# Red cherry vs amano shrimp?



## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

I have a 10g planted tank with 2 african dwarf frogs, and I'll be moving my betta in there probably next weekend. Yesterday I found out I had free-swimming nematodes, so I was thinking of getting something that'll eat the dead plant matter and leftover food. I read these two shrimp are good, and they also eat algae (which I haven't had yet), but I don't know which to get. I read the amano shrimp is better, but I like how the cherry shrimp are more visible and I'm afraid of sucking up the amanos with the gravel vacuum (so with cherries I can avoid sucking them up). What do you think would be better?


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

Amanos are bigger than cherry shrimp.

Depending on the betta, they might just eat or harrass the cherry shrimp. >_> Mine are cherry shrimp murderers. 

I don't have personal experience with amano shrimp.


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## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

Kaxen said:


> Amanos are bigger than cherry shrimp.
> 
> Depending on the betta, they might just eat or harrass the cherry shrimp. >_> Mine are cherry shrimp murderers.
> 
> I don't have personal experience with amano shrimp.


My betta seems chill, but I'm not sure how he'll react to tank mates. Would it be better to put a few ghost shrimp in the tank he's currently in to see if he's aggressive? (I was going to put a few ghosties in there anyways to eat unseen food).


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## Aeon (Jul 15, 2014)

id try it with a few ghost to see if he will eat them. I know they do that sometimes. but with the ghost compared to the cherry they r less likely to see them but im with u i like the cherrys better and im gonna be etting some when petco gets their shipment in since was delayed for weather good luck


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## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

I'm going to go with amanos if I can find them, but I will try to get maybe 2 or 3 ghost shrimp to put in the 5g he's in right now. Hopefully whenever I go to Petsmart they'll have them because most of the time they're all out or only have one or two.


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## kman (Dec 10, 2013)

Amanos are great shrimp. They get quite large (compared to other dwarf shrimp, at least). I don't think you'll have any danger of vacuuming them up accidentally. And the other great thing is they eat Algae like no other shrimp! Most bettas will get along with them, unless you have an unusually aggressive betta. (which are definitely out there)

Cherries are great fun and breed like crazy. But their small size and bright coloring make them into prime targets. Some bettas don't care at all about them, others will tear into them. Still others can be peaceful for a while and suddenly realize "hey, FOOD!" and wipe out a colony in a day or two. Unless you have a very heavily planted tank with LOTS of hiding places, I'd be wary of cherries. Also, they don't eat algae anywhere near the way Amanos do. OTOH, if you can keep them, they're very fun to keep and bright and pretty.

Be careful about mixing either shrimp with ghosts, though. Ghosts can get really aggressive. They'll eat small cherries and harass the peaceful Amanos. I had ghosts who would harass the heck out of my betta, even, grabbing onto him for rides and generally freaking him out! I eventually moved them to another tank.


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## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

kman said:


> Amanos are great shrimp. They get quite large (compared to other dwarf shrimp, at least). I don't think you'll have any danger of vacuuming them up accidentally. And the other great thing is they eat Algae like no other shrimp! Most bettas will get along with them, unless you have an unusually aggressive betta. (which are definitely out there)
> 
> Cherries are great fun and breed like crazy. But their small size and bright coloring make them into prime targets. Some bettas don't care at all about them, others will tear into them. Still others can be peaceful for a while and suddenly realize "hey, FOOD!" and wipe out a colony in a day or two. Unless you have a very heavily planted tank with LOTS of hiding places, I'd be wary of cherries. Also, they don't eat algae anywhere near the way Amanos do. OTOH, if you can keep them, they're very fun to keep and bright and pretty.
> 
> Be careful about mixing either shrimp with ghosts, though. Ghosts can get really aggressive. They'll eat small cherries and harass the peaceful Amanos. I had ghosts who would harass the heck out of my betta, even, grabbing onto him for rides and generally freaking him out! I eventually moved them to another tank.


I was considering RCS because I thought it would be fun to see if they breed and have offspring who survive, but I don't think my tank is planted enough and I don't want to risk them being killed. The two ghost shrimp I had before left my previous betta alone, and he left them alone. I also won't be putting more than 1 species of shrimp in the tanks  As for plants for shrimp, would dwarf four leaf cover or dwarf hair grass work? I'm leaning more towards the dwarf four leaf clover as I don't know how to plant dwarf hair grass and I like its appearance better (though I'd have to order it online).


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

Note, if you are going to get amanos make sure you get a lid for the tank, they are jumpers


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## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

n25philly said:


> Note, if you are going to get amanos make sure you get a lid for the tank, they are jumpers


I do have a lid, and I have the hole where the HOB filter is covered with mesh (though I may have to weigh it down with something if they're powerful jumpers).


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## n25philly (Dec 5, 2013)

I didn't find this out until after I got mine, but in nature they will come out of the water on floating plants and jump to other ones to get around at times. In an aquarium they don't know there isn't water when they jump. So I don't think they are trying to escape like some do, so the mesh would likely be fine. I'd ask someone with more experience with them first though.


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## kman (Dec 10, 2013)

DHG isn't a great option unless you have a high tech tank and can grow it into a real carpet. It'll live in low tech, it just won't spread... at all (without serious skills and a soil-based substrate). I'm not familiar with dwarf four leaf clover... do you mean dwarf pennywort (aka _Hydrocotyle tripartita sp. Japan_)? (which has 3 globes on the "clovers") I have that in one of my tanks, and the shrimp love it.

As for jumpers, Amanos are jumpers, just like Bettas. If your lid is good enough to keep and jumping betta in, it's probably fine for Amanos. Anything big enough to fit through could technically be a risk, but you can determine the odds with common sense... and a willingness to deal, if you guess wrong. (i.e., wait and see, and if you lose a shrimp, well, live and learn, fix it move on!)


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## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

kman said:


> DHG isn't a great option unless you have a high tech tank and can grow it into a real carpet. It'll live in low tech, it just won't spread... at all (without serious skills and a soil-based substrate). I'm not familiar with dwarf four leaf clover... do you mean dwarf pennywort (aka _Hydrocotyle tripartita sp. Japan_)? (which has 3 globes on the "clovers") I have that in one of my tanks, and the shrimp love it.
> 
> As for jumpers, Amanos are jumpers, just like Bettas. If your lid is good enough to keep and jumping betta in, it's probably fine for Amanos. Anything big enough to fit through could technically be a risk, but you can determine the odds with common sense... and a willingness to deal, if you guess wrong. (i.e., wait and see, and if you lose a shrimp, well, live and learn, fix it move on!)


I like how dwarf pennywort looks but I read it needs med. to high light and I don't want to risk it dying like the majority of my dwarf baby tears did. Would anubias Nana petite be a good plant? If I weigh it down with a plant weight, the weight won't rust will it?


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## kman (Dec 10, 2013)

BlueSky99 said:


> I like how dwarf pennywort looks but I read it needs med. to high light and I don't want to risk it dying like the majority of my dwarf baby tears did. Would anubias Nana petite be a good plant? If I weigh it down with a plant weight, the weight won't rust will it?


Any Anubias are good with low light. Plant weights are usually made of lead, so no rusting. Still, I don't like even the idea of lead in my tanks, so best to use fishing line or cotton thread (or even zip ties!) to attach to wood or rocks.

I believe DP can grow under lower light, just not as fast. I can't promise that, though, as the tanks of mine that have it are all medium light or better.


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