Do cleaners......

[corvettev12ttnos]

Do cleaners shed there skin or shell or what ever it is?? because i saw the skin of it on the pre foam filter going to my power head(wich is off right now) and saw it cralling aroung on my rocks so i picked it out of the tank and flushed it down the tiolet and i just bought the clear yesterday and it's my fist one
so any help would be great

 

[uvmfish]

Yes, shrimp will molt periodically. My coral banded has molted at least 5 times in less than 5 months! I thought he was dead the first time I saw it!

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

I have another question on thies.....Do they need any kinda special treatment? like special food or anything or a special rock formation to hide in (he has a good hidding place right now)
My mian question is how much curent do they need and how much is to much????????

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

forgot to add how long till my 2 yellow tial damsels will let it clean em? and do they normaly eat stuff off the LS??
BTW I LOVE THIES THINGS

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

doesn't anyone know an answer to my qustions?

 

[drillsergeant]

I've never fed my cleaners anything special, they will pick stuff off your LR. As far as cleaning your damsels, they have to get along first, i had a domino that loved the cleaners along with everybody else in the tank, but not all fish like it, some think its annoying, or are just scared to let something close to them. you just never know.

 

[musipilot]

If you want to feed cleaner shrimp directly, and you're afraid they aren't getting enough, my suggestion would be frozen silversides. I thaw them under running water for a few minutes, then break them in half. You can just dangle them in the water, the shrimp will FLY to your hand and grab the pieces of silverside, mine love it. We have a coral banded shrimp that loves freeze dried krill also. We put a piece on the end of a wooden feeding stick, and bring it down towards him. He grabs it off the stick and munches on it all night. He won't eat silversides. Iodine is the only supplement they need to molt, a good complete reef additive (like Ecosystem's Reef Solution) will take care of their needs.

 

[susiepan]

I use a VERY tiny pc of dried shrimp or krill and give it to Pepe' (his name) and hes so funny, he'll climb right up my arm to eat..or to see if I have food for him..
~Susie

 

[marine fanatic]

My cleaner shrimp actually does a happy dance when I approach the tank with frozen brine. He scampers up to the surface and pounces onto my hand. He will grab as much as he can carry, pick at my fingers a bit (saying thank you?) and scurry back to his little nook in the LR and feast.....one of the best additions to my tank I have ever made.

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

lol, mine cleans my hand when i put it in the water but doesn't seem intrested in the brine that i put in but he'll eat some after about 1hr that it's been in

 

[falcon63]

the more they eat the more they molt . i would leave in tank it will be eaten

 

[wrassecal]

Mine eat everything I feed. I went to WalMart to the fresh fish section and bought a bag of frozen shrimp, squid, octopus etc for 4 bucks ( lasts forever) and my cleaners love it when I chop up a piece of that stuff. They gather as many little pieces as they can. It's funny to watch. They will climb up on my hands to get the food, but I try to not do that to much...trying to cut down on putting my hands in the tank. Also, leave the molt in the tank, it has some benefit and no harm. Both my cleaners molted right after I bought them ( and a couple times since) and then they hide out for a few days resting while their new exoskeleton hardens. Your yellow tailed damsels may not put up with them trying to clean them.

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

Well....finaly my cleaner is now VERY soscial and so I hand feed him a bit of brine when i feed my fish but how often should i feed him the brine? mabe 1 time a week? so he wont loose intrest in the parisites

 

[wrassecal]

I feed once a day and mine always eat. They don't lose their instinct to pick parasite. Mine are always trying to jump on the tang, even my firefish.

 

[corvettev12ttnos]

lol mine's so funny today it was doing GREAT it was all over the tank and jumping on my 2 damsels (wich are letting it clean them) (like DAB's does on her tang) and it was funny too and the biggest damsel was letting it clean it's mouth like a dintist or something
I think I get amused to easily. <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />