cleaner shrimp trivia

[redchick2]

Ran across some interesting cleaner shrimp info today. Lysmata amboinensis (pic attached)
is the name for a color morph from the Indio Pacific & Red Sea. The cleaner shrimp from tropical Atlantic are often called Lysmata grabhami. The Atlantic shrimp, the white stripe goesall the way to tthe end of the tail and seperates the two red sides of the tail. The Indio-Pacific has the stripe stopped and has spots on the two sides of the tail.

 

[Ziggy953]

Interesting info, thanks for sharing.

 

[redchick2]

**** the drama! Within an hour of me taking the pic of the shrimp, a rock was knocked down and smushed the poor guy.

 

[roka64]

Ugh....sorry for the loss.

 

[redchick2]

All the other inverts were happy about it, I was not so pleased...

 

[Ziggy953]

That stinks. Sorry to hear it!

 

[rob28]

how the heck did that happen?

 

[CaptainAhab]

gravity

 

[rob28]

I was eluding to the event the set gravity in motion. ie...tank got bumped, fish bumped rock....earthquake maybe.

anyhow, sorry for your loss.

 

[redchick2]

I think it was the new big snail, but didn't see it happen. Sneaky lil bastard. He was in the general vicinity, though.

 

[redchick2]

Wow, figured my post would be edited. It won't let ya type in da**, but let that one slip by,,,,
If anyone is offended, just let me know and I'll manually censer myself...

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

So did you secure the rock when you put it back? It's always a good idea to make sure the rocks aren't an accident waiting to happen. Careful wedging and creative use of epoxy to "key" the rocks in place can make a pretty bombproof aquascape. Rocks falling randomly in a glass box, full of water, just isn't something that you want happening.

 

[redchick2]

The fallen rock was re-arranged to stay on the sand bed. I've discovered that the damsels, especially the blue devil, dig worse than the cichlids. They seem to be undermining several of the support rocks. What type of epoxy can you use on the rocks? I don't want to kill off the growth on them.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...They seem to be undermining several of the support rocks.

That's the reason a lot of folks suggest putting the rocks directly on the tank bottom.

What type of epoxy can you use on the rocks? I don't want to kill off the growth on them.

There are many epoxies made specifically for aquarium use. Personal favorites are the Two Little Fishies brand and also the D&D (Rowa) brand.

 

[rob28]

Wow, figured my post would be edited. It won't let ya type in da**, but let that one slip by,,,,
If anyone is offended, just let me know and I'll manually censer myself...

im sooooo offended.....this is travisty that should not go unpunished, MODS!!! MODS!!!!

ur lucky this time, mods are sleeping!!

 

[redchick2]

lol @ rob28.

Kurt - Can you glue the rocks and put them right back in the water? Just now starting to get a strong coralline growth and lots of the stationary worms.

 

[redchick2]

My base rocks are on the glass, but have some shelves that the turbo might muscle down.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

**** Snails... have it out for our crustation friends lol

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Kurt - Can you glue the rocks and put them right back in the water? Just now starting to get a strong coralline growth and lots of the stationary worms.

You can use the stuff underwater just fine (it sets and cures underwater within a half hour or so), and that'd be the easiest anyway. The epoxy doesn't really stick very well, so don't think of it as "gluing" the rocks together really. The trick is to get the rocks to "nest" together, and then use the epoxy to lock them in place. If you have a bunch of flat, non jagged rocks, this method doesn't really work - but if you have jagged rocks with lots of nook and crannies then you can usually find a way to wedge the rocks together and then put a blob of epoxy in a hidden place to keep them from coming apart. The epoxy sort of acts like a "keystone" - the single piece that locks them all together.

If you get the D&D brand epoxy, I'd recommend following their instructions about "working" the epoxy in some water OUTSIDE of your tank before putting it in the tank. While the D&D brand is about the stickiest stuff I've found, it really gives off a cloudy residue if you overwork it in the tank. It doesn't hurt anything... it just kind of clouds things up for a few hours and makes you clean out your skimmer more than normal. The other brands don't cloud up as much, but aren't as sticky either.

Once you start working with the stuff, you'll get the hang of it - but just don't expect it to "glue" your rocks together.

(Personally... I'd find another home for that fist-sized snail. He's going to be nothing but trouble if you go the coral route.)

 

[redchick2]

(Personally... I'd find another home for that fist-sized snail. He's going to be nothing but trouble if you go the coral route.)

I think I'm going to have to. I had a major algae bloom, but he seems to have cleared everything up. Now I'm having to supplement his scavenging with algae sheets.