Cleaner Shrimp

[weber518]

Hello,
Had a cleaner shrimp for about 4 days in the tank, all was going well and the next thing he was dead. The other fish seem to be doing well. I have a blue tang, clownfish, yellow tail damsel and 2 snails in a 35 gallon. Tested the water and all levels are ideal. NOTE; he did molt the 1st day we brought him home but he seemed to be ok and ate well prior to expiring. The LFS reported that sometimes they have a hard time when they molt and that could had led to his demise. What do you all think of that ?? Just wanted to hear some comments / suggestions prior to purchasing another. Also asked the guy at the LFS about a clam in the tank and he said the basic lighting in the tank would not be sufficient, what do you all think about that as well. Thanks in advance.
Jason

 

[promisetbg]

What he told you was true, do you have any other inverts in the tank that are doing well..such as hermits, snails? Tridacna clams definately need high lighting with croceas & maximas being the most light demanding. You can get away with slightly less for deresa & sqauamosa, but they still do best under halides. Just the first two should be up high in the rockwork, the second two can be placed on the sandbed. It sounds like a good LFS, at least he did'nt try to sell you a clam without proper lighting. Clams should never go into a new tank anyway, I recommend to my customers to wait a year.
EDIT: I just reread your post. Why do you have a fish that will grow to over a foot in a 35 gal tank=blue tang? Even when small they need much more swimming space.

 

[good alex]

Ya for the blue tang a 125 long is the minimum

 

[browniebuck]

I can hear the sirens coming now (tang police)...blue tang + 35 gallon aquarium = TROUBLE!!!
If you were at all like me when I first started out (5 months ago), I assumed that the "minimum tank size" listed for the fish was for the fish's life...NOT THE CASE. Do a yahoo search on your fish and compare several different sites to find out a real "minimum tank size" for any fish before you buy it. Some sites (SWF.com) list the minimum for the size being shipped, while others list the minimum for an adult fish. You should always go by the adult size listing, as this will prevent the fish from getting stressed out from not having enough swimming space as they grow. The general rule that I have read over 100 times on this site is a minimum of 6 feet of length (for the tank) for any tang. No matter how small the fish is when you first buy them (and buying a really small fish is just asking for trouble), they will get very large in a relatively short period of time! Do yourself a favor and either get a tank that can support the requirements of the tang or take the tang back to your LFS and see if they will trade you something more suitable for your tank.
Regarding your cleaner question, I have had 7 cleaner shrimp since I started this hobby and have only lost one (a new one over the weekend in my wife's new tank...don't know what happened to it

), but the 5 in my tank are doing very well! Could have been a bad shrimp to begin with.

 

[weber518]

I refuse to answer or say anything else as per my 5th amendment right :help:

 

[weber518]

I hear you and I am listening, my wife and i are looking into a larger tank as we speak, i hope that my tang and all the others live for many more years. My initial concern was to buy this huge tank for these fish at the cost of $$$$$$ and have them possibly die off and be terribly discouraged with this large investment. After all that, we prior to this post have been talking about the larger tank. Thanks for the time to answer my post and i do respect your opinions. So far it has been a delight to have a sw tank. thanks again and Dori also says thank you.

 

[fishgeek01]

how did you acclimate the shrimp, not that it was the reason for its death, but exploring all options here, they require a slow drip acclimation of 2-4 hours, preferably 4... They take some time to get used to salinity and ph changes... What is your salinity, inverts like shrimp like it at about 1.025-1.026... The high end... Also do you have any temp fluctuations? That can also be a problem for them... No comment on the blue tang from me either, I beleive what most say on here about the 6 ft tank, but its not a matter to get all worked up about, how are they to assume that you won't be upgrading soon... I certainly don't know one way or the other...

 

[weber518]

the salinity hovers between 24-26 on average. the temp is usually between 78-82 (night versus day) and he was acclimated to the tank as per my LFS advice versus popular belief by floating him in the bag for about 20 minutes and then introducing him into the tank. Thanks to all again. See ya.
518