria have to be met.
Temperatures should be anywhere between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius to 29 degrees Celsius). Like most aquatics, they, too, won’t tolerate ammonia and nitrite composition in their tank. Try to keep the nitrate level below 30 ppm. The pH level of water can be between 6.5 and 8.
Make sure there is a good nitrogen cycle in your amano shrimp’s aquarium. It is essential for both your plants in the aquarium and aquatics.
Food For Your Amano
If amano had to be known for one thing, it would be their relentless ability to feed on algae. So you need to ensure your tank provides enough algae for your troupe of amano. Amanos like to feed off the algae in the plants.
The more they eat, the faster they grow up to their full size. You can give your shrimp blanched zucchini, dried pellets, and algae wafers. These will supplement when there’s a shortage of algae in your tank. And as always, make sure you are not overfeeding them. Overfeeding results in leftovers, and this causes a rise in ammonia inside the tank.
Right Tank Size And Parameters
A 20-gallon tank can house five amano shrimps with abundant space for grazing. Put live plants in it for mimicking their habitat in the wild. It will be better if the tank is longer than the vertical height. This is because shrimps mostly dwell on the substrates and will have enough space to forage.
A right size tank will help them get the needed space and won’t hinder their growth process. If the tank’s size is small, then your troupe of amano shrimps will have to live congested with other inhabitants of the tank. This will cause stress and lead them into hiding. In hiding, your shrimps won’t get enough food to satisfy their appetite, and normal growth cannot be expected from such conditions.
For knowing how many amano shrimps can you keep in a tank, check out my article How Many Amano Shrimp Per Gallon?
Amano Shrimps Growth Process
Amano’s growth process is more unusual than other freshwater shrimps. Amanos require brackish water for breeding, but when they develop from larvae, they will return to freshwater for the rest of their lives. The transformation from larvae to adults is a semi-molting process. This means that unlike caterpillars turning into a butterfly, amano shrimp pupae and larvae won’t have full metamorphosis like butterflies.
During an amano fry’s growth, it will molt and take several days to develop a new shell. During this phase, it will be vulnerable to predator attacks as it won’t have a hardened shell to protect itself.
For proper molting, an amano requires an abundant amount of calcium in its diet to develop a new shell. If an amano isn’t getting the necessary amount of calcium, it can die, just like every other shrimp.
Often improper water parameters hamper amano shrimp’s molting. Therefore, you need to maintain the right water parameter for your shrimps.
For detailed information on an amano’s molting, check out this article How Often Do Amano Shrimp Molt?
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Which is Bigger? Amano in the wild or A Captive Amano.
Usually, the captive amano is bigger than a wild one as it gets all the right amounts of diet along with water parameters. Amano in the wild has every kind of external threat factor, which causes a high mortality rate. However, captive amanos do not have to worry about getting eaten by predators.
Final Words On How Big Do Amano Shrimps Get
There’s a misconception that amano shrimps only rely on eating algae, but it is not true. Even though algae is their first choice of food, they will also eat different food in their habitat to grow. Calcium-enriched foods are the ones they require the most, as they have to develop shells every time after molting. Only after months of molting, do they reach their full growth, i.e., up to 3 inches.