thinking about shrimp

my .02
I have Amanos (and am buying 5 more tonight!). They are peaceful in relation to my fish as are my fish to them, although i have been told my Angels might see them as a snack when they are a bit older.
They mainly eat the algae off my tank walls and plpant leaves. Once a week i drop 4 algae wafers in. Mine are thirving in a cycled tank (A-0, N'trite-0, ntrate never more than 20ppm) and at a temperature of 80F. I have one fully grown at around 2.5 inches the rest are around 1.5"
I would suggest more than one as i hardly see mine - they are clear and very good hiders.
Wonderful little creatures to watch - whne you find one it doesn't stop moving!
My amanos are pregnant (welll egg laden anyway!) nearly every week and i have been told fry can only be raised succesfully in brackish conditions

I've had ghost shrimp in my tanks before. They generally do well until after a molt at which point a fish or two decide they are soft, vulnerable and delicious. Most of the folks I speak to with amano or cherry shrimp don't seem to have that problem. Could be because of the relatively small size of ghosts. At any rate, if you are interested in them, I recommend them. Shrimp are amazing to watch and provide a nice and welcome distraction from the regular ebb and flow of your fish.

Actually from what I have read they can only be raised in full salt- it's a pretty copmlicated process, evidently. but aside from that, I totally agree. Shrimp are entertaining- a nice addition to a tank. They are great scvengers too. They like a lot of hiding places- and actually that's important when they shed so your fish don't pick them off. They ar epeaceful- and diet is pretty much whatever they can find. My amanos love zucchini, but you really don't have to feed them anything special.

Amanos only grow to 2.5 inch max. They are relatively slow growers aswell - I have only noticed fractional growth in 2 months

Cherry shrimp stay little around an inch for females- they evidently need a bit of iodine in the water, and they are fairly expensive. But, a big plus to them is that they will breed readily in freshwater. Dependiong on what fish you have though- amanos might be a better choice just because of their size.

My amanos will eat live blackworms- they are good algae eaters but certainly not opposed to carnivore food. So I would think- if they could catch the fry, yes, they would eat them. I don't have any livebearers though, so I don't know for sure.

I don't think you even need to supply them with extra algae wafers and what not if you have algae in your tank and your fish tend not to eat every bit of food. I have dwarf puffers with my shrimp and DP's are messy eaters so the shrimp get tons of extra food. They rarely even bother eating algae anymore.

I would recommend shrimp, they are great. Actually when I upgrade my DP tank I'm turning the 20 gal into a shrimp only tank, with different kinds of shrimp in it. I'd recommend getting a group so that you see more of them, and I've read that the shrimp feel more comfortable in a group, although I don't know if that's true.

Also be careful of openings in the top of the tank, as some shrimp seem to like to climb out.

Also amanos are the best for eating algae. Ghost shrimp don't really eat it and I'm unsure about cherry shrimp. Filter feeding shrimp are also cool in your tank if you have the room for them. It seems a lot of them get rather large after a time. I have 2 rock shrimp and they are awesome. I also had a vampire shrimp but he was really nocturnal so I never saw him, unless I got the flashlight out at night I could glimpse him before he took cover. Filter feeders are cool though, they have their little fan appendages and they are just too cool.

Anyways have fun with whatever you choose, shrimp are fun to watch.