OMG!!! I am so disappointed
 

I went out and finally coughed up $40 for a skunk cleaner shrimp today. So after carefully acclimatizing him I put him into my tank. He scooted around for a few minutes and then decided to have a snack . So as I am watching him stirr up some goodies around the back of the tank , all of a sudden both of my nassarius snails come flying out of nowhere. The one then procedes to completely engulf my beautiful little shrimp into his slimey slug body and has had him in a sleeper hold ever since. What the !@#!@# has anyone ever heard of this before? According to the lfs there is nothing in my tank that is uncompatible.I cannot believe it..............:cry:

Sorry to hear about your shrimp.

Are you sure these are Nassarius snails? That doesn't sound right - for one, just how big are they if they can engulf a cleaner shrimp (even a small cleaner)? Secondly, they're supposed to be scavengers not predators, and even the method of capture (enveloping) does not sound like a nassarius to me. Can you post a picture?

I once acclimated a cleaner shrimp for what I knew was not long enough... some emergency or impatience made me drop it in too fast (only 30 minutes or so).

The bristleworms found him and started in before he could get settled. It was gross.

If the acclimation goes bad for whatever reason the shrimp is damaged, and the scavengers know right away.

Yeah, how BIG are your snails?!? That's really unusual

I added photos, Viewer discretion advised
 

:cry:

Wow!! And it actually looks to be a nassarius...

Where are the photos? (or is it just me that can't see them?) :(

Crazy I would not expect that I have some the same size. Those snails must of been real hungry.

First post

Looks like a larger type of nassarius, Tongan maybe.

They eat everyday!!

Buddy at lfs told me 30 mins was more than enough, cause I asked, but I only did probably 35?He was quite happy did a couple of laps around the rocks and tank.
.

Could he have been overly stressed from being caught? He wanted no part in it.

I would say that the shrimp was dead or on its way out.
I have lots of nassarius and they are scavengers.
I have never had any issues with them going after that was living though.
interesting, but i personally think that the shrimp was a goner and the snails were just doing what they do and eat the waste.
Neal

I agree, snail was probably not doing well, they are too quick for a snail to grab unless they are on their last legs...Got lots of skunks and snails...no problems....good pic though.

Without a picture of the snail's "face" I would suggest you Google some pics of Whelks. Some Whelks are quite aggressive. The photo shows a snail that is definately much larger than a typical Nassarius, and much smoother shelled. I suspect it is not a Nassarius. How big was the Cleaner Shrimp? Adult size or a juvenile?

It looks like the giant nassarius that JL had/has. I have 3 of them between my 2 tanks, and I've never seen that before. Mine all seem to act just like the smaller version (which I also have).
Crazy pic tho.

I bought 3 giant Nassarius at a local LFS about a month ago and they haven't appeared to be too agressive towards any of my livestock.

Sorry to hear bout your cleaner. And also sorry to hear you paid $40 for it. Almost worth it to drive to Calgary and get one. IMO 35 mins is not enough. Ive always dripped for an hour, usually more.

Really? I've only ever done a 15 minute session, just like a fish. Never a casualty (except the one that landed over the mantis hole).

:lol: Ya, my fish are lucky to get 30 mins, same with inverts. If I forget about them, then they might get an hour. There are some fish I will acclimate longer though, like Clowns and Tangs. They get a PraziPro bath too though. I don't even acclimate my corals unless they are real lucky.

I'm with you on that one, haven't lost one yet. Assuming healthy coral coming from a healthy tank, going into an equally healthy tank :)

Same here but my big ones never come out of the sand, but then I have a trigger in that tank. They probally come out after he goes to sleep.

I second the Tongan Nassarius ID. They get quite large. I have a few in my tank that I've had for years, and they will be all over something that is dead or dieing, but never over a healthy fish. They are considered to be predatory, but usually just go after things on the way out. J&L has them right now.... they are great at keeping the sandbed turned but I only recommend them in a larger tank. I can see them getting hungry in something under 30 gallons. :P

My moneys on it's either a mis id'd whelk or the shrimp was already in trouble.
It does look a little smooth to me as well for a nassarius.


Diana could also be right, and they could just be a lot more voracious then the smaller variety and not getting enough food in a smaller tank but the other two possibilities seem more likely to me.

Definitely do some research on the larger Nassarius' to see if your is the exact same.
If it is, you might want to feed your tank more or buy faster shrimp.

WOW! I have 4 tonga's and 4 reg. in my 90g and a cleaner. Everyone gets along fine. I would also assume something wasn't quite right with the shrimp.

looks like a tongan supernass to me. they have smooth shells. still, look up the whelks... I suspect though that the others that suspect the nass was just scavenging are right. I can't see a shrimp not being able to get away from any snail, ambush predator or not. shrimp have a very rapid escape response and a healthy shrimp just shouldn't be taken so easily. Did you check the params of the lfs water to compare with your own? inverts are particularl susceptible to rapid salinity fluctuations

I would say its a whelk as well

sorry for your loss. I love my cleaner shrimp. That snail would already be in my sump ><