Skunk Cleaner Shrimp Dead

[Super Fly]

added this guy back in Aug and family loved this shrimp, was very entertaining to watch. Then all of a sudden it's been missing and I believe died maybe 2 weeks ago... Around that time I had noticed the Nassarius snails were all over something on the bottom of tank but didn't have time to pay close attention as I was running out the door to work.

It was eating and looked healthy, I feed frozen in AM and pellets in PM daily... Tank is 2 yrs old with healthy livestock/corals and rarely have casualty. Any thoughts on why it may have died? We'd like to replace it with another Skunk but would like to hear any thoughts on cause of death.

Alk - 9
Calc - 400
salinity - 1.025
Temp - 78 to 79
NO3 - 5
PO4 - 0

Thx

 

[BestMomEver]

I had a cleaner and peppermint shrimp for the better part of a year. One day I realized they were gone. The peppermint was lost first. This tank has been stable for quite some time so I’m stumped. I assume they were older when I got them. Both were pretty big.

 

[Super Fly]

I had a cleaner and peppermint shrimp for the better part of a year. One day I realized they were gone. The peppermint was lost first. This tank has been stable for quite some time so I’m stumped. I assume they were older when I got them. Both were pretty big.

Good point, mine was pretty large (3"). I just googled cleaner shrimp lifespan and it's 3 yrs (possibly more) w 2" as max size so guess mine was older. Perhaps next time I'll try a smaller one. Thx

 

[BestMomEver]

Y

Good point, mine was pretty large (3"). I just googled cleaner shrimp lifespan and it's 3 yrs (possibly more) w 2" as max size so guess mine was older. Perhaps next time I'll try a smaller one. Thx

yea... mine was 3+ inches. He molted often and grew fast. I had him for nearly a year and he was 1.5” when I got him. I can’t say I miss him... he danced all over my corals.

 

[Aquavaj]

I have 2 and one day I noticed one was gone and other was hiding in a spot I've never seen them at before. Thought it was a goner but after 2 days it came out. Only thing I could think of is they were spawning.