Cleaner Shrimp coexist with Niger Trigger and Dwarf Lions?

AbnormalReefer · Nov 17, 2018

Hello all, I was wondering what my odds were of this working.

Currently I have what I like to call a predator “community” tank. Currently, the predators I have are an antennata lionfish, fuzzy dwarf lionfish, and a newly added Niger trigger. I was wondering how a cleaner shrimp may fare should I add one in?

I’m aware that shrimp are the trigger’s natural food source, so I can see that being a problem. Same with lionfish. However, I’ve seen both cleaned by cleaner shrimp before and seemingly coexisting. I used to have a juvenile volitan who enjoyed being cleaner by a shrimp.

I like predator fish but I also like inverts too. It’d be nice if I could have the best of both worlds. If not, I could always make my betta cube into a pico for inverts. However, I’d still like to hear everyone’s opinion on the matter.

ndrwater · Nov 17, 2018

The trigger and lion will probably look at the shrimp as lunch sooner than later...

AbnormalReefer · Nov 17, 2018

ndrwater said:
The trigger and lion will probably look at the shrimp as lunch sooner than later...

That’s what I figured... perhaps a sump/refugium pet?

ndrwater · Nov 17, 2018

AbnormalReefer said:
That’s what I figured... perhaps a sump/refugium pet?

Probably a better plan... Or a separate tank.

AbnormalReefer · Nov 17, 2018

ndrwater said:
Probably a better plan... Or a separate tank.

Can they survive in a refugium with no fish? Or will they go a little loopy without something to clean? Haha

ndrwater · Nov 17, 2018

They will be just fine. "Cleaner" is kind of a general term. There are many shrimp and fish that perform the "cleaner" roll at some point

Oshengems · Nov 17, 2018

I saw my fuzzy take another shot at my pomp pomp crab last night but he hangs on tight, I have a blood shrimp but he’s big he doesn’t bother him at all

roberthu526 · Nov 17, 2018

Coexist I not a problem. It’s just a matter of how long. Trigger gets big quickly and it will look at the shrimp as cookie soon.

Dragonreef202 · Nov 19, 2018

That’s just a snack they can have whenever they decide. It’s all up to the fish

Jesterrace · Nov 19, 2018

Yup, Cleaner is most likely to become a snack.

cracker · Nov 19, 2018

I "think" in some cases the coloration of the shrimp may give it a free ride . But for long in your case with a hungry or Trigger!

AbnormalReefer · Nov 19, 2018

Yeah.... at this point I’ve essentially decided against putting a cleaner shrimp in the display. It’ll likely be a refugium pet or something like that (how nice would a refugium with macroalgae along with a pair of aiptasia eating filefish and a cleaner shrimp be?)

AbnormalReefer · Dec 27, 2018

Bumping this thread....

Call me crazy, but I decided to give it a shot! I added the cleaner shrimp last night after white lights went off and Niger trigger was asleep. Shrimp went in and immediately was cleaning my sail-fin and purple tangs!

Niger trigger has definitely approached the shrimp multiple times, however, I think the key was to introduce it with the trigger while the trigger was sleepy at night, and the fact that it’s a big system (180 gallon display). Woke up next morning and as of today niger has not bothered the cleaner shrimp, and in fact has been seen being cleaned by said shrimp!

As for my fuzzy dwarf lionfish (rehomed my antennata to the LFS), no idea how I lucked out on that one. My fuzzy is responsible for eating a 1” bristletooth tang, so he’s definitely capable of eating a cleaner. Normally when live shrimp (ghost shrimp) hit the water he immediately smells it and goes for the kill. However when introducing the cleaner he started prowling and once he saw the cleaner he simply gave up! Then again, he only ate that tang around 3-5 days ago, so he may not be hungry yet.

AbnormalReefer · Dec 27, 2018

Update -

Niger happily devoured 6 ghost shrimp that I fed to the tank as a treat. The Niger is definitely aware of the existence of the cleaner though, however, the happily swims next to the cleaner.