Shrimp and snails

[LKH]

I just purchased 10 Amano Shrimp for a 3 month old, heavily planted 30 gallon freshwater tank. Other inhabitants include 2 otos, a nerite snail, a BUNCH of itty bitty snails that hiteched in on the plants, 11 cardinals and 2 golden honey gouramis (these are not the large honey gouramis, but very tiny - won't get to be more than the size of a quarter, and very timid). There is some green hair algae and other kinds of algae growing in - not a lot, but enough I figured I should expand the cleanup crew to keep ahead of it.

I realized after I made the buy there are some questions I should've asked in advance, so since these guys are due to arrive tomorrow, I was hoping someone could maybe answer my questions quickly:

1) I'm told the Amano Shrimp will help reduce the population of the pest snails that hitched in on the plants. Will my nerite snail be OK? He's about the size of a dime, and strange as it sounds I'm fond of the little buggar. I've had him 5 years, and he's survived in some pretty dreadful environments before I learned enough about his kind to treat him better. I'd hate to put in the shrimp and find that he's going to become a meal.

2) What should I have on hand to take care of the shrimp? I'm told they'll scavenge the flakes I feed my fish; how will I know that the shrimp are getting enough to eat?

I appreciate prompt replies, as any prep I need to do should get done before they arrive tomorrow. (E.G. buy products, remove the snail, prep another tank, etc.)

Thanks!
L

[Mustafa]

The claim that C. japonica (or any other atyid shrimp) eat snails and reduce snail populations is a myth. I've heard people even claim that their Red Cherries "control" snails populations.

This myth stems from the fact that these shrimp do eat dead snails. People observe a bunch of their shrimp gathered around a dead snail and "boom" a myth is born.

I would like to hear someone convincingly claim that he/she observed these shrimp actively hunt down and eat a live snail. Then, me and a bunch of other people would have to observe the same thing to confirm this claim. It's a very basic "hobby" version of what's called "peer review" in scientific circles. There are all kinds of people claiming all kinds of strange things without any proof whatsoever and people believe it.

So your nerite snail will be fine and so will be the tiny snails that came with your plants (they'll grow and reproduce and increase their numbers given enough food).

Hope this helps.

[LKH]

Well, I don't know whether to be glad or not, then! LOL. I was hoping to be told they would only eat the really tiny ones. Even if they would eat just the eggs, that would help.

Thanks!

L