Griffie's new buddy
 

I wish I had a decent camera since this is so unreal as it is. I bought an awesome Fire shrimp from a great Canreef member and it has befriended Griffie.

It sits on Griff and cleans him in Griff's sleeping cave. When Griff comes out to swim, the shrimp stay attached. The picture is not that great since it is an iphone taking the shots and has no flash. I can't ever have the phone ready when they go swimming together. I don't know if Fire shrimp clean fish but this little guy sits on Griffie and scratches his back. Hopefully Griff does not decide to eat him in the future but all my cleaner shrimp and the cleaner wrasse have been safe. They clean Griff and he loves every minute of it.

Perhaps I have managed to tame the puffer, who knows but these things are so amazing to get to see.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/o...es/014-1-1.jpg

That's totally cool, I like when things become buddies like that.

Thanks for letting me know about Jason, I love the angel and the two shrimp I purchased from him. Really nice guy.

Are you sure it is a blood or fire shrimp?
It is a cleaner shrimp but it also eats SPS, soft coral polyps and zoanthid colonies.
One in a small reef can have a serious impact on them.

I was told a fire shrimp and I saw them at the LFS yesterday being sold as the same thing. The shrimp is from a tank shut down and the fellow had a ton of corals of all kinds.

Thanks Diana! I just sent you a pm saying you should post a pic, haha.

Both shrimp are reef safe, other than stealing food from the corals they are great :biggrin: (my trick for this was to distract them with big pieces of food when feeding the coral, seemed to do the trick)

Griff always has ich and this shrimp is having a buffet!!! None of the other fish ever have it aside of Griffie, don't know why he is so bad, but since adding all the cleaners it is almost gone now. He is floating in his tunnel with his little buddy. Griffie has his eyes rolled back and his mouth is hanging open. I swear I can see a trickle of drool coming out. His fins are out backwards and I see the shrimp picking him off with his front feet.

Griff didn't even come out for breakfast today... he came out with the shrimp toured the little guy around and went back to his tunnel. He swam so slowly to make sure the shrimp didn't fall off. Really amazing thing to see.

I was wondering if that's where you got them from, he is a really nice guy. I'm heading over there again today to get a few more things from him. That angel is one of the nicest I've seen.

Elliot

Yes it is a beautiful little fish and he is now coming out to explore a lot. I just need to name him, like I do with all my fish. Now he just has to move into the big monti cap I have, and I know he will do so soon.

I wish I had a good camera since you cannot appreciate the relationship with an iphone picture with no flash. Even if the shrimp was not reef safe he would be staying since Griffie really likes the company.

A shrimp tamed a puffer... imagine that.

we need video! sounds cool.

I have a camcorder but never bought the $100 cable to plug the unit into my computer, better go check eBay for one now... They are still together and I have never seen Griff so happy in the time I have had him He is enjoying the shrimp more then food:wink:

The shrimp is now on his head cleaning around his mouth. I hope Griff isn't building trust so the shrimp crawls into his mouth of anything. He just has his eyes rolled back and looks like he is smiling. If he had a back leg, it would be air scratching like a dogs.

Hey hope you don't have a problem. I have no experience with them. Shimek's "Marine Invertibrates" provides the caution.

Well Griffie has always been a bad boy with his eating anything that will fit into his big old mouth... I hope the shrimp will be a good little guy, but to see Griff so happy he will be staying. The shrimp must have some bad points in his keeping since he was brave enough to tame a giant.:wink:

I was hoping to find an except of what you posted online but I guess I need to buy the book. I pulled up a few searches and it says they are reef safe... I have read some things about them killing cleaner shrimp or even picking on hermit crabs.

He is bunked up with Griffie and the cleaners are on the other side of the tank. Griff has his chin on a rock ledge and is just taking his massage or whatever the shrimp is doing for him... I am willing to take a chance since this is a happy friendship for now. It may change when Griff feels his belly growling from missing his breakfast:lol::lol::lol:

You are always so informative and I appreciate the heads up on this. At least if I have a problem it help me narrow down the suspects.

Griffie finally came out for all but two minutes. The shrimp was on his back fin hanging onto him. I went to grab the phone to snap a pictures and they went back to Griff's cave. It was the funniest thing to behold since the shrimp is so red and white riding on a whale of a fish, its whiskers jostling. It reminded me of a girl at sea world riding on the back of a killer whale or something.

He is looking like a brand spanking new fish!!! Even when he came home he had darker spots that looked like his pigmentation. Now he honestly looks like he went in for a power polish in the body shop. I don't know if he had dead skin that dulled the skin but it is gone. He is bright white and shiny with the brown markings. Even his eyes are brighter and shiny.

I don't think I will see him much for the next little while. Dinner time is coming for the fish and everybody is out front and begging... but no Griffie.

The interesting thing is I watched a documentary on shrimp that hitch hike of jelly fish, and live on nudibranches as well as inside anemones. It talked about the symbiotic relationship between the two and how the shrimp used them for protection... Now I have the same thing happening in my tank.

Well I am not sure about it, but it sure looks cool. Wish I had a way for filming it or getting a decent picture...

what kind of fish is griff?

A VERY large Porcupine puffer...

I think large fish know that certain shrimp like yours are cleaners. The same can be said for fish that are cleaners. But, other shrimp and small fish would be dinner for your puffer.

Trig lives with a cleaner and has for years.

I rejoice in this since this puffer would eat anything he could fit into his mouth. To see him swimming around with a shrimp riding on his back is a big milestone for us. I am so glad I tried one more time since I was going to rehome him. To me it is a wonderful thing to keep my buddy and the clean up crew my fish all enjoy. I tried some many times and am so glad I gave it just one more chance. It's nice to see everyone so happy together now. :mrgreen:

That is so cool!

right on that is so cool to hear . grif is staying then I take it

I had a few offers on him but just could not bear to let the big fatty go... I love him too much and he seems to appreciate the cleaners finally. Before he would eat them first and ask questions later...

My tank would not be the same without him.