Cleaner shrimp killing fish??

[reefside oc]

This is now the second fish that we have found eaten by the cleaner shrimp. Our levels are great. 0-ammonia 0-nitrites 10-20- nitrates. I find it hard to beleive that both of these fish died out of nowhere. Could he be a killer??

 

[joe____17]

What kind of cleaner shrimp? What kind of fish? Idoubt it. Probably something else.

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by joe____17
http:///forum/post/3011661
What kind of cleaner shrimp? What kind of fish? Idoubt it. Probably something else.
I would have thought this too, but I am now convinced that my peppermint shrimp was a killer of bottom dwelling fish. I believe this to be true because two jawfish, one at a time, had their tails chewed off then they disappeared. I then added a mystery wrasse that I think had a shrimp dinner. Since the shrimp was gone I decided to try another jawfish and it has been living fine in my tank.

 

[meowzer]

I think your cleaner shrimp is taking his job a little too seriously

 

[ophiura]

I suspect that the shrimp was eating the dead fish...
It is very tempting for us to believe that our animals are healthy and being killed, when in reality, in most cases...the fish dies for other reasons.
While anything is possible, in our systems there are usually other things going on. It is very very common for fish to die.
What kind of fish where these? How old is your tank? What other fish do you have?

 

[nycbob]

cleaner shrimps will eat dying and unhealthy fish.

 

[reefside oc]

We have a 150 gal tank and these fish have been with us for over a month now. I feel like the cleaner shrimp is acting like he is "starving" all the time. Do you think maybe he is and he ate the fish because he is hungry?? One of the fish he ate had been picked on but that was over 2 weeks ago and have his fins grow back and looked back to normal. So I am at a loss. I just don't know if I should get rid of the shrimp since we have new fish coming. I don't want them to end up shrimp food as well

 

[ophiura]

Well you need to consider that cleaner shrimp do, instinctively, try and hop on fish to clean them of parasites. That is normal behavior, and it doesn't change in tanks. These are not called cleaner shrimp because they clean the tank, which is a common misconception. They clean fish, and constantly try and advertise that service, which may make them look hungry. Nonetheless it is good to try and spot feed these guys when you feed the tank.
What kind of fish were these? If this is a young tank, with new fish, the odds of mortality are high (not predation by the shrimp but actual fish death). The mortality rate of fish in this hobby is actually very very high.

 

[reefside oc]

There is really no reason to spot feed him. He swims all around the tank and tries to eat the food before the fish even get to it. He is good for swimming upside down and getting the food that is floating on the top of the water.

 

[demonclownfish]

i plan on getting A cleaner shrimp

 

[browniebuck]

Reefside...you have been asked several times what type of fish has been eaten...what were they?

 

[reefside oc]

2 Yellow tail damsels