Yamato Shrimp

Another creature that's very effective against algae.

It's know as the Yamato shrimp (Caridina japonica).

This shrimp was introduced to the aquarium hobby in 1983 by Takashi Amano. It is for this reason that this species is often referred to as the Amano shrimp.

Yamato shrimp grow to a maximum adult size of 2" head to tail. Although very tolerant of salinity and pH ranges (down to 6.0), they are very sensitive to ammonia/ammonium and heavy metal concentrations. Temperature has to be kept below 30C because they are not a tropical species.

One of the most distinguishing traits of the Yamato shrimp is that it is much more attractively colored than the other varieties. Their bodies are light brown to opaque with a tan stripe down their back. Additional series of broken reddish-brown lines run down their sides. They will also have two dark spots on their tail, one in each rear corner. Of additional importance to aquarists is the fact that they do not possess the large claws of some of the other shrimp species and they are purportedly longer lived.

The real attraction of these shrimp is their avowed success in algae consumption, especially soft algaes. They are also rumored to eat red algaes in the absence of other foods. However, like most captive inverts they will choose fish food over algae any day and often will turn on soft leafed plants in the absence of softer algae types or fish foods. They will not eat Black Brush Alage , nor can they get rid of spot algae on tank surfaces.