miraloma

I have a 6.6 gallon tank with 2 guppies and 1 platy. I'm looking for an algae eating fish but most of them get too big for my tank. I was at the store yesterday and saw Japanese algae eating shrimps. According to the info card at the store, they only grow up to 1". That's exactly what I'm looking for.

Questions:
1. Are they the same as Ghost shrimp?
2. How do I typically count the bioload of a shrimp? Is it still 1"/gallon?
3. Can I have just one or do I need multiples, in terms of behavior not because I want more?

Thanks in advance for your help!

susitna-flower

You do have a small tank, but I think with your current population you could add 3 Otocinclus "Otos", as well as several of the shrimp you are talking about. I have never felt shrimp clean as well as otos, but they add really interesting diversity. I also would look into snails. An apple snail would be great, or Zebra nerite if you could find them.

sirdarksol

Amano Shrimp (the more common name for Japanese Algae Eating Shrimp) and Ghost Shrimp are two different shrimp.

Cody

umm you have a 6.6 gallon now i estimate you have about 5 or 5.5 inches in there....not sure about the platy i believe its 2 or 2.5 when full grown..now adding 3 ottos along with shirmp..ahh im not sure that would be good...i think a single otto would do the best job..they say its best to keep them with others but...i have 3 in my 55 gallon and there never really buy eachother ...i can have more...i just got 3 corys 3 ottos and bamboo shrimp to start up the clean up crew..the shrimp was mostly becuase i fell in love with the creature..but anyways...ottos need nice water quality...as do you your guppys and platy...i have a 20gallon guppy tank..i lost all the adults and my otto that i had in that tank..i have 20+ fry in there that are going good...they are small so a few of them equal the bio load of a adult..i strugled with anmoina problems in that tank for a long time..i had to put 2 females into my 55 gallon that was in the process of cycling which had helped...later on i returned the females and they lived on..but fish slowy started to die off....if you really want to know what i think...well get one otto....reallly you will see that a bigger tank makes everything alot easier ...fish live longer.. less matanice ..more room to do what you want..but then you have the money factor...i reallly went on and off topic...but everything else aside...im not sure about the JAES i was thinking about gettig one myself but didnt do much research so i couldnt tell you about its algea eatting...now ottos are amazing ...for such little things they can clean up a mess no problem

lyndatu

Correct me if I'm wrong:

If you're talking about this Japanese algae eating fish, Then beware! These are major killers when they turn to adults! Or is it Chinese? I forgot. Anyways, beware of these fish!

Anyways, if you're looking for a small algae eater, yes, some ottos are perfect, usually in small schools of 2 or maybe more.

With shrimps, they're not usually those who need to be in groups. But they will fight if there are many of them in a small space.

miraloma

After doing some research, I think I want to get some Cherry Red Shrimps. They eat more types of algaes then the Amano (Japanese) shrimps. I hear they are very hardy and fun to watch. Also, they are red so much easier to spot then the Ghosties. I'm very excited about getting some when my tank is ready to have more aquatic life.

sirdarksol

lyndatu, you are thinking of Chinese Algae Eaters. What miraloma is talking about is Amano Shrimp, also called Japanese Algae Eating Shrimp at PetSmart.

Cherry Reds are good shrimp. They're a sub-species of the "regular" Amano shrimp, and lots of fun to watch as they clean your tank.