Keep the log for amano shrimp, because almost everything that matters about keeping them is easy to lose track of without one. Amanos are translucent, shy after moulting, and capable of hiding so thoroughly in a planted tank that a keeper can believe the group has halved when it has not. They also climb, explore out of water more readily than most shrimp, and clean algae so effectively that a thriving group can eat itself short of food. A stocking and feeding log, kept lightly, answers the three questions amano keepers actually face: how many do I still have, are they eating enough, and where are they going?
Stocking entries: additions, sightings, and moults
Record every addition with its date and count, and note the sizes bought, because a group of six juveniles and a group of six adults are different cleaning crews. After that, log sightings rather than pretending to a daily census. Note the most amanos seen together at feeding, and mark any long absence that ends in a reappearance, which usually means a moult happened in hiding. Found moults deserve their own line: an empty, white cast shell is a growth record, not a death, and regular moults across the group are a quiet sign that feeding and minerals are adequate. A stretch with no moults at all in young shrimp is worth a feeding review.
Females are worth noting individually where you can. A female carrying a greenish saddle of developing eggs, and later a fan of eggs beneath her tail, tells you the group is mature and well fed, even though those eggs will not hatch successfully in fresh water, since amano larvae need brackish conditions. The log prevents both disappointment and unnecessary changes made in pursuit of babies the tank cannot produce.
Feeding entries: the algae is a food source, count it
Feeding amanos starts with what the tank grows. Log the algae situation as honestly as the foods you add: which surfaces carry film or green growth, whether the glass is being scrubbed spotless, and how quickly a known patch disappears. In a mature, slightly untidy tank a modest group may need little extra; in a spotless tank, or with a large group, supplemental feeding is not optional. Note what you offer, algae wafers, blanched vegetables, or shrimp-specific foods, how often, and whether the shrimp find and swarm it or the fish take it first. Amanos bold enough to snatch food and carry it off are eating well; shrimp you never see at offered food may be moulting, outnumbered, or already full on tank growth, and only the log distinguishes those stories over time.
Record copper with care if it ever appears in your notes. Any treatment used elsewhere in the home's tanks that contains copper is a mortal threat to shrimp, and a log line recording its use nearby has saved more shrimp than any food tip.
Escapes and losses close the loop
Write down escapes and gaps. An amano found dried on the floor beside the tank is telling you about an open route around a filter pipe or a waterline left too close to the rim, and the fix belongs in the log so it is checked. Losses with no body found, alongside stable sightings of the rest, usually resolve as hiding; losses alongside failed moults, white cracked shells, are a water and diet question to raise promptly with an aquatics specialist, along with the record.
Five minutes a week keeps this log complete. KinsLe's Pet Passport holds this amano group's stocking, moult, and feeding record together with its other details, ready for whoever feeds them next.