Case of Cleaner Shrimp murder

[megatron]

Hi folks,

need your 'CSI' skills here to solve the case of duo shrimp murder!!

Just bought a pair of cleaner shrimp last Sat..

took my time to introduce them into my tank so as not to shock them...

during the first 2 days... they look fine... and eating well...

on the 3rd day, I got home in the evening only to find the shell of 1 shrimp at the base of tank

near the sand star...

I thought the sand star attacked and ate my shrimp so I flipped the sand star over... but did not

see any shrimp...

the remaining shrimp not like its usual self - perched upside down from the LR but stay on top of the highest LR.

searching high and low I could not find the corpse of the 1st shrimp...

on the 4th day, the other shrimp also goes missing... this time, I did not even see its shell.

The mystery is WHO attack and ate my cleaner shrimps?!?!?

The other tank mates are

2 common clown fish

1 algae blenny

1 blue devil

3 turbo snails

2 sand stars

1 sally lightfoot crab...

Who could it be?!?!?

Pls help.

Many thanks!

[Thexder]

Did you check that your shrimp had molted? After they molt, the empty shell will be discarded. Then the shrimp will hide somewhere until the new shell hardens.

[megatron]

Hi...

I thought abt that too... but I searched everywhere...

and its being a week since they disappeared... still have not seen them.

some suggested that the clown fish attack them after they molted ... just when their shell

is soft...

but clown fish attacking shrimps?!? never hear about this before...

[sadist]

i have seen Clarkii Clown whacked just molted shrimps.

thats one possibility.

The other,

any mantis or pistol shrimp in your tank?

[mopiko]

hi i'm having a case of CSI here as well.

bot 3 cleaner shrimps and all disappear after i put into the tank. didnt see them for more than 3 days liao. could they be hiding or are already dead? strange that 3 are gone, 1 L and 2 M size

here are the list of fishes and inverts inside the tank. all are SMALL size

clown fish

yellow tang

tomini tang

blue tank

long nose hawk fish

high fin banner fish

green chromis

cleaner warrse

blue star

sand drifting star

hermit crab

[reeftask]

the only solution to determine whether these shrimps are molted and hiding is to take out all the Live rocks.

I have a golden coral banded shrimp which had dissappeared for 1 yr and suddenly appeared. After appering for few days, it gone for few months hiding again, and again and again. Playing hide and seek.

Had noticed sometimes while the cleaner shrimp clean the parasites from the fish, when its a mistake too painful, the fish will whack the shrimp.

According to articles, cleaner shrimps will survive only when they are only a few and still providing service to the fishes. When alot, the fishes will tends to feast them. I usually buy a pair or three and so far not seen eaten. I only hates them being so scavenger and stealing food from my corals. Now my clowns the same idiot attitude.

[cdckjn]

I realise that nowsadays at the LFS, the cleaner shrimp are always so small, no wonder that they get whacked, I keep only one and now grow to at least 2 inches and I just left it in the sump. So my thoughts that if they are too small they will get whacked - buy the bigger ones.

[kareen]

What is your temperature like?

I had experience that even big size shrimps with nobody bully them died on me one by one and within a span of 2 week, all gone.... One of them, I even saw it dead with complete corpse inside the cave.... For this, my guess was that probably due to little oxygen level though fishes look okay.... I had no chiller then and tank temp was 29 to 31.5....

[mopiko]

hi

mine the same situation. no chiller and temp hover around 30 - 31.5 degree.

the funny thing is i bot 3 and all disappear. 1 is X large size

btw, is sand drifting star hard to keep as well?

[kareen]

hi

mine the same situation. no chiller and temp hover around 30 - 31.5 degree.

the funny thing is i bot 3 and all disappear. 1 is X large size

btw, is sand drifting star hard to keep as well?

I think should be hardy enough if water parameters intact and there is something in the sand to feed him... I got one still alive even after a mishap that one leg gone... currentlhy seeing a tiny leg growing in place....

[reeftask]

had shrimp in quarantine tank with tang. temperature 32.5C and still OK. the temperature wont kill them. I think the water condition and pH will kill them. had tried once nothing to do and accidentally added too much calcium and still didnt notice pH in this quarantine tank went down. The shrimps will show unwilling to clean the fish and not eating. This is a bad sign. Fish still OK. When the shrimp dying, I only noticed the pH is too low, 7.8pH

star is not hard to keep but you have to feed them.

[angelfishlover]

My tank 30 deg celsius nothing happen.I guess you must have stable water parameters plus no agressive fish.The shrimp nid to be in feeding condition.

[mopiko]

think found out why the cleaners got cleaned away. the most likely suspect is the long nose hawk fish...

[burnerj]

I bought 3 cleaner shrimp and 3 camel shirmp last weekend but till now only saw 2 camel shrimp (1 died shortly 1 day after introducing in). Till now 1 week liao have not seen my cleaner shrimp... My anthias was so foolish that it went to the camel shimp and ask for cleaning but the camel didn't even bother abt it....

Haiz... guess have to buy another 3 - 4 shrimp then pump in-sump and raise it till 2-3 inches then put in main tank.

The 3 cleaner that i've bought are only slighter bigger than 1 inch (body).

[reeftask]

I bought 3 cleaner shrimp and 3 camel shirmp last weekend but till now only saw 2 camel shrimp (1 died shortly 1 day after introducing in). Till now 1 week liao have not seen my cleaner shrimp... My anthias was so foolish that it went to the camel shimp and ask for cleaning but the camel didn't even bother abt it....

Haiz... guess have to buy another 3 - 4 shrimp then pump in-sump and raise it till 2-3 inches then put in main tank.

The 3 cleaner that i've bought are only slighter bigger than 1 inch (body).

bro, u better look out on the camel shrimp. when the fish comes, did this shrimp takes the step backward? or just stay there. if just stay there, be careful. it is not well and something is wrong.

what type of cleaner shrimp not surfacing? the normal ones? if they didnt come out, means they are wasted. I will check the water as these shrimps dont die that easily.

[reeftask]

think found out why the cleaners got cleaned away. the most likely suspect is the long nose hawk fish...

yeah the name "hawk" already tells you that.

[Thexder]

I think it depends on the size of your shrimps compared to the long nose hawk fish.

I bought a long nose hawk fish recently. After that my se-xy shrimps disappeared 1 by 1. But my cleaner and boxing shrimps still around, since they are the same size as the hawk fish.

[tomowilson]

Just to share.......my cleaner shrimp attacked my pepermint shrimp when the p.shrimp just finish molting. When i saw it, the pepermint shrimp is gone already.

[kelstorm]

wrasses also attack shrimps too

[rcheng]

wrasses also attack shrimps too

Yup, heard of some dottyback attack cleaner shrimps. Cleaner shrimps died after few days, some 1 week later.

Found out the hard way:

my yellow dotty (with purple on the back) did not attack 2 of my cleaner shrimps, which survived for past 1 month. Usually they don't live that long. Some survive few days and others 1 week. The reason, I think is acclimation. One acclimate for 2 hours and it is surviving past 1 month. While 2 others, acclimate for slightly more than 45 min, hence 1 survive past 1 month while the other died on the 3rd day. Read somewhere, shrimps need around 1 to 2 hours of acclimation (by dripping droplets of main tank water into the new arrival container). Other inverts may require longer hours of acclimation.