blood (fire) shrimp vs cleaner shrimp

[aspinn]

Hey i might be getting a 55 gal tank, and i love the shrimp, but im woundering what is the difference between the blood shrimp/vs a reg cleaner shrimp other then color... how are they for behavoir? would they both be suitable for a reef tank? is one more agressive then the other or?

also my last question is how big does a cleaner shrimp get, and how much bigger is it (or smaller) then the blood shrimp...

i love their cleaning tendicies but im having a horrible time on deciding which one to go for.... any recomendations?

also how would these shrimp be with clowns/blennies? (i was thinking of getting 2 clowns, and a blennie for my tank, possibly another fish depending on the size

thanks!

 

[Phyxius]

I have one of each types in both of my larger tanks. They have stayed about the same size after all this time.
The cleaner shrimp is cheaper, seems tobe out more in the tanks but isnt as attractive to look at.
The fireshrimp is more $$, hides most of the day and comes out at night more. Better looking of the two.
Both are reef safe and really don't bother anything in the tank. The do walk/float all over corals but don't really do any damage.
Both are fine with clownfish and in my sons Nano a fireshrimp and his clown hang out together in the back.

 

[dendro982]

I have only blood shrimp and love it: bright, colorful, really good cleaner for a fish. The dark stocky kind is more cleaner, than a pet; the slender bright red - more pet, than a cleaner.

Do not bother anyone, including percula clown and scooter, don't have a goby, though. Same for corals.

If it is the biggest animal in the tank and tank is not MH lit, then it will horse in the open, dominating animal. After fish was added - spends most of the time upside down in the cave, will come to get a food (in the long plastic forceps).

 

[Tennyson]

Both are great shrimp to keep together. None of the fish you mentioned should harm it. Phyxius is right though, Fire Shrimp won't come out that much during the day because they are caught in the wild at really low depths where they are used to living in caves. But they are really nice and are worth the extra $. Its also really neat to have more than one of the same cleaner shrimp in a tank, they are extremely social.

 

[Rubicon06]

I had 2 Blood/Fire Shrimp, they both liked to hide in the caves.

But when I'd feed/clean the tank, they'd both be all over my hands looking for food and cleaning imy hands.

They reminded me of puppy dogs.

 

[Shekki]

My blood shrimp is a lousy cleaner. My skunk cleaner will not leave the fish alone TRYING to clean them!

 

[Tennyson]

Really? How big are your fish, my largest fish is 2-3 inches long, the cleaner will try to get near them, then it tries to up on it. Could it be trying to clean it, or it an attempt to eat my fish. All my fish are scared of my cleaner, and they never get cleaned by it except for one time when my scooter blenny was sleeping on the sand.