Function of the coral banded shrimp

[my2rotties]

I was just curious of what benefit these shrimp have to being in a tank? I have one that came in some rocks I bought in a tank shut down, and he is just creepy. He is not killing any of my cleaner or peppermint shrimp even though I read that they do this.

Do they do anything aside of killing small fish and shrimp? To me it does not look like he would be any good at killing anything since he is rather slow and too big to get into small crevices that my shrimp stay in. I have had him three months and I have never seen him eat anything or really do much rather then look creepy.

[parkinsn]

I have offen wondered what it is that they do. I think they are pretty cool but like you said they dont really do much for cleaning fish or anything else productive. I do like mine though.

[Rbacchiega]

Pretty much a poop eater.

[my2rotties]

So it is creepy and gross. I never see the thing do anything to be honest even after the lights go out...he looks more like a lobster then a shrimp... his arms fall off and grow back in a few days....ewww.

Pretty much a poop eater.

[noirsphynx]

I've heard that they're bristleworm eaters.

[my2rotties]

I have never seen him do anything, I am surprised my triggers and puffer have let him live. They love the cleaner shrimp, but they give them spa dates all the time...

I've heard that they're bristleworm eaters.

[banditpowdercoat]

The Puffer doesnt attack/eat the cleaner?

[my2rotties]

Not at all... he only eats clownfish:lol:

When the lights go out at night he can be seen swimming with our fire shrimp on his back...He lays down at the cleaning station and the cleaner shrimp crawl all over him. He was a tough fish to get used to captivity at first but he is very peaceful and eats very well. Once I got his diet right (home made food), he really has no issues with eating stuff he should not. He does snipe to odd snail though...

The Puffer doesnt attack/eat the cleaner?

[MMAX]

So it is creepy and gross. I never see the thing do anything to be honest even after the lights go out...he looks more like a lobster then a shrimp... his arms fall off and grow back in a few days....ewww.


Creepy??? Those things are awesome. I can't wait to get my 100gal running so I can get one in there.

[untamed]

So it is creepy and gross. I never see the thing do anything to be honest even after the lights go out...he looks more like a lobster then a shrimp... his arms fall off and grow back in a few days....ewww.

OK...the arms falling off thing isn't normal. That would suggest that he is fighting some battle with someone/something else in the tank.

If you want, you can hand feed them...or feed them with a feeding stick. That will at least make them more interactive with you and you might not find them so creepy.

[reef bound]

I agree with Untamed. The arms falling off sounds a little fishy to me, too. Something's chasing him in there. Ours would molt, like all the other shrimps, but his arms were always there. He was a good bristleworm eater, and scavenged for scraps all the time. We hand fed him as well, so he was quite interactive.

[my2rotties]

I don't see him a lot but one day he is missing an arm and two days later it is back... maybe I just can't see it at times. I tried target feeding him but he does his own thing. I did notice when he came out for food, my rotten satanic damsel fish (tried to catch and forever now) took a good shot at him. He has bitten me and it is not enough to rip off an arm though. This shrimp is really quite large, and a damsel would not be abler to take him. I see him come out and none of the fish even bother with him. They would rather swim the other way to be honest.

I agree with Untamed. The arms falling off sounds a little fishy to me, too. Something's chasing him in there. Ours would molt, like all the other shrimps, but his arms were always there. He was a good bristleworm eater, and scavenged for scraps all the time. We hand fed him as well, so he was quite interactive.