evil coral banded shrimp

[townsdp]

I got a coral-banded shrimp from swf.com about a week ago and he is in the 75g reef. He sits in the one big cave all day, but if any fish comes within 4" of him he grabs at them with his claws. He will actually go at them. My yellow tang has a tiny hole in its bottom fin because of him I think. Are they normally this mean or is mine possessed?

 

[donmgicwon]

Mine does that to my fish too but the fish will kick his ass if they want to. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[beachbumtx]

Yup, have claws will grab. One of our customers told us about how her CBS takes advantage of resting fish at night. She was watching one time and the her CBS grabbed the tail of a yellow tang and the tang towed him across the tank before the CBS let go.
They look cool, but I will not put one in my tank with my fishies.

 

[scribben]

my cbs took up with one of my damsels before i gave him to a friend and the damsel wouldnt let another fish near him. never seen him be aggressive with his claws at anything. i guess its like the world mine was a wuss and you guys got the bullies lol

 

[pacopetty]

Mine is a nasty little booger too!

 

[sweetdawn]

i tried to catch mine the other day when i saw him tearing a new coral i just bought. practicly tore the tank apart he is still in there. i gave up :nope:

 

[trompet3]

mine's always been very docile and keeps to himself. Only wanders around at night or during feedings.

 

[donmgicwon]

Mine has never hurt any of my fish but he does grab a little. My lawnmower seems to be his favorite target but the lawnmower just swings around or just ignores him and all is fine. I am not in the least bit worried about my CBS he looks too cool to get rid of.
Hey sweetdawn, if you really want to get rid of him throw a puffer in your tank and your CBS will become lunch.

 

[dburr]

Do you guys feed the shrimp?

 

[h2oengr]

DonMgic, I'm with you! They are too damn cool not to have one! I feel the same about starfish. I've got to have one ... :happy:

 

[harlequin]

I have had mine for a long time. I wanted something colorful that would hold its own with a large lion. Well i got my wish and the poor lion was on the run for 2 days. Eventually they worked out some kind of fishy truce and the the shrimp perched on a rock on one side and the lion on another . I eventually got rid of the lion to go a little more peaceful, big mistake. Lost a pair of young clowns to that one so I put it in my refugium, while catching it, both giant claws came off. Best thing in the world for it actually. It became much less aggressive for obvious reasons and 6 months later back in the community tank still without the big claws and doing great. Not having the claws probably kept it out of trouble with the other inhabitants of the 'fuge namely a rather large arrow crab, prolly weighs about 3/4 a pound and a big rock crab which i dont think is a rock crab.

 

[jlm]

I was very upset. My cbs has been in my tank for about a year and hasn't bothered anything. But he has gotten very big and this weekend he killed one of my cardinals that I moved to that tank. And he tried to attack the 6 line but he's to fast.

 

[texag04]

Who are these devils!? Mine is a complete angel. Yeah he might chase after one of mine cleaners if they get in his way, but other than that he doesnt bother anything. Ive never seen him raise his claws at anything. He does walk all over my corals, but what doesnt? I guess it is a hit n miss with these guys. BTW mine is huge, and I call him the "Beast".

 

[townsdp]

To the question "Do you feed the CBS?", yes. I feed all my fish a combination of flake for chromis and clowns, cyclopese for whoever wants it, dried seaweed for the tang, and for the coral beauty, shrimp and crabs - a mixture of algaes, seaweed, brine, other fishy parts. Keep it frozen, break off a couple pieces and it thaws as soon as it hits the water. When that stuff goes in, the peppermints come out, the CBS goes crazy, the hermits go crazy(for hermits), and tang becomes a garbage disposal.

 

[masterreef]

We own a very large (over 5") mated pair both of which have large claws. Other than "warning off" when a fish swims too close they have not exhibited unusually agressive behavior. The male will even take food from my hand. They tend to be more agressive to creatures added to "their tank" then when they are the new additions. We even have other shrimp (peppermint and blood) with no problems. Good Luck!

 

[latino277]

I luv my CBS. (name: MY MAN SHIMP!) durring the day all her does is sit on the back of my LR and at night he roams the tank. on SAT I even saw him cleaning my Blond naso. He was on him for about 5 min. all in his gills and mouth. it was so cool.

 

[townsdp]

I have an update on my possessed shrimp. My yellow tang had showed up with a hole in his bottom fin and a pinch mark on his stomach one morning. A couple days later, he had another larger pinch mark on him. I also saw him grab a peppermint shrimp. I am not going to have a 7$ shrimp kill my 25$ tang, so last night I caught him with a net by herding him into it with a plastic butterknife. I held him in my left hand and use fingernail clippers to clip the points of his large pinchers off. Maybe cruel but that's what he gets. After he went back in, I saw him put them up to his mouth and inspect them. I felt horrible but today I have watched him and he doesn't chase the tang or coral beauty like he used. He flares up a tad, but no blows. Maybe I have exorcised the demon!