How Big Do Amanos Get Exactly?

[PrairieSunflower]

Right... about a year ago I bought 5 amano and 1 died, leaving me with 4 that have thrived.  I recently added 4 more.  I can tell the original 4 from the new 4 because of size.
 
The thing is...there is this one shrimp I almost never see... one of the original 4.  I was cleaning my tank and my shrimp go all lively and swim around... and that one shrimp comes out... and it is really big!  At least 1 1/2 inches... all the other are an inch or less in length.  And his sort of "insides" is darker... like a murkier beige/brown... but looks like the others otherwise.
 
Is this one big guy an amano?  Of course I was going to take a picture after I was done cleaning my tank and it is almost like I have no shrimp now!  LOL  There is just one shrimp sitting out and it isn't the one I want.

 

[DrRob]

An inch and a half isn't unusual for an amano shrimp. Females will berry up in good conditions with males present and that can make the rear portions look darker, although you need a fairly complex set for any shrimplets to survive as they need brakish water to start out in.
 
The claws are the other area worth looking at, as they can reveal a rogue shrimp or crayfish of a more sinister type, although I'd have thought that you'd have had problems by now if that's what you had.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I've had no problems and there are definitely no claws.  I rarely ever see this one except for when they get excited during a water change.  I managed a picture but from the wrong angle so it doesn't show the color that looks different from the others... I think my flash also made the color "disappear". 



Anyhow, it is right near my female honey gourami, she is just slightly behind him in the shot... maybe an inch or so farther back... but close enough to show off his/her size. Anyway... in this photo it looks just like the others... but when I was watching it go back and forth before it was much much darker... you know that white line down the back... it is like underneath that is a "body" inside that is long thin and brown... not just the saddle but extending into the tail too.
 
The shrimp isn't as big as the honey but is not that far off from being as long.
 

 

[fm1978]

Yeah, that sounds about right. I've got 4 left from 6 about a year ago and the biggest is around 1.5 inches as well. I'd hazard a guess that it's probably a female you're seeing that's a bit bigger and darker than the rest. Can't really recall just how to tell the difference between male and female but I do seem to remember that females tend to have larger, more splayed tail 'fins'.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yeah, Amanos are one of the bigger shrimps we can get in this hobby, usually the largest shrimp tend to be Bamboo Shrimp.
 
Anyway, i believe Amanos can grow to about 2 inches long and are great at eating these algae on plants.
 
A bit more information on Amano Shrimps here - 
 
 http/www.planetinverts.com/Amano%20Shrimp.html

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Here is another... still blurry but more the angle I was talking about.
 

 

[Mamashack]

Have had my amanos for over a year now and the females are about 3½-4cm whilst the one male I have is about 2½- 3cm. He's been quite rampant lately so I'm expecting to see some more berried females before long!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Update:  Definitely a female and she is now carrying a huge batch of eggs.  Shame they won't come to anything!

 

[DrRob]

There are ways to do it, but it's fairly complicated for the hobbyist. There have been successful batches of amanos in the hobby though.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, I don't think I would be diligent enough for it even if I did have a setup to make it work.