Do cleaner shrimp really clean ?

[Holy_makerel]

You need to feed the shrimp first, then your corals.

Didn't matter in the least. They would still do that

 

[Jonathan blackwood]

So it's just basically a hit and miss !? Or what lol I'm getting mixed answers here lol I guess I'll just have to give it a go and hopefully he does his designated assignment lol we will see

 

[Stigigemla]

If the fishes doesn´t gain anything from visiting the cleaner shrimps they would have stopped it tousends of years ago.
If the shrimps doesn´t gain anything from cleaning the fishes they would have stopped it tousends of years ago.
I begin the feeding with a chunk of mysis to the shrimps. Then they are occupied and don´t disturb the corals.

I do not believe Clownfishes use cleaner shrimps in the nature. They normally don´t leave their anemone and cleaning stations usually is way deeper.

 

[Reef addict...]

I had a cleaner and pep at the same time. The fish barely even ate with those two. They both ended up dead. Not sure how. Maybe the fish and LPS ganged up and took them out. I now have sexy shrimp which I absolutely recommend if you can handle losing a couple after acclimation. They're so small when they arrive, but worth the wait for them to grow. They are funny to watch and steal NO food from anything. I also have a fire shrimp. He just hides all the time. Doesn't really steal anything either. He'd have to show himself to do that.

 

[Williamthegr88]

Mine definitely does had a sick lawnmower blennie actuall let him clean parasites out of his gills pretty cool

 

[Bob Escher]

I have two we really enjoy them and I feed them first before I do anything else haven't seen them cleaning anything but we just enjoy them their fine

 

[JamesP]

Mine definitely does had a sick lawnmower blennie actuall let him clean parasites out of his gills pretty cool

If you still have the blennie, you should consider netting him and treating him for those parasites in quarantine.

 

[MightyMouse85]

Ive had my cleaner for a few years and leaves my corals alone but rarely travels far from my shark. Was scared the first time i seen him clean the sharks mouth and gills lol.

 

[Amphibious]

When you see pics or videos of cleaner shrimp prowling around, in, and through the gills, mouth and body of things like Angel fish, Moray eels and other large predators, you've got to think wow I've got to add a few of those to my set up to take care of all parasites. It doesn't seem to work that way in our captive reefs. First off only one time, in the 51 years of keeping SW aquariums exclusively, did I see a "cleaner" critter, whether it be shrimp or fish pick an Ich embedded cyst off another fish. That incident was a one inch juvenile French Angel going after the Ich cysts on three Tangs housed with him. This was many years ago before the invention of the cell phone with their ability to instantly record such events. I did get still shots but lord only knows where they are buried.

As far as the ornamental "cleaner" shrimps for cleaning purposes? I believe they are a hit and/or miss situation. I keep them around but more often than not I have to chase them away from LPS corals when feeding. But they add so much color and action, I doubt I'll ever be without them.

 

[Amphibious]

Wow, computers are truly amazing things. Found a link called "all my files" clicked on it and found two of the pics with the French Angel doing the cleaning action mentioned above.

 

[CarCrazy]

My yellow head goby lets them clean his gills and mouth all the time. Just recently the shrimp started moving around the tank. They had held the cleaning station for months. I feed heavy so I know everybody eats.

 

[Michael Montgomery]

Question: Is it wrong to feed table shrimp to a shrimp so you can feed the rest of the tank?


.....aaaaaand carnivores. LOL

 

[JamesP]

They would eat each other if they had the chance. They are what we call "opportunistic scavengers".

 

[Michael Montgomery]

They would eat each other if they had the chance. They are what we call "opportunistic scavengers".

Two man enter....One man leaves... Let the battle BEGIN!!

OP- sorry for the sidetrack. Resume posts...

 

[smh254]

Wheeler goby getting cleaned.

 

[JamesP]

Looks like hes about to get a big whisker covered kiss.

 

[Webslinger]

Didn't matter in the least. They would still do that

Feed the shrimp more.

 

[Holy_makerel]

Feed the shrimp more.

Haha again, didn't matter. They were ******s. Would abandon food to pull more food out of LPS mouths

 

[JamesP]

Same here. My LFS had the same issue. Seems common.

 

[shred5]

Cleaner shrimp can not help much with ich since ich is under the skin for part of the stage you see.

My cleaners do clean my fish but they are no help for ich.