inverts that are safe with CBS

[jba6511]

what inverts can be kept with coral banded shrimp? I just acquired a new CBS and I am pretty sure he has killed my 2 blue leg hermit crabs. I know that other shrimp can not be kept or crabs. What else does this leave besides for shrimp? Starting to rethink my purchase and may take the CBS back. What additional benefits to they provide? I was under the impression that he would function in a similar fashion to a cleaner shrimp, cleaning up the tank and rarely cleaning my clownfish.

 

[wangotango]

Originally Posted by jba6511
what inverts can be kept with coral banded shrimp? I just acquired a new CBS and I am pretty sure he has killed my 2 blue leg hermit crabs. I know that other shrimp can not be kept or crabs. What else does this leave besides for shrimp? Starting to rethink my purchase and may take the CBS back. What additional benefits to they provide? I was under the impression that he would function in a similar fashion to a cleaner shrimp, cleaning up the tank and rarely cleaning my clownfish.
CBS will eat gunk on the rock including bristleworms sometimes. they do not function as cleaner shrimp by cleaning other fish. i have a CBS in my 55 reef and i havent had a problem with it at all. they cant be kept with other types of shrimp, but most crabs are usually fine.
-Justin

 

[jba6511]

would a sally lightfoot work? what does everyone with CBS have in their tank? trying to get some stocking ideas?
also, i would eventually like to get into corals. I have heard that CBS can be a problem eating corals. is this true? anything that can be done?

 

[jba6511]

will came home to find he has molted and the 2 hermit crabs were indeed alive. So far so good. Anyone? what kind of other inverts or fish do you keep with your CBS? I have a 10 gallon.

 

[row]

I also have a 55 gal. I have about 15 hermits, 1 mithrax, 2 cleaner shrimp, and a whole bunch of snails.. I haven't had any problems with him yet. He is actually quite skittish. He is fun to watch though.

 

[jba6511]

the CBS seems to hide most of the time during the day and have not really observed him yet at night (moonlighting on the way). I just worry about putting in inverts in such a small space that they are known to fight with, such as cleaner shrimp. I would really like to have some more inverts in the tank, such as some sexy shrimp, crabs, cleaner shrimp, starfish, etc. but do not want to risk paying the $$$ for a snack for the CBS.
ROW do you have any corals? if so, does he pick at them or eat them?

 

[corw]

i have a cbs with peppermints and cleaner shrimps and have had no problems.

 

[row]

Yes I do have some corals and haven't seen hime picking at any. He does move around quite a bit at night. My hermits are the ones I have problems with, they are constantly fighting. I started off with 20 and now probably only have 12-15 left.
My CBS is a pretty good scavanger also, I don't think they clean fish, like cleaner shrimp, but they do eat left over food. I dont know about having one in a 10 gal though.

 

[jba6511]

corw - how big is your tank?
Thanks for the speedy replies ROW. I am hoping someone with a nano and a CBS can confirm, but that might be too much to ask for. Hopefully mine will be more active at night than he is during the day. So far he just hangs out of sight on the back of my LR.

 

[row]

Thats exactly what mine does, he really get around at night. He probably laps my tank 4-5 times. I think their is a message board that deals only with nano tanks you might wanna post this question on that board.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by jba6511
corw - how big is your tank?
Thanks for the speedy replies ROW. I am hoping someone with a nano and a CBS can confirm, but that might be too much to ask for. Hopefully mine will be more active at night than he is during the day. So far he just hangs out of sight on the back of my LR.
Not to be silly, but have you been in the nano tank board?

 

[dragonzim]

I've got a CBS in my 75 along with about 20 blue leg hermits, nassarius snails, turbo snails and an emerald crab. The CBS leaves them all alone.

 

[debdeb]

My CBS doesn't bother any of my other inverts, including my corals at all, just hides most of the time until I feed the tank. I have seen him grab my 3" clarkii clown and drag her out of the rasta leather she hosts. I've heard that once they get larger they will kill fish so ol' Pierre the CBS may lose his happy home down the road. I've seen him actually clean my hawkfish though, then again, maybe it was a trap and he was really hoping for fillet of Lyretail for dinner.

 

[saltn00b]

Originally Posted by WangoTango
they do not function as cleaner shrimp by cleaning other fish. they cant be kept with other types of shrimp.
wrong and wrong. CBS can and do occasionally clean fish, it has happened in my tank.
also, if shrimp are the same size, most have no problems. i have had a CBS in with a cleaner skunk and 2 fire shrimps for over 1.5 years

 

[jba6511]

thanks for all of the replies. I had heard nothing but bad news about mixing CBS with other inverts so this thread has been some relief. I believe I may add a fire or cleaner shrimp now and maybe a crab of some sorts. Thanks a lot.