CBS w/ cleaner shrimp

[donald]

O.K. I have a yellow tang and I want to add a cleaner shrimp for him. He is trying to get my CBS to clean him. He swims up to him and backs in for a cleaning but my cbs seems confused,like hey man not so close, and then he moves away. Will a cleaner clean my tang and will my CBS and cleaner fight. I know who will win and I hate to lose a 30$ cleaner shrimp. Please give me some advise, has anyone kept them together? Is there ant hope? Thanks guys.

 

[perfectdark]

I have never kept them together however the consensus is.. not recomended. CB tend to be territorial and will prey upon other inverts and are warned especially against other shrimp. Although I am sure the exception is out there.

 

[gnorman]

i have some SWfish book back at home and it said they were compatible together

 

[miaheatlvr]

It CAN be done in a large enough tank, they will most of the time stay out of each others way, but the C.B. will ALWAYS try to bully the CS.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by GNorman
i have some SWfish book back at home and it said they were compatible together
They are..... Right up until the CBS gets hungry.

Form=function in the biological realm. Those CBS claws are for more than looks.

 

[miami298]

I have a CBS, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2 fire shrimp and a sexy shrimp. All get along fine in my 120. Occasionally they go after the same pieces of food and the cleaners know when to back off. Other than that it's one big happy shrimp family.

 

[nycbob]

i hv a cbs w 4 cleaners in my 72.

 

[petjunkie]

There's really no good answer other than to try it, some CBS are very aggressive and others are fine. Mine is so slow I can't imagine him catching a cleaner ever, I've kept two with him before, one for two years until it died. He would chase for a bit and the cleaner would just swim quickly away. This was in a 33 gallon long with lots of live rock. Usually they don't come out except at night. However you don't really need a cleaner shrimp for anything, I doubt your tang has wounds needing cleaning and only one of mine ever tried to clean but my fish were too small.

 

[jonthefishguy]

I have 4 cleaner and 1 coral banded in a 240 and dont have issues.

 

[gold strip]

I had a CB and 4 cleaners in my 180 and now I have a CB.
You may find one that will co-exist but the majority will hunt your other shrimp down, especially when they are molting, and kill them.

 

[donald]

Well guys (and galls) I did it I now have 3 pepermint shrimp 1 cleaner and 2 bait shrimp in my tank(55g). The little cleaner knows to get out of the way when the big boy comes 'round. All in all they seem to stay away form each other. Today I feed them and the little cleaner ran right up to the CBS and stood in line to get food. I thaw mysid shrimp and suck them up in a turkey baster. I stick it in the tank and let the shrimp come up to the end and take what they want out, it keeps them from bothering my BTA and anything else. BTW, I feed the CBS first, this help stop fighting. Thanks for all ya'lls help.