Cleaner Shrimp Disappearing

[chicago1]

I bought a cleaner shrimp three weeks ago from saltwaterfish.com. He was doing ok for a couple of weeks and then he disappeared, I look all around and can not find him. Usually he would come out a feed whenever I was fed my fishes. By the way I have a 30 gallon tank with 30lbs of LR and 10lbs of LS, 2 clown fish, 1 royal gramma, yellowtail blue damsel, cleaning crew, 2 curly Q, and pink tip anemone. Those anyone have any idea what happen to my cleaner shrimp.
Thanks

 

[emm0909]

Sounds like he's cleaning the big reef in the sky now.

 

[fishycpa]

have you seen his molt anywhere? sometimes they will molt and then hide until their "shell" is hard again.

 

[scsinet]

Dead. Sorry to say, but if you haven't seen him in a week, he's gone. Usually they crawl behind live rock to die, so they just vanish.

 

[chicago1]

Originally Posted by fishyCPA
have you seen his molt anywhere? sometimes they will molt and then hide until their "shell" is hard again.
Frist week I did see his molt, but not anymore.

 

[chicago1]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
Dead. Sorry to say, but if you haven't seen him in a week, he's gone. Usually they crawl behind live rock to die, so they just vanish.
Too bad I really like that shrimp. Maybe I'll buy more than one whenever I have my new 150 gallon tank setup.

 

[fishycpa]

Welcome to the boards, btw.

 

[scsinet]

Cleaner shrimp can be a demanding mistress.
They are not hard at all to keep once you get them acclimated and in the tank. They do not live very long... a year or two at the most.
In two separate instances (and tanks), I had an established cleaner. I added another, and in each instance, they died after a few weeks, yet the originals were fine. So in one tank I tried again, and the pair lived together for over a year before the original died (old age), and I still have the newer one. The other tank I never tried again in, yet I still have the original.
So long story short, IMO cleaners have to "take" to a tank. If they make it through a month, you'll have no trouble at all keeping them for their full natural lifetime. I put chances of success with a new introduction at about 60-70%, so if you don't succeed the first time, give it another go.

 

[h0peless]

I had a skunk cleaner in my original 30gal for over a month, saw him molt once, he was always out and about. I switched tanks recently, got some new lighting that only fit the 30gal long, my original was taller. I used the same LS and water from the original, I had to add about 5 gal of new water (always RO) because the new tank also came with a trickle filter. I added some cured LR as well. The cleaner lasted about 1.5 weeks and then dissappeared. No molt no nothing. My wife said she though she saw molt under some LR one day, but once I got back it had dissappeared. I have about 10 hermits, one other poster suggested that the shrimp may have been molting and then something got it while it's "shell" was still soft? What do you thing?
Also all my params stayed normal and I had used about 30lbs of LR from the original tank, along with adding 15-20lbs. 0amm. 0trites 10trates

 

[tmy880]

Can u put more than one type of shrimp in a tank....I got a 110G

 

[jmesmcm]

Yes you can put more than one type of shrimp in a tank. In my 120 I have 2 skunk cleaners, a couple of peppermint shrimp and a coral banded shrimp.