Takashi Amano is this aquarium designer after whom Amano prawns were named. This shrimp is the main and only enemy of filamentous algae, as well as brown beard. The last species of algae, only this type of shrimp could finally defeat.
What does it look like?
The shrimp is all transparent, brown dots are visible on it. Her body color can be green or red, it all depends on nutrition. If the shrimp eats only algae and detritus, then its color will be green. These crustaceans are very fond of fish food and enjoy eating it, after which they become reddish. Amano prawns are awesome maskers that you just won't see in the aquarium. Some even considered them dead and tried to wash the aquarium, but found their shrimp at the bottom safe and sound. There is one secret to see these hidden inhabitants in the aquarium. To do this, you need to direct a flashlight into the aquarium at night: then you will see how their eyes will sparkle.
How to feed shrimp
Amano shrimp can live happily in your aquarium, fighting and trying only with algae. If you want to pamper your aquarium pets, then know that they will not mind such a delicacy as pills for catfish or other fish food. Just remember that prawns often should not be pampered, as this can lead to the fact that they simply stop eating algae, switching to "goodies." That is, they simply abandon their main purpose in your aquarium - the fight against algae.
Do not forget to feed your shrimp on time, if necessary. Hungry crustaceans are very aggressive towards small fish and can eat them in a hungry state. The solution is to monitor the nutrition of shrimp or simply not keep small neighbors with aggressive individuals in the same aquarium.
Aquarium living
As soon as you start shrimp, they are still too small and defenseless, so take care of their safety in advance. Amano shrimp can be a delicacy for other aquarium inhabitants, so it’s worth temporarily moving them to a separate container.
One day you will see shrimp shells in the aquarium. In this case, you should not be scared, the shrimp did not suffer in any way, they just threw off their cramped shells. The shell for shrimp acts as a protection, so without it they are forced to hide. Amano shrimps hide wherever possible: under stones, in algae thickets, in snags. This happens until they have a new shell.
In Amano shrimp, reproduction should occur in a separate aquarium with fresh water (temperature - 28-29 degrees). In a separate aquarium, no one will bother them, which means they have nothing to fear. Shrimps will begin to mate actively, subsequently bags with caviar appear in the female. In one bag can be from 2 to 4 thousand pieces of eggs.
Fry takes from 4 to 6 weeks. At this time, the female regularly cleans the eggs and transfers them from bag to bag. A few days before hatching, the caviar becomes much lighter than usual. Then it is necessary to transplant the female into a separate container where hatching of almost microscopic larvae will occur.
Newborn larvae can only be seen under the microscope. You can see under it how, from the very first day, the fry actively begin to eat, eating microorganisms and other food in the aquarium. Breeding Amano shrimp in an aquarium requires special conditions. In the first few weeks, as soon as the fry become independent, they need salted water. If this condition is neglected, then the larvae will die on the fourth day.