Coral banded shrimp destructive ?

Texasnanoreef345 · Apr 13, 2020

So I have a cbs he is no longer than 2 inches. he was one of the first inhabitants in here and I don’t think I would put him in there again if I rethought everything. My hammer coral is not doing good but that’s not the point the point is I saw the cbs pinch the hell out of my challice and I’m pretty sure he snipped 2 of the antennas off of my beloved cleaner shrimp . All I find is that these creatures are reef safe but to me it doesent seem so maybe I just got one with a temper. What do y’all think anyone ever had a similar problem. Should I take him out and give him back to the lfs?

sfin52 · Apr 13, 2020

Texasnanoreef345 said:
So I have a cbs he is no longer than 2 inches. he was one of the first inhabitants in here and I don’t think I would put him in there again if I rethought everything. My hammer coral is not doing good but that’s not the point the point is I saw the cbs pinch the hell out of my challice and I’m pretty sure he snipped 2 of the antennas off of my beloved cleaner shrimp . All I find is that these creatures are reef safe but to me it doesent seem so maybe I just got one with a temper. What do y’all think anyone ever had a similar problem. Should I take him out and give him back to the lfs?

I just put one in my tank because they are sweet looking. I will be following along.

Baby Ray · Apr 13, 2020

I've never owned one but I have heard mixed reviews but mainly on the side that the aren't completely reef safe. I have heard of them picking at corals and even pinching or killing small fish. I would get rid of it if I were you, especially if you want to keep corals.

AC1211 · Apr 13, 2020

Texasnanoreef345 said:
So I have a cbs he is no longer than 2 inches. he was one of the first inhabitants in here and I don’t think I would put him in there again if I rethought everything. My hammer coral is not doing good but that’s not the point the point is I saw the cbs pinch the hell out of my challice and I’m pretty sure he snipped 2 of the antennas off of my beloved cleaner shrimp . All I find is that these creatures are reef safe but to me it doesent seem so maybe I just got one with a temper. What do y’all think anyone ever had a similar problem. Should I take him out and give him back to the lfs?

Never heard of problems with corals but i would think it should kill other shrimp.

Tastee · Apr 15, 2020

AC1211 said:
Never heard of problems with corals but i would think it should kill other shrimp.

That’s our experience also. Our LFS sold us a ’pair’. By the time they went into the tank the pair was fighting big time and an hour later the pair was a single. We love Angus however (named after the ACDC lead guitarist) however as he is full of personality. Keeping another Shrimp with him however is not possible. He (or possibly She, who knows) does appear reef safe and hasn’t harmed my Softies or LPS to date (3 years on).

When Angus and our other inverts get mobile when lights are on however that is a sign that they are hungry, so we increase feeding. We’ve seen Angus annoying our Clownfish in their Zoa nest when he get hungry. I find baby pellets are great for them so they get a dump of those when we see them out and about.

Mark Bradley · Apr 15, 2020

I have a pair - sexual differences are very clear - and, to date, they have been model citizens. I’ve had mine about six months - my only concern is about how big these can get so I’ll monitor.

When I bought them they were in a tank together - if you buy two that are in different tanks it’s likely to end in a fight to the death.

Texasnanoreef345 · Apr 15, 2020

Thank all of you fo

Mark Bradley said:
I have a pair - sexual differences are very clear - and, to date, they have been model citizens. I’ve had mine about six months - my only concern is about how big these can get so I’ll monitor.

When I bought them they were in a tank together - if you buy two that are in different tanks it’s likely to end in a fight to the death.

r the replies I’m going to keep him and watch him I just coulden believ how hard he pinched my chalice while I was watching !!!

Cwentz758 · Apr 15, 2020

I’ve had mine for 2 years, never seems to snip or harass corals. I do see him at night scavenging through my GSP. Sometimes he picks at Mysis shrimp in my hammer after feeding but does no harm. As for fish he only claws at them when they come at him, usually when he sneaks off with an algae wafer. I don’t dislike him but I would rather have a pair of cleaner shrimp just for my fish. Not sure if you can have both in my tank.

saltyhog · Apr 15, 2020

I have one of the yellow ones. Small compared to the Caribbean species. I've had him a little over 3 years. He is in the tank with a pair of blood shrimp and a pair of cleaner shrimp and has never caused any problems. My only complaint would be how cryptic he is. Cool invert!

Mark Bradley · Apr 16, 2020

Cwentz758 said:
I’ve had mine for 2 years, never seems to snip or harass corals. I do see him at night scavenging through my GSP. Sometimes he picks at Mysis shrimp in my hammer after feeding but does no harm. As for fish he only claws at them when they come at him, usually when he sneaks off with an algae wafer. I don’t dislike him but I would rather have a pair of cleaner shrimp just for my fish. Not sure if you can have both in my tank.

My blood red is the menace in my tank - trying to directly feed my Elegance also calls for me to ‘guard’ against the blood red stealing the food. There’s a lot going on in the tank as in the real reef and every now and then something will happen that might worry but it’s best not to become paranoid as it’s only a problem if it keeps happening. My wife saw one fish chase another the other day and said they needed splitting - it was all over in seconds and life returned to normal. Now if they kept fighting I’d do something about it. Watch the shrimp and if he constantly misbehaves them rethink but make sure he isn’t just foraging.

Texasnanoreef345 · Apr 16, 2020

Thank yo

Mark Bradley said:
My blood red is the menace in my tank - trying to directly feed my Elegance also calls for me to ‘guard’ against the blood red stealing the food. There’s a lot going on in the tank as in the real reef and every now and then something will happen that might worry but it’s best not to become paranoid as it’s only a problem if it keeps happening. My wife saw one fish chase another the other day and said they needed splitting - it was all over in seconds and life returned to normal. Now if they kept fighting I’d do something about it. Watch the shrimp and if he constantly misbehaves them rethink but make sure he isn’t just foraging.

thank you all for the replies I’ve been watching him for a few days and I do like him a lot just hope the antennas grow back on the cleaner and they don’t fight any more thank you !!

jcolliii · Apr 17, 2020

I had one of the big red/white ones years ago, and it was a definite bruiser. Try feeding corals! Would reach into the gut of a trachy to pick out food. I had fish go missing.

I had a much smaller yellow/blue one 6 or 7 years ago and it was a model citizen. Myself, I will never put another regular CBS into a reef tank.

Mark Bradley · Apr 17, 2020

I have a Tang, some Cardinalfish, electric blue Damsels, a Firefish, Midas Blenny and a Tailspot Blenny - the latter being the smallest and I’ve never seen any aggression towards him. I do regularly feed algae strips and shrimp/crab pellets of an evening so maybe if it doesn’t go hungry it’s ok? My 3 shrimps all come out when I feed the fish - it’s interesting to see them jumping to grab a piece of mysis or brine. My Blood Red has a ‘cleaning station’ to which the Tang pays a frequent visit which is also interesting to watch - I’ve not seen the CB do this though.

Waters · Apr 17, 2020

I have also had one roughly two years....never had any issues with him other them him protecting his personal space when a fish gets too close.

cloak · Apr 17, 2020

The ones I've had were all model citizens. (in 60 gallon tank or larger) There was always a lot of posturing with those big claws, but nothing ever became of it. I did keep the shrimp well fed though. This may have had something to do with it's overall demeanor.