Well thanks Matt !
I'm no CB shrimp expert but I'll tell ya what I'm aware of with these guys.
Coral banded shrimp are pretty much scavengers, and will eat darn near anything meaty you toss in, like small pieces of raw fish, frozen foods and even other shrimp ( little cannibals <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> )
Feeding them is no biggie, they'll grab up any missed food that you feed your fish. Or you can certainly target feed them if you want to.
I recall reading somewhere that most of the shrimp, like crabs, need calcium to form their outer exoskeletons, and without proper calcium, they have a tough time when molting. If you do regular water changes, your calcium levels may be fine.
A simple calcium test kit will let you know if you need to add a calcium supplement.
I like SeaChem Reef products.
Reef Complete to raise calcium.
Reef Calcium to maintain it once you get it to the level you want.
Others will drip Kalkwasser,or use other products on the market - up to you.
You'll want to test your alkalinity too, if you start adding calcium. You don't have to - but it's recommended by many. Calcium-Alkalinity-pH all interact with each other.
Continue to test your pH as you do now.
Other than that - I dunno - CBS have been known to fight with each other if you have more than one. I've heard of folks getting a mated pair, but adding 2 in the same tank can lead to aggression, and the dominant one killing the other.
They always seem to me that they are just ready to pick a fight anyways - front legs and pincers always up and ready. Some I've heard will even catch very small fish if they can. Not sure about that - maybe someone here has seen that.
Mine always just climbed all over the live rock, was pretty active and fun to watch.
I don't keep them anymore - but I still like them.
Sorry for drawn out reply - HTH
