coral banded shrimp

fbm

Active Member
Yea or Nay?
I have heard it both ways. Will these eat my fish? Or do they have the potential to kill my fish or anything else in a peaceful reef tank?
 

slugg3r

Member
The best answer is it depends on the personality of the CBS. Mine is afraid of the fish and won't go near them and doesn't bother anything else in the tank. He does a great job of cleaning up around the aquarium so I wouldn't want to be without him.
 

fbm

Active Member
I have 2 skunks now but I think the CBS is super cool but I don't want to add one if I am potentially going to have problems.
 

ahmoser

Member
My CBS ended up attacking an anemone right as I put it in the tank, and started chasing after muy fish.....I traded him on a cleaner and am much happier!
 

sandymya

New Member
my CBS stays in the same spot all day and only scavenges at night, during the day or night my fish get right beside him and he just moves over a bit, but does not touch them. My blenny is small. 2 inches and always hang out by the CBS and he is ok also.
 

1knight164

Member
Originally Posted by sandymya
my CBS stays in the same spot all day and only scavenges at night, during the day or night my fish get right beside him and he just moves over a bit, but does not touch them. My blenny is small. 2 inches and always hang out by the CBS and he is ok also.
I second that. Mine does the same. Rarely leaves his area but does tend to chase away anything that gets close. Forages both day and night but mostly active (out and about) at night.
 

craig7220

Member
They are deceptively fast... Not as easy to catch in a reef tank as one would think. I just moved a CBS from one tank to another and it was not easy to track him down.
 
Since we are on the subject. I have another question about CBS. i just bought one from SWF. I put him in the tank yesterday. I have not seen him since. I don't have any aggresive fish that I know of. (2 Perc clowns, Green chromi, 6 line wrass, and a Pajama Cardinal). I do have ALOT of LR though. He may just be hidden where I can't see him. Is this common?
 

nigerbang

Active Member
My monster ate my 6 line....Waiting for the right moment then I will Pounce..and get credit for him..(or fry him)
 

slugg3r

Member
He will hide for awhile. Mine took a long time to even start to come out. For a long time he would only come out at feeding time, now he comes out all the time. Also when they molt they will stay hidden for some time. Try to look around for his tenticles you might spot him.
I have a skunk cleaner with my CBS. They don't get along, but tend to stay out of each others way.
 

cocoboy821

Member
i have a cbs and a cleaner that stay out of each others way. the cbs will charge at a fish if it gets too close but it has never attacked and only comes out of his corner at night when everyone else is settled in
 

cannonman

Member
This is only my opinion BUT: I think they are pretty good to have, I think that many times they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar so to speak, a fish dies and the CBS does his job to clean it up but when the unsuspecting aquarist turns on the light and the CBS is sitting there chowing down on a fish he gets blamed. I'm not saying they can't or won't catch a healthy fish.. .that I don't know, I'm just saying they get blamed for more than they do I think.
 

66chuck

Member
My CBS killed and ate a small peppermint shrimp that I added. But, he has never bothered any of my cleaner shrimp. I think the size of the peppermint did him in.
My CBS molts about once a month and is huge. He is active day and night. He chases away any fish that get too close, but he will let a cleaner shrimp scavenge right between his claws.
He is still probably the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing and I may have to trade him in one day, but he is one of my favorites to watch.
 

monalisa

Active Member
My CBS has been in my tank for almost 2 years now. He shares the tank with a pair of false percs, a coral beauty angel, a royal gramma, and a sand perch. The only time I've seen him go after a fish is when Sister Mary Angelica (my CB angel) decides to provoke him, which is whenever she darn well feels like it. Scampi, my CBS, has never done any harm to fish nor coral. I do, however, wonder where all my emeralds go after their first molts

Lisa :happyfish
 
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