Cleaner Shrimp eating Mushroom Coral?

[NanoSteam]

Need some help here, my shrimp has been in the tank for 3 weeks now and two weeks with the mushroom coral and has not touched it. Recently i've noticed it perching on the mushrooms most of the day. I walk in to look at the tank and I see the mushroom closing up and the shrimp going ham on it. Here's a video below. Does it look like it's harming the mushroom or maybe cleaning dead skin off of it?

In the 15 years of reef keeping i've never had a cleaner shrimp go rogue and eat corals so i'm dumbfounded by this.

 

[Fishy212]

Kind of looks like he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. If not fed properly they will eat what they need to survive. Looks normal to me. My coral banded shrimp goes through my corals and picks stuff out of them too.

 

[NanoSteam]

Kind of looks like he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. If not fed properly they will eat what they need to survive. Looks normal to me. My coral banded shrimp goes through my corals and picks stuff out of them too.

He's definitely not hungry, i hand feed him all the time so i suppose he's just picking off random bits of food and dead skin?

 

[Fishy212]

I have a leather mushroom that periodically sheds its skin when it grows and I have seen my cleaner and coral banded shrimp picking at it. Don’t know if it correlates to your shroomys but hopefully this will give you a bit of peace of mind.

 

[NanoSteam]

I have a leather mushroom that periodically sheds its skin when it grows and I have seen my cleaner and coral banded shrimp picking at it. Don’t know if it correlates to your shroomys but hopefully this will give you a bit of peace of mind.

I hope so, i'm not going to make any rash decisions by quickly removing him... just going to keep a close eye. I don't see any damage to the mushroom for now. Thanks!

 

[Fishy212]

I hope so, i'm not going to make any rash decisions by quickly removing him... just going to keep a close eye. I don't see any damage to the mushroom for now. Thanks!

Good luck!!

 

[reef lover]

All shrimp and crabs are oppurtunistic. They will steat food from corals and will do damage to them in the process...no shrimp or crabs in my tank!

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

My cleaner shrimp does it all the time to my zoas...sps....lobo...monti.. just eating excess food who knows what. But no harm done.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I used to love them but now just want to crush them

 

[Uncle99]

The issue is one of harassment usually, rather than consumption.
I have seen them harass a nem until it died.
Just keep an eye on him
I have two in this tank for three years now

 

[NanoSteam]

It just dawned on me and I feel stupid for not realizing it. Just a couple hours before I witnessed that I had broadcast fed reef roids for the first time and i'm thinking some had settled on the mushrooms and that's what it was picking at. I see a couple white spots where the mushroom was injured from it but not too worried as the shrimp hasn't come close to it since last night. Hoping it stays this way.

I'll just stick to spot feeding the reef roids with no current from now on. I usually keep my syringe /w tubing in the tank while feeding to shoo away the shrimp.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Never had an issue with a cleaner - WOW

 

[miyags]

I had a cleaner kill a wellso. It tore the mouth right out of it to get to the food.After that I hand feed it first,before feeding my other LPS

 

[Bryan68]

I had a cleaner go nuts on an RFA, took the RFA months to recover. Needless to say, the shrimp was taken to my lfs.