Are Cleaner Shrimp worth it

leboeuf

leboeuf

Member
defintely the coolest addition to my tank. Everything previously posted is true. Great personality. I let mine graze on my hands when I am doing tank maintanence. They especially go for crap under the nails, very interesting. In fact, my 2 yr old loves to put his fingers in the tank, supervised of course, and giggles his heart out as they clean his fingertips. Can't be to painful if he permits it, right?
Anyone have any insight on blood reds? I wanted to add a couple to my cleaner and peppermint pair?
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
my kids want to add more cleaners - I have on in teh 20 - they want another there and at least 2 in my 140 .... they are great!!
 
stillfrodo

stillfrodo

Member
I bought 5 for my 92 gallon. They are great. The only thing is take your time acclimating these creatures. They are hardy but can die instantly if not acclimated correctly.When they arrived I took almost 2 hours to introduce them into the tank. They are doing great. Love it when they clena my hand. T hey don't miss a trick every new piece of rock etc coral etc they go over and sweep over.
 
tangman99

tangman99

Active Member
How do you acclimate these guys properly? I've tried twice with no luck and they are too darn expensive to have die. I drip acclimated mine for 3 hours last time and never saw him again. I've never had any problem adding anything else to my tank.
 
spsfreak100

spsfreak100

Active Member

How do you acclimate these guys properly?
I use the drip aclamation for around 5 hours.
Originally posted by LeBoeuf
Anyone have any insight on blood reds? I wanted to add a couple to my cleaner and peppermint pair?
My Fire/Blood Shrimp is quite shy, I usually never see him unless I feed the tank. In my opinion, they're not worth the money. You usually pay around $30.00-$40.00 for a shrimp that does nothing but hide all day. I've had mine for almost 2 years now, it's over 2 1/2" long.
Graham
 
phil1964

phil1964

Member
My Fire/Blood Shrimp cleans my yellow tang.
I would like to get rid of (if I can catch them) my 6 pepermints and get a cleaner shrimp.
They are cool as hell:D
 
reef fool

reef fool

Active Member
Shrimp are the most amusing things in my reef. My cleaners and blood shrimp are always out anticipating a snack. I have actually seen my cleaner ride my hippo tang for a few feet on two occasions. ROFL:D
IMO, a reef without shrimp is INCOMPLETE!
Acclimation is tough. Lost my first cleaner to bad LFS store advice.("just drip em' for an hour and flip em' in") JACKA$$!!
I have acclimated my others at .001 salinity per hour with out a loss of life. Oh yeah, and keep the temp the same as the display throughout.
 
stillfrodo

stillfrodo

Member
I put my shrimp that were in the bag in my sump let it acclimate to temp for 20 minutes. Then I opened the bag and dripped water over a period of 2 hours till the bag was almost full. Then I removed a little water and dripped again for a bit just to be on the safe side. Put them in minus the bag water of course and they have been fine.
 
searcher

searcher

Member

Originally posted by Legend
do they add much to the bio load on the tank?
I'm not sure, but like NMreef and mrogers stated I have to feed them extra to keep them from stealing food. So in that sense at least, they do add bioload.
Also, other than the stealing food they are great reef inhabitants especially when they are breeding.
 
csrobe02

csrobe02

Member

Originally posted by Phil1964
I would like to get rid of (if I can catch them) my 6 pepermints and get a cleaner shrimp.
Why would you get rid of your peppermint shrimp? Are they aggresive towards the cleaner shrmp? Or is it because you would have too many shrimp if you added cleaners.
The reason I ask is because I have 1 peppermint shrimp in my 20 gallon now and would love to get a cleaner or 2, but first I want to make sure it wont be killed, or do the killing. ;)
 
clarkiiboi

clarkiiboi

Active Member
Agree with all said. I just wonder when mine will finally molt and stay the same size LOL!!!! I think if they continue this way I am going to go on the record for largest cleaner shrimp!! What is their max size? and will they eventually molt and remain the same size? All in all though, a great addition, IMO.
 
bioreefer

bioreefer

Member
I find my 1 cleaner shrimp is more agressive to my peperments I have 5 of them in my 105 reef. to answer your question clarkii boi they never stop growing until the day they die as a adult they just grow very very slow. I think the scarlets shrimp have a life span of 7 years someone check me on that. BioReefer
 
lesleybird

lesleybird

Active Member

Originally posted by Fishman830
are cleaner shrimp worth their price?
Yes, my scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp are not at all shy, and they are some of the most entertaining creatures in the tank! At first I thought they looked kind of freaky with those long tenticles, but they really grow on you. Lesley
 
lesleybird

lesleybird

Active Member
I saw someone ask about a mated pair.....Just get two as they are bisexual and any two can produce off spring. Of corse the babies are eaten, or taken up by the filter. My pair produces babies about once a week. I acclimated mine just like I do fish and neither died. I have had them for about four months now. I think they were agressive to the two little peppermint shrimp who dissapeared shortly after placing them in the tank. I think the fish ate them. Not really sure. From what I have read on this board I would get a pair of the scarlet skunk shrimp and not the blood shrimp. I think the scarlet skunk shrimp are less likely to hide. Mine stay in view most of the time. Lesley
 
broncofish

broncofish

Active Member

Originally posted by ozadars
Bronco do u have cyano problem? There are purple things under the rocks? is it it? or something else?
That pic was from about a year ago, and I had a little outbreak, but it died off very quick. I think it was from not changing the membranes in my RO
 
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