Best Shrimp for a 13.5 Gallon Tank?

queenclownfish · Dec 14, 2023

Hey all!! I've been eyeing the Fluval Evo 13.5 as my first reef tank, and I've been trying to get an idea on what I wanna stock it with. So far I have the idea of 2 clownfish, an Orchid Dottyback, and some Trochus Snails. I was thinking of adding a cleaner shrimp as well, but I wanted to get some feedback from more experienced reefkeepers. Is a cleaner shrimp a good idea? Or do I have enough clean-up crew for that size of a tank already with the snails? Thank you ^^

EgotisticObeseChihuahua · Dec 14, 2023

Get some Sexy Dancing Shrimp. They are a superior species of ornamental shrimp.

jda · Dec 14, 2023

Any shrimp should be fine. Most are short lived at about three years, so you can rotate around over time. I kinda like banded shrimp for small tanks since they are out-and-about a lot.

Sharkbait19 · Dec 14, 2023

Welcome to the forum!
Like said, any shrimp would be fine.
Pistol shrimp don’t really act like any of the lysmata shrimps, but are really fun nonetheless.
From my own experience, don’t waste your money on fish tankmates with clowns in a 13.5. Nothing except for them will be welcome after very long.

Narideth · Dec 14, 2023

Sexy shrimp may find their way into the overflow of the evo through the slats, so be aware of that. They will also eat corals if not fed, but with fish in the tank, that shouldn't be a problem as they'll scavenge the uneaten foods.

Blood fire shrimp are -beautiful- but it's a huge tossup on if you'll ever see them, depending on both the shrimp and the rockwork. I've seen them super social and super skittish.

Skunk cleaners are cute and hunt around the tank, then find an overhang to linger under, but you tend to see them a lot more often in my experience and those long white whiskers are attention-snagging.

Neither of the larger cleaner shrimp (skunk and fire) will eat corals, but they may steal food from them.

I have no experience with coral banded but I am SUPER interested in one for my own evo since it is currently shrimpless! I do know you can't keep other crustaceans in the same tank, they're aggressive/territorial.

Overall, you can keep shrimp in almost any reasonably sized tank - I even have one in my 3 gallon pico. They are superb at finding food that gets missed and quicker than any other CUC inhabitant to snatch it up.

kevgib67 · Dec 14, 2023

I am partial to skunk cleaners as they are always out and about more than others. Mine are cleaning my hand when its in the tank. If you plan to have some rfas, sexy shrimp offer an interesting symbiosis.

EricR · Dec 14, 2023

Skunk cleaner -- always out and about and you can hand-feed to entertain kids/guests.
Only CON I can think of is stealing food from corals (as has already been mentioned).

jhadaway · Dec 14, 2023

My cleaner does well in my 15 with a pair of stubby clowns. I can't see the dottyback in there, The db's get territorial once they establish their cave if the clowns don't get them first. Clowns are cute but mean as all get out most of the time..

Narideth · Dec 14, 2023

I have a 2yr old 15 gallon with a pair of clowns and a royal gramma, and they have all lived together for a year now - the clowns have been in since the beginning. My clowns aren't super aggressive to the gramma but they certainly are to me!

It all depends on the clowns and you're rolling the dice, though there are definitely things you can do to try and ease aggression issues - rockwork to break up line of sight, who gets introduced to the tank first, etc. The gramma can hold his own and I think that's important as well, but I did have a firefish in this tank for a while at the beginning and the clowns utterly ignored it. This may have been because they were juveniles though.

queenclownfish · Dec 14, 2023

Thank you all so much for the help!! I'll heed your warnings and only get the pair of clowns in this tank. The cleaner shrimp look perfect for what i had in mind so I'll probably go with one or two of them. You're all fantastic, I appreciate the advice

jhadaway · Dec 14, 2023

-and stay away from banded coral for a 15g. You'd be surprised how big they get. Mine is over 3 years old now and with the antennae she is a good 8". Pretty aggressive too.