anemone shrimp problem

Tennyson

Tennyson

Active member
I just bought two anemone shrimp yesturday. They are doing great, but they aren't hosting anything in the tank. Not even the two anemones in the tank. Its a 46 gal tank, the only threats to them are my 3 inch long coral banded shrimp, my two skunk cleaners, and maybe. My 3 1/2 inch long diamond watchman goby.

Now they are walking and swimming around the tank. They are pretty fast swimmers and look like they can avoid most danger. Why aren't they hosting anything? Could they still be adjusting? The tank I bought them from only had mushroom corals, and they didn't even host those?

But other than the hosting problem, they are doing great and eat my turbo snails poo and flakes they catch. And they are avoiding the threats in the tank. I'll just have to check on them after school, and hopefully, they should still be alive
 
what kind of anenomes are in your tank i think the shrimp will host certain types of anenomes and some they wont. also how big are the anenomes they could be too small for the shrimp.
 
I've got four. Sometimes they hang out with my palys and zoas, but most of the time they just walk around the tank. They're kind of boring and prefer to be active at night, once they adjust to the tank. It's still always a treat when they do their dance. They seem fine and have lasted for quite a while. Nothing bothers them. Not even my obnoxious blenny.
 
What kind are yours? There are many shrimp species that are commensal on anemones. Some are cleaners, some eat mucus, some go after smaller organisms, etc., and have different degrees of movement away from the anemones.
 
First Question. I have a 6-7 inch wide Bubble Tip anemone with two clownfish host, which could be why they don't host that one. And I have a Haitin Reef anemone that is 3-4 inches wide. And an Anemone crab is hosting that one. They might also not be hosting them maybe because they are on the side of the tank with alot of current. The haitin reef anemone also tried to eat the shrimp when it went past it.

Now they are hanging on the wall right under the power head. They seem to like it there. Then they walk all over the tank during the night. What kind of dance are you talking about CadetMKultra? Is it some sort of mating dance or something?

I have no idea what kind they are. I could post a pic if that would help, Its just they are hard to take pics of.

Heres a link to a pic of one I found online, Its exactly like this:
http://www.sonoma.edu/users/a/acevesm/graphics/glass-anemone-shrimp.jpg

Heres the link to the page it was found from if that helps:
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...133&prev=/images?q=Anemone+Shrimp&gbv=2&hl=en

I'll try to post pics of mine later.
 
Heres a pic. Sorry its cut off, I had to crop it so it wouldn't exceed maximum file size:

175285Good_Anemone_Shrimp.jpg
 
are most sexy anenome shrimp generally reef safe? they look cool and would like to add one or two, I just don't want to have any problems with them.
 
Sexy Anemone Shrimp? I've never heard of those. But I'm pretty sure that all of them are completely reef safe. If you get the one that I have (from the pic above) it won't host anything, just letting you know. But they are really cool, I have trained them to eat from my hand already, and then they clean my whole arm! And they are good at keeping away from danger. They only realy threat in my 46 gal, is my coral banded shrimp, and they are able to stay away. But other fish like hawkfish, triggers, mantis shrimp, a tank full of carnicorous crabs, those are going to eat them.
 
I think it's the one you have, Thor amboinensis? They're selling them for $10 at Live Aquaria but they ship in sizes ranging from 1/4" to 3/4", I'd be affraid that my clowns would think they were food! I have a 45g cube w/ plenty of rock work.. or I was thinking of putting them in my 20L w/ my baby clowns where I have a torch coral just in case they get crazy enough to host something. Here's the link just in case you want to check it out:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1135

they look red to me vs. the glass you have.. do they change colors?
 
The one that Tennyson has vs. Sexy Anemone Shrimps (Thor amboinensis) are 2 diff shrimps. Like LeslieH said, there's tons of shrimp species out there. The one that Tennyson moves around a lot. They like to "hover" against the current. And go from rock to rock. When they're resting,they'll be swaying their whole bodies around, as if they're cradling a baby. Does yours do that Tennyson?
 
I didn't even noticed you hijacked the thread :)

If you do plan to purchase the Sexy Anemone, it will easily get lost in your 45. Your 20L should be fine. Like clowns, sexy anemone don't need a host. But if they do and combined with your clowns, your clowns will win the battle of who should get to host. But I have seen where the clowns host on top and the shrimps are underneath at the foot of the anemone. Good luck!
 
I think I'm going to get three Thor amboinensis and stick them in my 20L. The clowns in there are Rod's Onyx and don't even have their 3rd stripe yet so they shouldn't eat them..hopefully. I just think the thor's have a nice color and will be easy to find in the tank vs. a clear anenome w/o an anenome! But at 1/4"-1/2" big, they're still going to be tiny tiny! Thanks for the help, and sorry again :D
 
to answer all your questions, no my anemone shrimp are not that amboinenses thing you mentioned, mine are the uricaridella, they are around 1 1/4 inches long, so I think try are prety big compared to what you were describing. And I didn't buy mine from liveaquaria, mine were from my Lfs. And yes, my anemone shrimp hover from rock to rock, and pay no attention to any corals or anemonies, but they do look like they are rocking a baby with their arms which I love.

And don't be sorry dzeadow, I would kind of consider it hijacking, just a little, but I'm perfectly fine with it. Feel free to post more questions you have about the shrimp, I don't mind.
 
oh, and I have heard of sexy shrimp, just not with the anemone in the name. But I love those shrimp more than urocaridella and plan on getting those once my Lfs has its 42% off midnight sale in september, they are $17, which I think is alot of money for one shrimp. Liveaquaria has them for $10? Wow, I would get 4 online, but I'm afraid I won't be around to recieve the shrimp, plus shipping is expensive.

And do Midas blennies harm small shrimp? Im going to get one soon, maybe today.
 
I just saw the urocaridella clean my firefish!!! It was so cool, the Firefish was cooperating and let the small shrimp crawl over it and clean it. But I'm not sure if this had already happened, but part of the Firefish's pointy fin was missing and looked like it was either scraped or eaten off. Do you think an anemone shrimp would do such a thing?
 
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