cleaner shrimp attacking new tang?

M

markeo99

Guest
I have had a tang in quaranteen for 3 weeks no signs of anything always been healthy and havent seen any ich or parasites put him in my display tonight and my cleaner shrimp is going nuts and the tang loves him shrimp even rides him.
question is is my shrimp know something I dont or is it just cause the tang allows it?
 
mkzimms

mkzimms

Member
well the cleaner shimp's natural instinct is to clean and if the tang was wild caut then its natural instinct is to get cleaned. when i was doing research for my underwater naturalist diving cert we watched a two foot square cleaning station on the reef and the same fish would come and go like clock work over the course of our dives. cleaning seems to be something that relaxes the fish and helps it stay healthy, so it doesn't always require a reason to be cleaned. in my own tank, our cleaner will forcibly clean anything that comes into the tank for the first time (coral and fish alike) as well as my potters angel on a regular basis. i dont think you have anything to worry about unless you actually see the fish behaving oddly (except while its being cleaned, they usually act funny during cleaning sessions) or you can visually identify anything on the fish. just rest assured that your cleaner is doing its job and you have the pleasure of seeing an amazing symbiotic relationship taking place in your tank.
 
M

markeo99

Guest
I'm gonna try and get some pics if they do it again crazy practically crawls right in its mouth and rides him like a horse
 
mkzimms

mkzimms

Member
nice. its pretty cool to see fish get cleaned, especially when they are fish that would normally eat a shrimp for lunch. a few times on the reef ive seen shrimp and wrasses go head first into an open lion or eel mouth and come out without a scratch. you will usually only see cleaning take place in certain places on the reef (cleaning stations). im assuming that shrimp is fair game anywhere else. i noticed in my tank whenever the potters is being cleaned its always in the same place below the overhang of one particular rock. i guess the shrimp has setup shop there.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Totally normal behavior. This is providing pleasure for both the shrimp and the tang, otherwise the tang would eat the shrimp and be done with him.
 
globaldesigns

globaldesigns

Member
This is totally normal, its the shrimps job to keep the fish clean.
I have a fish wash, just like what you see on shark tale (the cartoon movie), my shrimp hang out in a cave like overhang and the fish go in there and the shrimp go crazy, its really cool!!!
 
rcoultas

rcoultas

Member
One of the things we all wish to see - the duplication of the natural order. I find it awesome when a large fish opens it's mouth and allows the cleaner to work inside - they get the gills too.
 
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