Cleaner shrimp worth it?

[Afterburner]

I have one, and early on he did a lot of cleaning of my fish, but my tank is now pretty clean and the fish won't let him near them anymore. His name is Leon and he is one of the coolest things in my tank. I hand feed him and all I have to do it put my finger in the tank and he comes up and starts cleaning me. The first few time when I was gluing some frags he jumped on my arm and it sort of alarmed me, but now I expect it. He seems to always be hungry, but my ornate wrasse (spot) usually steals his food pretty quickly so he hasn't grown much. I also have a boxer shrimp (coral banded) and it is less aggressive for food, but if I give it a piece nobody can get it from him. I can tell you from experience that you can only have one boxer in your tank unless you have a mated pair (and they got a divorce so I only have one now).

 

[Reef and Dive]

So I have a 45 gallon tank with a clownfish, royal gramma, shrimp/goby pair and lots of lps/softie corals. I have always wanted to get a cleaner shrimp as I think they look really cool. Question is, do they really serve any purpose besides aesthetic? I know they eat debris and uneaten food, but I mostly spot feed and already have a pretty good cuc currently. I don't have large fish for it to eat things off of and I would like to avoid adding in another mouth to be fed so would it serve any purpose in my tank besides looking cool?

love them! Useful and beautiful.
With a special talent not to bother corals.

 

[robbyg]

The one that I love the best is the Glass cleaner shrimp. The fish just line up to get a cleaning job. Sometimes I will see a fish swimming with one on its side and the fish drops him back at his hideout.
Also they have moments when they hover in the water like a humming bird, it's kind of cool to watch them just hovering in the mid water and the fish which could easily eat them just stop next to them as if begging them to jump on and give them a clean. Mine lay eggs but I have not seen a single young one hatch and show up in the tank.

 

[Idoc]

Mine cleaner shrimp is great at scavenging and cleaning...or attempting to clean... the fish in the tank. She also is a great source of entertainment to watch her scamper about.

My Blood shrimp is pretty but stays hidden most of the time. My diamond goby goes to the back of the tank regularly to visit his friend, the blood shrimp. This shrimp stands on top of the goby and cleans him. The goby will roll over and open his gills up for the shrimp to clean inside his gills.

 

[KWT]

I am thinking about a couple cleaner shrimp. Getting some good info here. I wan a fire shrimp or 2 also

 

[najer]

Go for it, I love them.

 

[LeftyReefer]

So cleaner shrimp leave corals and anemones alone?
I had a peppermint, but had to rehome it after it started nipping at my RBTA.
I'd love to try another shrimp, but not at the expense of corals and BTA's.

 

[Spydersweb]

So cleaner shrimp leave corals and anemones alone?
I had a peppermint, but had to rehome it after it started nipping at my RBTA.
I'd love to try another shrimp, but not at the expense of corals and BTA's.

Yes and no. They will not "attack" really any living thing in the aquarium, but they are very aggressive feeders. They can smell the food a mile away, and they eat like little piggies. They're really fast, and will steal food from anything in there. That said, they are awesome little guys. If I have to put my hand in there for anything, they'll rush over and "clean" me. They're fun to watch, and very interactive with you. The only one of my fish that will let them clean it is my Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, weirdly enough. I knew it was a risk putting them together, but my fuzzy won't eat anything nearly as large as my 2 cleaners.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I don’t really trust hermits after I saw one stepping all over my zoas trying to get at the reefroids I’d just fed so I got rid of all of them (the zoas have been very pleased about this development). I replaced 10 hermits with 1 fire shrimp and honestly he does a better job than the hermits ever did. Now I just add a shrimp into every tank instead of the hermits. I’ve never tried cleaner shrimp but I’ve been able to train the fires to eat out of my hand and ride around the tank on my arm while I’m doing maintenance, they’re like puppies. I’ve only got 2 now since I lost my first one to a bad molt yes I cried he was like my child. They were like $20-$30 before the pandemic but now they’re like $50!!! I’m waiting until I can source one at a reasonable price but in the meantime I am really struggling with detritus control! Definitely a must have for me in my tanks, I’d like to get a pair as a replacement for the one that died after I find them at a good price

 

[92Miata]

Harmless scavengers. I prefer fire shrimp due to their greater activity, but cleaners are pretty and get bigger than peppermint.

Unlike crabs they aren't a threat to corals either.

interesting.

We've got a cleaner in one tank and a fire shrimp in the other, and for us the cleaner is way more active.

 

[Phil D.]

Cleaner shrimp are great additions. Mine is a pig too, but he cleans all my fish regularly. Another benefit is that i actually saw him eating a bristle worm!!!! So now, my tank has no bristle worms thanks to him.

 

[AC1211]

Mine just sits in its dark corner comes out to eat and goes back again. It is cool when they molt I just released a thread about it not too long ago,

 

[AC1211]

Cleaner shrimp molt

I have seen crabs molt first time my cleaner shrimp has cool.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[AC1211]

I don’t really trust hermits after I saw one stepping all over my zoas trying to get at the reefroids I’d just fed so I got rid of all of them (the zoas have been very pleased about this development). I replaced 10 hermits with 1 fire shrimp and honestly he does a better job than the hermits ever did. Now I just add a shrimp into every tank instead of the hermits. I’ve never tried cleaner shrimp but I’ve been able to train the fires to eat out of my hand and ride around the tank on my arm while I’m doing maintenance, they’re like puppies. I’ve only got 2 now since I lost my first one to a bad molt yes I cried he was like my child. They were like $20-$30 before the pandemic but now they’re like $50!!! I’m waiting until I can source one at a reasonable price but in the meantime I am really struggling with detritus control! Definitely a must have for me in my tanks, I’d like to get a pair as a replacement for the one that died after I find them at a good price

You don't trust hermits but my first cleaner shrimp was killed by nassarius snails. They both went for the same pellet then the snail put its foot over its leg then kept on going and with two nassarius in the area they just kept on eating. This was months ago and my newer shrimp seems to eat closer to the top away from these nassarius snails.

 

[PicassoClown04]

You don't trust hermits but my first cleaner shrimp was killed by nassarius snails. They both went for the same pellet then the snail put its foot over its leg then kept on going and with two nassarius in the area they just kept on eating. This was months ago and my newer shrimp seems to eat closer to the top away from these nassarius snails.

Ah, don’t have those snails either. I keep all barebottom tanks so they don’t really fit. The only meat eating cuc I have are the shrimps. The snails are astrea and stomatella. Only like 3 astrea snails total between the 3 tanks, the rest are dozens and dozens of stomatella snails. I have found them to be very hardy, have fast reproduction, and do a good job keeping my tank free of algaes.

 

[Spydersweb]

interesting.

We've got a cleaner in one tank and a fire shrimp in the other, and for us the cleaner is way more active.

Me too. No matter where they are in the aquarium (in the rock work, etc) as soon as they see me they swim up to the front of the aquarium like they’re trying to jump on me