Amanos get pretty large... 2" or so. Bamboo/wood shrimp get 4-5" but they are filter feeders only which means they have to get it out of the water stream and will often sit in front of the filter return for that reason. I've had really good success with cherry shrimp, perhaps just as a numbers game. I have a tank of just cherry shrimp and often put plants in there for "cleaning."
In terms of fish bothering them, you can help this some by changing the context in which you add them. Generally, our fish assume anything added to the tank is food and will treat it as such. So if you're going to add cherry shrimp or anything small, add them at a time of day when it's not feeding time, typically when the lights are off is best, and introduce them into an area of the tank where they can seek cover (java moss, HM, etc). Once they're established, you might lose a few, but i have them in most of my tanks with no problems and have everything in those tanks from Rainbows, to Congos, to Loaches, to Discus. Cherry shrimp can be very fast, but you have to help them get "moved in" so to speak. Cherry shrimp will likely not reproduce in a community tank, but in a tank by themselves they multiply like crazy.
What type(s) of algae do you have? It might also help to address the causes to reduce its presence. You can't really get rid of it completely, but there are some types that have clear cause/effect relationships.
Michael