Can cleaner shrimp destroy corals?

[shadyraro]

I’ve had a cleaner shrimp in my tank around 3 months now, and I’ve noticed in the evenings as lights are going down that he gets active and starts going to town on certain corals. And by coincidence or not all the corals he’s crawling all over and dancing on, have either started losing their polyps or have died. More recently my Duncan coral, he was all over it and everyday it would lose a head, as is my frogspawn currently which is nearly down to a skeleton. I have a Goni which I’ve seen him all over and I’ve only noticed it’s down to the skeleton on the side where he is most active on it.
All other corals are thriving, but I only see him on the ones that aren’t which has got me thinking is he killing my corals?

 

[SlugSnorter]

I’ve had a cleaner shrimp in my tank around 3 months now, and I’ve noticed in the evenings as lights are going down that he gets active and starts going to town on certain corals. And by coincidence or not all the corals he’s crawling all over and dancing on, have either started losing their polyps or have died. More recently my Duncan coral, he was all over it and everyday it would lose a head, as is my frogspawn currently which is nearly down to a skeleton. I have a Goni which I’ve seen him all over and I’ve only noticed it’s down to the skeleton on the side where he is most active on it.
All other corals are thriving, but I only see him on the ones that aren’t which has got me thinking is he killing my corals?

It's not super common, but some have been caught stealing mucus/food off of the corals and irritating them, its certainly possible thats whats happening

 

[Timfish]

Myself, I've never seen an issue with cleaner shrimp causing issues with corals. What species do you have? I would consider the possibility there's something else going on and it's just being opportunistic and might actually be doing you a favor by removing diseased tissue.

 

[stovenut]

Cleaner shrimp, and others like banded corals and peppermints, are naturally more active foraging in reef tanks at night. I see mine leave the safe havens of their caves/shelters to look for leftovers, including checking out my corals. I see no evidence that cleaners damage corals.

How about you target feed your cleaner a couple times per week and see if that curbs his enthusiasm?

 

[doubleshot00]

Mine more less just P's off my corals by walking all over them. Like zoas and duncans.

Mine seems to avoid my hammer.

He's been in the hot seat a few times as he's in a nano and i threaten to put him in the big tank and he seems to straighten right up. He would be annihilated in the big tank.

 

[shadyraro]

Cleaner shrimp, and others like banded corals and peppermints, are naturally more active foraging in reef tanks at night. I see mine leave the safe havens of their caves/shelters to look for leftovers, including checking out my corals. I see no evidence that cleaners damage corals.

How about you target feed your cleaner a couple times per week and see if that curbs his enthusiasm?

When I feed brine or mysis I always go for him first and target feed him, he knows my baster is the food tube lol.

 

[shadyraro]

Myself, I've never seen an issue with cleaner shrimp causing issues with corals. What species do you have? I would consider the possibility there's something else going on and it's just being opportunistic and might actually be doing you a favor by removing diseased tissue.

He’s a red line cleaner shrimp, and you could be right about diseased tissue but it’s just so coincidental that the corals he hangs around are slowly fading away.

 

[shadyraro]

This is what I’m talking about, my frogspawn was doing good until he took a liking to it.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Great photo
I think cleaner shrimp is just feeding off a dying coral, I think something else is causing coral to die, I'm no expert

 

[SpyC]

This is what I’m talking about, my frogspawn was doing good until he took a liking to it.

I see a dying sps in the back of the photo. I have to agree with others stating the shrimp is being opportunistic and something else is going on.

 

[shadyraro]

I see a dying sps in the back of the photo. I have to agree with others stating the shrimp is being opportunistic and something else is going on.

Yeah you’re right, he’s started hanging around that sps also.

 

[shadyraro]

I came to the conclusion that my cleaner shrimp was being opportunistic with those corals, so I removed them and the cleaner is back to just rummaging around the tank and not annoying any other corals. I'm not sure what the cause was that made those corals fade away as all my parameters are within acceptable limits, and all my other corals are doing just fine. I'll continue to monitor the tank and corals to see if anything else is going on.

 

[rhdoug]

I kept cleaner shrimp for a few years and found them to be extremely aggressive when it came to eating, that is they would go to a LPS or sun coral that had eaten and pull food out of their mouths, sometimes as long as an hour after feeding. In addition the clownfish were on constant guard duty protecting their anemone from being raided as well. They are very cool and pretty, but do not have a place in my mixed reef.