Mean Coral Banded Shrimp

princess8077

princess8077

Member
I've had this guy for a little bit now (he's always hidden) but I bought a little cleaner shrimp and last night saw the CBS take a swipe at the little cleaner shrimp (he got away in fairly quick order) but today I came home to find him eaten! I know it's not a molt! That CBS ATE him!!!!
They do this often?
 
donald

donald

Member
Mine has not( so far) but I have lots of smaller shrimp in my 55 with my CBS. Do you feed your CBS regulary? I feed mine when I feed my BTA(once a week) usualy something meaty like shrimp or silversides. I think this helps. My CBS does chase the other shrimp but only to get them away from his lair.
 
donald

donald

Member
I read in another post that you also have a Sally lightfoot? If he is in your tank with your CBS you could be in for trouble. Sally lightfoot crabs have a very bad rep. They are nice when small but when they get big they change personalitys. Most think it is because of sexual maturity but that is just a guess.
 
princess8077

princess8077

Member
Originally Posted by donald
I read in another post that you also have a Sally lightfoot? If he is in your tank with your CBS you could be in for trouble. Sally lightfoot crabs have a very bad rep. They are nice when small but when they get big they change personalitys. Most think it is because of sexual maturity but that is just a guess.
Yes I have a SLF..he's the coolest thing ever....we love to sit and watch him. He's gonna kill my CBS?!!? he does such a great job keeping the hair algae off the rocks tho!

And yes, CBS is fed regularly now, but he hid so much before that I even thought he might have parished - even tho I never saw any remains. Never even saw his long whiskers!
 
uberlink

uberlink

Active Member
CBS are highly aggressive, especially as they get larger. They can even grab smaller fish if they get lucky. I had a large one in my system for a while, but he was always trying to grab my clowns. I dont trust them at all.
 
donald

donald

Member
I would hate to have to put money on who would win between a CBS and a SLF crab. The Sally will terrorize other tankmates when it get bigger. I don't trust Sally lightfoot crabs and I keep a watchfull eye on my CBS.
 
jon in tx

jon in tx

Member
Today I noticed my CBS trying to jump out and catch one of my damsels (twice)! I'd never noticed this before but have had SEVERAL fish come up missing in the last several months. Is it possible/likely the CBS ate them?
These include 2 damsels, blenny, psuedo, threadfin butterfly, Clown Goby.
FYI - I only feed my CBS 2-3 times a month - I thought he'd eat fish leftovers and bristleworms. Now I looked him up on swf.com and it says they should be fed daily?! Comments/suggestions? I'm leaning towards getting rid of him before he eats any more fish!!
 
princess8077

princess8077

Member
Originally Posted by uberlink
YES, THEY WILL EAT FISH. Get him out of there.
Sounds like I need to get rid of both....SLF and CBS!
 
rudedog40

rudedog40

Member
I've had a CBS for over three months now with a SLF and several fish. Yea, he's swiped at my chromis, and even caught my small blue hippo for a couple of seconds. Other than that, he raises his claws anytime someone comes by him, but he hasn't killed any of my fish. The SLF got between a rock and a hard spot a couple weeks ago. He was down by my SFE's lair when I was trying to feed him. The SFE came out and took a swipe at the SLF. He backed away fast, but right into the CBS. The CBS wacked him with a claw, and the next thing I know, the SLF was on the opposite side of the tank. Those two are the most amusing things in my tank. I wouldn't give them up for anything.
 
mie

mie

Active Member
My cbs goes after all my fish even my trigger, this has been recently, I have had the cb shrimp for about 8 months and only last two to three weeks he has been agressive.
 
uberlink

uberlink

Active Member
Originally Posted by rudedog40
I've had a CBS for over three months now with a SLF and several fish. Yea, he's swiped at my chromis, and even caught my small blue hippo for a couple of seconds. Other than that, he raises his claws anytime someone comes by him, but he hasn't killed any of my fish. The SLF got between a rock and a hard spot a couple weeks ago. He was down by my SFE's lair when I was trying to feed him. The SFE came out and took a swipe at the SLF. He backed away fast, but right into the CBS. The CBS wacked him with a claw, and the next thing I know, the SLF was on the opposite side of the tank. Those two are the most amusing things in my tank. I wouldn't give them up for anything.

Sounds like a barrel of laughs.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
I had one grab a coral cat in mid swim and start to eat his face!! The cat was perfectly fine before that, swimming along happily. The cat used to do laps around the tank slowly and taking his sweet time. The CBS grabbed him as he swam by. I broke it up but the cat didn't make it. They can be nasty little buggers!
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Some people keep them without problems. I guess without other inverts and with larger fish that they would be fine.
 
uberlink

uberlink

Active Member
True. I suppose if you were going to do a (near) FOWLR and wanted a big mother of a shrimp, that would be a fair bet. Could probably hold its own against almost anything. There was one in my current system when I bought it from the original owner. About the third time it tried to snatch my clown, and remembering how the previous owner thought it was so cute to watch the "game" the clown would play with the CBS, I hauled that monster to the lfs and never looked back.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by uberlink
True. I suppose if you were going to do a (near) FOWLR and wanted a big mother of a shrimp, that would be a fair bet. Could probably hold its own against almost anything. There was one in my current system when I bought it from the original owner. About the third time it tried to snatch my clown, and remembering how the previous owner thought it was so cute to watch the "game" the clown would play with the CBS, I hauled that monster to the lfs and never looked back.
LOL yeah, I would have too.
 
petjunkie

petjunkie

Active Member
Did you just add the cleaner? It could have died naturally and been eaten, a healthy cleaner should be able to get away from a CBS, at least IME. Mine just swam away whenever he was chased, the CBS can't move nearly as fast or didn't want to. I've had one for three years and he's never been a problem, even in my smaller tank with small slow fish.
 
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