Coral Banded Shrimp and Fireworms

Tristan · Jan 13, 2016

I have a 10 gallon nano reef that has fireworms in it that hitchhiked on a piece of chaeto I bought and put in the tank.
Coral banded shrimp are the smallest fish or shrimp that I've heard of that will eat fireworms.
I currently have 2 peppermint shrimp and 1 Fire shrimp in the tank and they get along fine. So I was wondering if I could add a Coral banded shrimp to the tank to take care of the fire worm problem and plus it can't hurt to have another CUC member.

Will it be fine or will there be territorial aggression?

timkenagy · Jan 13, 2016

If you add the coral banded I don't know about your fireworms but he'll take care of your peppermint shrimp. He don't play well with others

vic5hands · Jan 13, 2016

I have 4 peppermint shrimps with two coral banded shrimp with 3 blood shrimp and no one bothers anyone

timkenagy · Jan 13, 2016

I put one in and he murderd everyone

Tristan · Jan 13, 2016

vic5hands said:
I have 4 peppermint shrimps with two coral banded shrimp with 3 blood shrimp and no one bothers anyone

What size tank are they in?

timkenagy · Jan 13, 2016

I actually ordered 2 coral banded shrimp from live aquaria not knowing you couldn't put 2 together and tore limbs off each other within seconds. It was like an illegal dog fight. Luckily I have multiple systems so they had places to go.

Lionfish Lair · Jan 14, 2016

I will never own another. Mean.! He pinched everything and everyone, including myself. Model citizen for a few years and then became a grumpy old man.

timkenagy · Jan 14, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
I will never own another. Mean.! He pinched everything and everyone, including myself. Model citizen for a few years and then became a grumpy old man.

Mine still lives, although he shouldn't.. I just can't bring myself to squish little Charlie Manson.. So he lives in isolation in the frag tank.

vic5hands · Jan 14, 2016

Tristan said:
What size tank are they in?

They are in a 210 gallon tank

Tristan · Jan 14, 2016

vic5hands said:
They are in a 210 gallon tank

That's a pretty large tank. Remember, I'm talking about a 10g so that's not a lot of space.

Lionfish Lair · Jan 14, 2016

I missed the 10g part of it..... they could touch the front and the back of a 10g at the same time, as an adult.

timkenagy · Jan 14, 2016

Mine was in a 180 and sought out his victims.. I suppose it's like anything else in the hobby though.. I've seen maroon and Percs live in harmony.. Clown triggers that don't touch corals.. There's always exceptions.. I would definitely use caution though.

Tristan · Jan 15, 2016

timkenagy said:
Mine was in a 180 and sought out his victims.. I suppose it's like anything else in the hobby though.. I've seen maroon and Percs live in harmony.. Clown triggers that don't touch corals.. There's always exceptions.. I would definitely use caution though.

Any other suggestions for fireworm control?

I've seen some videos of Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp but I'm guessing that's like a 50-50 chance.

blueyesea · Jan 15, 2016

i won't get another coral banded after i had one YEARS ago that picked a chromis out of the group and ate his guts.... sad day.

timkenagy · Jan 15, 2016

Tristan said:
Any other suggestions for fireworm control?

I've seen some videos of Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp but I'm guessing that's like a 50-50 chance.

Personally I'm not sure why you're that concerned. They'll sting you (it's happened to me many times) but other than that they're pretty good scavengers.. Some argue they're essential to a healthy system.

human · Jan 15, 2016

Tristan said:
Any other suggestions for fireworm control?

I've seen some videos of Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp but I'm guessing that's like a 50-50 chance.

You could try an Arrow crab, mine was a model citizen compared to my Banded Coral shrimp, but Arrow crabs grow fast and can get fairly large.

Tristan · Jan 15, 2016

timkenagy said:
Personally I'm not sure why you're that concerned. They'll sting you (it's happened to me many times) but other than that they're pretty good scavengers.. Some argue they're essential to a healthy system.

Fireworms. Not bristle worms. It's causing my zoas not to Open up as much. And I think my hammer coral was damaged by the fire worm and caused it to get brown jelly. All my Params were perfect.

timkenagy · Jan 15, 2016

I was under the understanding they were one in the same.. Just different names.. I'm not sure of a solution for you then. If you're ok risking losing your other shrimp than CB is probably the way to go. Just what's more important.. Them being eliminated vs risking your other shrimp.. Do you have a temporary home for your other shrimp while he works? Although it may take a long time.. Might sell your other shrimp and go for a CB? They are cool

just psycho

timkenagy · Jan 15, 2016

human said:
You could try an Arrow crab, mine was a model citizen compared to my Banded Coral shrimp, but Arrow crabs grow fast and can get fairly large.

I chuckle every time I see human with the dog avatar

Tristan · Jan 15, 2016

timkenagy said:
I was under the understanding they were one in the same.. Just different names.. I'm not sure of a solution for you then. If you're ok risking losing your other shrimp than CB is probably the way to go. Just what's more important.. Them being eliminated vs risking your other shrimp.. Do you have a temporary home for your other shrimp while he works? Although it may take a long time.. Might sell your other shrimp and go for a CB? They are cool just psycho

I'm setting up a 25g pretty soon. So maybe.