Cleaner Shrimp NOT cleaning!

[eaglephot]

Hi all. I bought a cleaner shrimp last night. My fish (yellow Tang, black clown) freaked out. They their gills were wide open and they opened their mouths really wide. The shrimp just ran away from them. He is still not cleaning today. Am I just not giving it enough time? I also have a peppermint shrimp and it is whacking the fish with its antennas. The cleaner seems to be doing that too. What is this whacking?

 

[misfit]

Not sure what the "whacking" is maybe a sign of aggression but my cleaner shrimp took about 3 months to start cleaning now, he does it all the time. It may take awhile,good luck :joy:

 

[seannmelly]

i have 2 cleaners and i know what oyur talking about with the "whacking". i think they do this just to see if the fish will let them get closer without hurting the cleaner. mine do this then if the fish stay there w/o swimming away my shrimp jump right on the fish and cleans for a while. then the fish might get bored or tired and swims away and the shrimp jumps off, it pretty neat to watch. ill say give it some time if hes only been in the for 2 days hes still prolly kinda shy and new to the tank.......good luck

 

[alyssia]

I have had my cleaners for 6+ months and they have never cleaned my fish. Someone on here told me if they get enough to eat they won't clean.

 

[rcbruce]

I think it could be all of the above. My cleaner took a few days to start cleaning, cleaned like crazy..........untill..........he started eating the brine shrimp and the pellets. No he rarely cleans.

 

[rtrtlm]

My cleaner will eat everything he can get his claws on and still cleans my fish frequently. I have noticed he does most of it at night when my lights are off. He also uses his antenna to touch the fish and as someone mentioned earlier I believe he is finding out if the fish are willing to let him clean them.

 

[mrdc]

One of the purposes of the antennas is to use them as a lure. Mine will flick the antenna when a fish is near to try and lure him in for a cleaning. The antenna is also used to find food. If the antenna hits a piece of food, the cleaner is all over it. When I introduced the cleaners, the fish attacked them wanting a cleaning job but tha shrimps whacked them in a way like to say get back. After a day or so, the fish eased in on them and the shrimp would happily comply with a nice cleaning job. But they are little thieves when I try to feed my corals!!!

 

[fishfatty]

how can you tell if the cleaner shrimp is really cleaning? Ive had mine for 3 days and they just hang out under the rock all day...?

 

[eaglephot]

OK. The shrimp is now cleaning. BUT, it is under the rock! I rarely see it out of the rock. Is there anyway to get it to make its station OUTSIDE of the rock?

 

[_nix_]

Originally Posted by Eaglephot
OK. The shrimp is now cleaning. BUT, it is under the rock! I rarely see it out of the rock. Is there anyway to get it to make its station OUTSIDE of the rock?
Not that I really know of.
I do know that for about the first month that I had mine, it would hide underneath rocks, in crevices, etc.
After about a month, it started forays out into the middle of the tank, etc. in plain sight.
Now, that thing just cruises everywhere, over everything!
I would just say to give it time, and I don't think that there is really anything you can do to change the behavior.