Banded coral shrimp ate my percula

[GoBigOrGoHome]

I've got an 8-gal biocube w/ a pair of clowns in an RBTA and a banded coral shrimp. I've been waiting on a 29-biocube that is on back-order through my LFS, but it didn't come in time apparently. My shrimp decided to mow down on the smaller of my clowns, and is continually going after the second. He pinches my fingers when I put food in the tank, and he is just getting to be a nightmare.
This is all really upsetting. I'm feeding everything in there plenty, and keeping the tank up really well. There is about 10 lbs of live rock in there, so plenty of obstacles to separate the shrimp from the clowns. There should be no aggression due to hunger, and pretty much none due to any kind of territoriality.
Bottom line: I'm mad at my shrimp!

Any ideas as to what might cause this aggression? Could be hunger, but I REALLY doubt it. Could be territoriality, but I doubt that as well....

 

[Toddrtrex]

It is because that is what coral banded shrimp do, the small tank is just making it a lot easier for it to catch the fish. I personally won't ever keep one of those in my tanks.

 

[ScooterBlenny]

They are really aggressive shrimp...he's just doing what they do. What do you feed him? I give my cleaner shrimp chunks of table shrimp to keep him occupied when I need him out of my way, or just to keep him busy

 

[soccerbag]

I use to have one as well. They are a PITA. He will continue to consume your fish in the 8-gallon. I would see if I could trade him at the LFS.

 

[Big Brother]

Mine used to do the same thing. He eventually learned that if he pinched the foot of my RBTA it would contract so the clowns would be within reach and he would jump at them.

Took me a freakin month to catch him, and when I finally did, he met a very satifying bleachy death. MUAHAHAHA

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Big Brother, thats exactly what mine does. He'll pinch that anemone and it will recede.. I guess I figured he was trying to steal food from the anemone though.. soccerbag, if it comes down to it, I'll move the remaining clown to a different tank, as I've got a few that are completely fishless at the moment, with just rock and a couple corals, because I like the shrimp in his little display... they can sometimes be elusive otherwise, at least the one in my 75 is.

I feed everything in that tank NLS: corals, anemone, fish, shrimp, crabs. I want them to get the most nutritional value out of a small amount of food in such a small tank, and they all seem to love it, so I'm not gonna change it i dont think, unless I wanna go to twice a week water changes.

What do we think? when I get the 29, should I leave him in the 8 and just do fish in the 29?

My shrimp is mean, but I really like him, and plus his molts make good puffer and peacock food!

One more thing: Big Brother, I definitely would have taken soccerbag's idea there and brought the shrimp into the lfs rather than bleaching, both out of humanity and a desire for store credit. They sometimes go for $20 around here..

 

[Aerowen]

i have a pair and quite large and they are great! they share the cave w/ my yellow watchman goby and i have witnessed them cleaning him- they never bother anything not even the tiny sexy shrimp. i guess it depends on the animal. they also ate all the huge bristle worms

 

[Tu Ku]

I just catch mine and cut his pincers off when I see them getting too big. Sometimes just one of them. They grow right back in a few weeks and it doesn't inhibit him from catching the prepared foods I put in the tank. He just has to get a bit closer so that his little mandibles can grab the food.
The best part is that he can't harrass any of my fish.
Good luck.

 

[CapitalO]

IME with coral banded shrimp, aggression depends a great deal on the individual -some indivuals are very peaceful, others are just plain vicious. The size and temperment of your fish/inverts is also another major factor. The bottom line is that they are opportunistic hunters, if they start to view your livestock as a food source chances are they will continue down this route indefinitly.

Increasing tank size would probably help a bit... but regardless, IMO the shrimp is a liability. I would definitly take him back to the LFS.

 

[topher oner]

I was planning to purchase one from my LFS but even there he was already a reall a**hole towards other fish and other shrimp so I had to pass.

I say get rid of him or thrown him into the tank with the puffer and peacock.

Goodluck!

 

[jtreefdweller]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13577748#post13577748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aerowen
i have a pair and quite large and they are great! they share the cave w/ my yellow watchman goby and i have witnessed them cleaning him- they never bother anything not even the tiny sexy shrimp. i guess it depends on the animal. they also ate all the huge bristle worms

I also have pair both that are fairly large and neither of them harm any of the anemones, corals, or fish. When I stick my hand near them they will actually clean my hand. I think it really comes down to the individual, however I have kept at least 4-5 and none that I have had have ever harmed fish or corals. I wonder if locality has anything to do with it?

 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

I am surprised to see this many users with such a problem with these shrimp. I've had 3, and currently have 2, and the other one I've got is extremely timid, coming out only at feeding time, and never goes after any fish. This one is an issue, yes, but they are beautiful shrimp, and there's no way I'll get rid of him. IMO, no one should be putting fish in 8-gal biocubes, so I'm being pretty hypocritical here, but when the time comes that I move my other clown into a different tank, that tank will be devoted to my shrimp, a few hermits and snails, and hopefully an abundance of coral.

 

[jtreefdweller]

Something interested I noticed today is when I stuck my hand near my pair of Coral banded shrimp the newest one, got extremely angry and was ready to attack my hand, while the other CBS (who used to clean my hand) did nothing. So it really is individual, but I would like to figure out why there is such a vast difference in individuals.

I know that in boas from south america, the boa's from nicaragua are very aggresive, while the boas from colombia are very docile. This is the same species, just a different locality. So it makes me wonder if the different places these CBS are from affects how aggressive they are?

 

[gumbii]

it really depends on the individual... my first CBS was always out in front and never harmed anything in my 24g reef... the new one i put in my 90 had to be taken out... he was beating up on my skunk shrimp... they both have TONS of room and caves to dwell in... but whenever the skunk went to the back to hide for a moment he would be chased out by the CBS and sometimes it would catch it and chop off a wisker or two...

so i took him out the other day with my last remaining damselfish...

 

[ser_renely]

mine is so so. When I had my Damsel and the shrimp use to go after my damsels from time to time, but was too slow. I also caught him cleaning them at night from time to time.

I gather to many variables for use to know for sure.