To shrimp or not to shrimp

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utahcutter said:
And if so what special stuff do they require?
Many do not need special anything but will do better with at least some places to hide. Even dead base rock would be a plus. Aside from that, they do not need much in the way of special care other than proper water changes and lower nitrates that an FO may not always successfully achieve. The only main ones I would avoid are anemone, blood (fire) cleaners and harlequins.

It will also greatly depend on the types of fish you will keep. Many non reef fish will surely snack on it...

I loved this bit from your profile...
utahcutter said:
homemade fish only

Cheers
Steve
 
steve-s said:
. The only main ones I would avoid are anemone, blood (fire) cleaners and harlequins.

So you would avoid these shrimp? I understand the harlequins eat starfish but why would you avoid the fire cleaners?
 
Not sure what the candy cane shrimp is? Is it a peppermint or camel? The skunk cleaner is an excellent choice and the peppermint are supposed to be reef safe but I'd stay away from the camel if you are planning on corals, from what I've heard they can sometimes cause damage.
 
At the LFS I used to work at we would get in what we called candy cane shrimp, they're the same color as the pepermint shrimp they just have really thin white strips down the length of them. I'm not familiar with the camel so they could possibly be a different name for the same shrimp. I've heard that the skunk cleaners are semi-social. I was hoping this meant that they would be more likely to be seen by my little nieces and nephews.
 
Ok found a picture of a camel shrimp, looks the same as what I refer to as a candy cane shrimp. FO right now, but I would one day like to add cool stuff like corals, maybe I'll just go with the skunks. Thanks for the info guys.
 
jamal-188 said:
steve-s said:
. The only main ones I would avoid are anemone, blood (fire) cleaners and harlequins.

So you would avoid these shrimp? I understand the harlequins eat starfish but why would you avoid the fire cleaners?
Fire cleaners do very poorly unless they have ample hiding places and natural surroundings. They tend to be rather hit and miss, not very hardy. The anemone shrimp do not do well unless they have a host. They will live for a time without one but eventually die off without a host.

Cheers
Steve
 
utahcutter said:
maybe I'll just go with the skunks. Thanks for the info guys.
Probabley the best route for now but again that will still depend on the fish you keep...

Cheers
Steve
 
Oh right, I was going to post what fish I had. Right now I have a flame angle and a Sleeper Goby. I will be adding a pair of percula clowns as soon as my LFS finds me a maited pair. Then i was thinking of adding one more smaller fish like a royal gramma or a fairy wrasse. I think all these guys should be ok with the shrimp, but I'm not an expert.
 
You should be fine with those fish choices and a cleaner shrimp or two. I would however suggest you skip the sleeper goby. They do not fair well in captive settings for long as they feed primarily from the sandbed and will quickly run out of natural foods and starve...

Cheers
Steve
 
Yeah, I found out the sleeper gobies were hard to keep after I already had him. I've had him for about 6 months, and he seems to be doing well, he eats all types of prepared foods, so hopefully that will help him last longer.
 
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