Cleaner Shrimp MIA! - Aquarium Advice

robertfah · 04-10-2006, 10:33 PM

I had 2 cleaner shrimp for the past 3 months and recently (about a month ago) I purchased algae attack pack from LiveAquaria that included a bunch of crabs, snails and a Coral Banded shrimp. A couple of days ago I noticed one of my cleaner was missing, gone, nowhere to be found. No body parts anywhere, nothing. So I didn't think much of it, but last night my other cleaner shrimp was in the tank and today he's gone too! I checked the overflows, the back of the tank, even my sump, nothing, gone!

So my question is, with my other tank mates (see list below), is it possible that something may have eaten them both?

Inverts:
1 Large (about 2") Atlantic Hermit Crab
1 Blood Red Shrimp
1 CBS
1 Arrow Crab
2 Blue Emerald Crabs
various red & blue legged crabs
1 Bali starfish

Fish:
4 Yellow Tangs

Tank:
155g

Params:
PH: 8.2
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
NH3: 0-.25
PO4: 0

Everyone has been living peacfully for the past month or two and I never saw any inverts being aggresive towards each other. I'm sure it's possible that something in my tank ate both of them, but what?

DragonForce · 04-11-2006, 01:07 AM

Could have very well been the arrow crab or CBS. Cleaner shrimp are social so I am sure they hungout together all the time and since a predator was in the ear its no wonder someone picked them off.

tecwzrd · 04-11-2006, 04:24 PM

With that big of a tank they could be hiding anywhere, especially if you have a ton of lr. My shrimp molt on average once a month to every other month and I see the empty shell but no shrimp for a week or two.

It takes about 6-9 days for the new shell to harden and for them to get comfortable with being out in the open again. The only exception to this is my CBS which it’s body is 2 1/2” and with claws extended closer to 4” (HUGE for a CBS) It is always in full view even after molting.

The tangs wouldn’t be interested but the other large hermit or crabs would be. Still cleaners can be pretty quick when they need to be and a healthy one should be able to avoid them.

I would wait a week or two and if you still don’t see them then they probably did become expensive fish food.

IME the CBS and Peppermint shrimp tend to be a little hardier then the skunks.

04-10-2006, 10:33 PM	#1
robertfah Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Orlando Posts: 191	Cleaner Shrimp MIA! I had 2 cleaner shrimp for the past 3 months and recently (about a month ago) I purchased algae attack pack from LiveAquaria that included a bunch of crabs, snails and a Coral Banded shrimp. A couple of days ago I noticed one of my cleaner was missing, gone, nowhere to be found. No body parts anywhere, nothing. So I didn't think much of it, but last night my other cleaner shrimp was in the tank and today he's gone too! I checked the overflows, the back of the tank, even my sump, nothing, gone! So my question is, with my other tank mates (see list below), is it possible that something may have eaten them both? Inverts: 1 Large (about 2") Atlantic Hermit Crab 1 Blood Red Shrimp 1 CBS 1 Arrow Crab 2 Blue Emerald Crabs various red & blue legged crabs 1 Bali starfish Fish: 4 Yellow Tangs Tank: 155g Params: PH: 8.2 NO2: 0 NO3: 0 NH3: 0-.25 PO4: 0 Everyone has been living peacfully for the past month or two and I never saw any inverts being aggresive towards each other. I'm sure it's possible that something in my tank ate both of them, but what? __________________ 155 gallon, bow-front tank. 3 Yellow Tangs, 2 Perc. Clowns, 1 6 Line Wrasse and 1 Citrine Yellow Goby

04-11-2006, 01:07 AM	#2
DragonForce Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 925 Images: 1	Could have very well been the arrow crab or CBS. Cleaner shrimp are social so I am sure they hungout together all the time and since a predator was in the ear its no wonder someone picked them off. __________________ 37 [acronym="Gallon"]gal[/acronym] all glass 50lb [acronym="Live rock"]LR[/acronym] 3' fine sand bed 1x Orange Stripe Prawn shrimp goby, 1x sixline wrassemated pair of true percula clowns, 1x CBS shrimp, 2x peppermint shrimp, 1x pistol shrimp, 1x tiger tale [acronym="Sea cucumber"]cuke[/acronym], ~20+ snails, ~10+ hermits, 1xserpent star. green Bubble coral, hammer coral (8 heads!) ,various Zoos,green finger leather, green star polpys ,[acronym="Mushroom coral"]shrooms[/acronym] 175w 10k [acronym="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym] 28w actinic [acronym="Actinic lighting"]03[/acronym] 2x maxi jett 1200 Prizm skimmer (modded) Hagen powerfilter(for running carbon 24/7) nano arctica chiller

04-11-2006, 04:24 PM	#3
tecwzrd Aquarium Advice Addict Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: VA Posts: 3,152	With that big of a tank they could be hiding anywhere, especially if you have a ton of lr. My shrimp molt on average once a month to every other month and I see the empty shell but no shrimp for a week or two. It takes about 6-9 days for the new shell to harden and for them to get comfortable with being out in the open again. The only exception to this is my CBS which it’s body is 2 1/2” and with claws extended closer to 4” (HUGE for a CBS) It is always in full view even after molting. The tangs wouldn’t be interested but the other large hermit or crabs would be. Still cleaners can be pretty quick when they need to be and a healthy one should be able to avoid them. I would wait a week or two and if you still don’t see them then they probably did become expensive fish food. IME the CBS and Peppermint shrimp tend to be a little hardier then the skunks. __________________ -Micah- If you haven't figured it out yet I like to BOLD links :P Vote for AA at Aqua Rank

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