Fish being killed by copperbanded shrimp??

[Jcs401]

Ok so I have a 24g nano and had 2 clowns 2 firefish, a meandering golby, and wrasse. I bought a copper banded shrimp and I saw it nip at a clown. Next morning woke up and it was dead. Few weeks later the other clown dead. I am now down to only two fish as my fiancé said "the mean shrimp I think killed the mandarin". I asked the store and they said the shrimp is peaceful and would never kill fish. Is this true because I have seen it nip at all of my fish?? PLEASE HELP!

 

[MINItron]

More likely that you have a parasite problem. Banded coral shrimp are sometime cleaners. If fish have external parasites they will sometimes try to get the fish to cooperate for a cleaning. Once the fish succumbs to the parasite the shrimp's scavenger nature takes over.

That is a TINY tank for a mandarin, not for lack of water, but for lack of food. It sounds like someone started weakening and a cascade effect started.

 

[MINItron]

To add to that my first post. I have never, in over 20 years, seen a banded coral shrimp kill fish in a tank.