banded coral shrimp. friend or foe?

[JeffGil]

Hi all,

We got a banded coral shrimp from liveaquaria.com when we ordered a few other fish for our 72g tank (subject for another thread: two out of three fish keeled over within 10hrs in our QT tank so won't be buying fish from there again) because my son thought it looked cool. We read about it on the site and the worst we could find compatability-wise was that it could be aggressive to our other shrimp. No problem, if it is we'll just stick it in a frag tank...after getting the shrimp I was reading about it on some other sites and discovered that it's not so friendly to anything reef-related apparently. So now I have this mongo (must be full grown female with a good 5-6" antennae spread) sitting in a frag tank eyeballing some zoas.

Anyone have one of these and are they behaving nicely? If not, anyone want this sucker? I'll even throw in some urchins in the deal lol

What we read when we purchased it:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+525+698&pcatid=698
Though the Banded Coral Shrimp can be aggressive towards other Banded Coral Shrimp and smaller shrimp of different species, most are peaceful towards fish, corals, and invertebrates within your aquarium. Because of its aggressive disposition towards other Banded Coral Shrimp, the Banded Coral Shrimp should be housed individually or kept as a true mated pair.

What we read afterwards!:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/shrimpcare/p/cbshrimp.htm
Aquarium Suitability: Is aggressive towards other shrimp and crustaceans. It also preys on worms, snails and small hermit crabs. Being a nocturnal animal, the Coral Banded Shrimp greatly prefers the protection of a cave or overhang during the day.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1905&articleid=2137
It is a good aquarium inhabitant, however, it is not very compatible with Triggers or Wrasses, and can destroy corals and anemones by nipping them open to feed on ingested food.

 

[krisfal]

I have mine in a tank with softies, zoos, leathers and an open brain coral and have had no issues, although I do suspect it killed the cleaner shrimp in that tank.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

In over 30 years and dozens of different type tanks, I have always had them.
Unlike most crabs, these shrimp act nasty, but are pretty harmless

 

[JeffGil]

What do you mean they act nasty? Nipping at things maybe?

So do you think my fire shrimp, peppermint shrimp, other misc cleanup crew, and LPS are safe with this guy in the tank?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Yes, nasty as in snap at anything that gets in it's space or is thretening (snaps at, not on).
Have 2 Harlequins, two cleaners, two fire, a prawn and many other cleaner crew in with my Banded. All been together for over a year and they get along fine.

 

[LarryB]

I think it depends on the size of the tank. I had one in my 36 for a while and I swear he ate my yasa hashe goby and possum wrasse. In the smaller tanks I think they get too territorial. He was nasty, even use to try to pinch me when I cleaned the tank.

 

[JeffGil]

hmm OK, maybe we'll give him a shot. It's a 72g tank so hopefully he'll find a spot in the rocks that's not occupied by my fire or peppermint shrimps!

 

[Jan]

I had one of these and he caused the deaths of 3 of my rock-perching type fishes. Two disappeared after I introduced it to the tank, then I saw him go after my mandarin goby. Next day the mandarin had a bite hole (missing chunk of flesh) on his neck which got infected and he later died.

This caused me to do more research and I found several other people who lost fish to their CB shrimps. Many people have no problem, but a few do. It's a case of "your mileage may vary."

 

[JeffGil]

umm OK nevermind my last post then. If that thing ate my little tailspot blenny I'd go nuts!

Anyone know someone who wants a banded shrimp?

 

[LarryB]

I was so mad at mine I took it back to the store and said "Throw it in the Trigger tank!" But they wouldn't do it. Now I am glad, it was not his fault, he did not ask to be captured and put in my tank.

 

[leebca]

Larry,

I moved this thread out of the Fish Forum to the General Discussion Forum since it didn't seem to be about marine fish. Good luck!

 

[mattleycrue76]

So far so good with mine in a 72g. Also have a fire and a skunk cleaner shrimp

 

[Madisons_Mommy]

We've had a CB Shrimp in our 46g Bowfront tank for a couple years now and he has been very good. We have many different corals in the tank and he doesn't seem to bother them at all. Every once in awhile you will see him good head to head with the Female Black Occillarus (sp?) but it doesn't seem to nip at it or try and take chunks out of it. I personally think that you could be safe to keep it in your 72g, but that is just my opinion. I'm still pretty new at this. Good Luck!!

 

[JeffGil]

Well, we've got a lot of $$$ invested in this tank with corals and our fish are all pretty small. The CB is a monster compared to our fish and smaller shrimp so I'm thinking better safe than sorry. He's cool looking, but not worth the risk to me! He's outta here! lol

 

[Madisons_Mommy]

I can understand about the money invested in your tank. You got to do what you think is right. Our CB Shrimp is probably about the same size as yous. 5-6" span. Good Luck on whatever you choose to do!

 

[JeffGil]

Well, he's gone to a happier home now--along with two urchins and some anthelia that was growing out of control in our tank--possible tragedy averted