Shrimp As Algae Eaters - Can I Add Them To My Tank Safely?

Other options include otocinclus (more picky about algae types and prefer diatoms to true algae), and nerite snails (good option, can lay unsightly eggs).  The nerite snails would be worth researching.

There are also a couple of options with shrimps - the smaller species like red cherries which will breed in the tank, though babies may be eaten by the other inhabitants, this will not stop you forming a good community as shrimp are very good at hiding! Also larger species such as amano shrimp which grow to 5cm and will not breed successfully in freshwater.  I don't anticipate problems 's with your existing stocking with either and they are efficient algae eaters.

I have nerite snails and cherry shrimps in my main tank. Yes the do lay eggs which don't hatch but they are worse if you have a male and female of the same species. If you were to get more than one, getting different species reduce the egg problem. This thread contains pictures of my snails so you can see what I mean. https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/gallery-showcase/snail-photos/

My cherry shrimps thrive with my fish. The babies may be getting eaten but they breed fast enough to cope with this. Shrimps do need hiding places, especially thickets of plants because they have to shed their skins to grow and while the new skin hardens they are very vulnerable.

Snails and shrimp are also quite nice to have as livestock in a tank. Colours, patterns and shapes of snails can be  varied, and shrimp are an adorable bundle of interesting colour, movement, and behaviour.

APS are referring to the fact tetra will eat baby shrimp I believe. You're unlikely to see this taking place and many shrimp will also survive.  If you bought a very expensive shrimp you were trying to breed for profit I would be concerned but not otherwise 

I found a large piece of bogwood or driftwood propped up safely by rocks or large stones provides perfect hiding place for shrimp.My shrimp hid under it until they felt safe enough to come out in the open, and now they are big enough and feel safe enough to be out all the time.

I have amano's and tangerine tigers.

Ooh, this conversation has got me thinking about shrimp. I always assumed that because of my soft tap water, shrimp were a bad idea. But this conversation has caused me to look up red cherry shrimp (thanks @Sue for the link) and they might be ok.

@Rustle I notice that you have harlequin rasbora in with your shrimp. Are the shrimp ok because the armanos are quite big shrimp? What about the tangerine tigers?

I first got cherry shrimp a few years ago and they all died. The last one was an egg carrying female, and the eggs all hatched just before she died. My current colony is descended from those eggs.
I was helped by Natalia who told me there is a bug that stops shrimps shedding their skins properly so they die. She recommended beta glucans to help boost their immune systems. I bought a pack off Ebay - designed for aquarium use with the picture of a shrimp on the front - and used it in the tank with the shrimps. I carefully nurtured the baby shrimps, they grew up and had babies of their own and so on and on.
Once the beta glucans reached its use by date, I didn't get another pack and the shrimps have been fine without it.

So, an update here...

Before Christmas I picked up 10 red cherry shrimp from the LFS, acclimatised them and then let them loose in the tank.

I suspected that over Christmas I lost a few, as I barely saw more than four out in the open at once, though no bodies ever turned up. When I was cleaning, I tried not to disturb the tank too much, but a fortnight ago I decided to go looking for them as I thought all of the shrimp had died. I found two, but one died last week and the other was found dead today.

I've had plenty of algae (sigh) for them to feed on, and I've been adding some dried shrimp food pellets I got from the LFS. The two that died most recently had reached a good size and were a bright red colour, so I thought they were just hardier than the others. I had plans to add more shrimp at the weekend, but having had the last one die today, it leaves me suspecting that any more shrimp I add to the tank will meet with the same fate.

I've checked my tank's water and it is the same as it usually is - 0 ammona, 0 nitrite, 20-40 nitrates. I'm in a soft water area, but having looked into the red cherry shrimp, I was under the impression that the soft water shouldn't have been a problem.

Have I gone horribly wrong somewhere, or is there another reason to consider that would explain why ten shrimp have died in just over a month? The shrimp I have found bodies for don't appear to have been attacked, and while I'm no expert, I haven't seen any sign of disease in them.

Well, that's my reasoning too. No point in sending more shrimp in just to die...

As for copper, well, even I'm not bad enough at this to try fertilising artificial plants, so no, nothing like that. I only add food and water (with dechlorinator, during water changes) to the tank, no mineral salts or anything of the sort.

This sounds terribly familiar. I think the best thing I can do is ask you to look at these threads.

https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/fish-tank-plant-advice/plant-die-off/
This one starts off as problems with plants then moves on to shrimps

https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/invertebrates-shrimps-and-snails/baby-cherry-shrimp/
This one carries on from the first one.

They both contain irrelevant chat, but if you can manage to work your way through them you'll will find the advice I received from Natalaia which has resulted in my thriving cherry shrimp colony.