Does anyone keep a cleaner shrimp with their harlequin tusk?

[frankpayne32]

Hello everyone, I have a 6" harlequin tusk that is my absolute favorite fish. While he is the undisputed "boss" off the tank, he is a model citizen, leaving both fish and corals alone. However, I am not able to keep any crustaceans with him. Even hermit crabs are immediately sucked out of their shells with gusto. I'm OK with this, he is far more valuable to me than any group of shelled inverts. But, I would really like to keep a cleaner shrimp in my tank. Do you think he would view this shrimp as beneficial and leave it alone? Has anyone else done this successfully? Any insight and shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to look!

Frank

 

[ssavader]

In the wild, "cleaning stations" (CS) occur on reefs in known or set locations, as opposed to occurring as "random events". Fish will often return to a CS repeatedly, and other fish will often line up to be cleaned. There seems to be an "understanding" among the fish that a CS is not simply a place for an easy meal. In a tank, it would seem unlikely that your Harlequin wrasse and a cleaner shrimp would set up a CS spontaneously. I think it is much more likely that shrimp would be eaten. With that said, I did have a skunk cleaner shrimp "clean" a Powder Blue Tang, but this occurred only one time that I saw and I did not see it occur again.

 

[Robka]

Hello everyone, I have a 6" harlequin tusk that is my absolute favorite fish. While he is the undisputed "boss" off the tank, he is a model citizen, leaving both fish and corals alone. However, I am not able to keep any crustaceans with him. Even hermit crabs are immediately sucked out of their shells with gusto. I'm OK with this, he is far more valuable to me than any group of shelled inverts. But, I would really like to keep a cleaner shrimp in my tank. Do you think he would view this shrimp as beneficial and leave it alone? Has anyone else done this successfully? Any insight and shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to look!

Frank

If the shrimp was in the tank first & the tank was large enough u might have a small chance of this working, but with the Tusk already established, I doubt the shrimp would make it

 

[frankpayne32]

I appreciate the input but what I'm looking for is someone with an actual experience that pertains to my situation instead of just conjecture. I am aware of the risks associated with my plan, that's why I'm looking for experiences before moving ahead. Thanks anyway!

 

[TripleT]

No firsthand experience here, other than... if you think it can go wrong, it probably will.

And if you find somebody that says they have had success, I still would not do it. Not with a fish downing hermits with "gusto".

On the bright side, this means you need to set up another tank!!!

 

[mscarpena]

I dont think the shrimp would even make it to the bottom of the tank. It will be eaten for sure.

 

[Mikigo]

No. My HT kill n eat all snails, shrimp, n smaller fish added after him. Not gonna work at 6"

 

[frankpayne32]

I dont think the shrimp would even make it to the bottom of the tank. It will be eaten for sure.

Have you had this happen?

 

[frankpayne32]

No. My HT kill n eat all snails, shrimp, n smaller fish added after him. Not gonna work at 6"

Thank you for your experiences. Luckily, mine ignores snails and small fish, even those that were added after him. I have only had him eat hermits.

 

[frankpayne32]

No firsthand experience here, other than... if you think it can go wrong, it probably will.

And if you find somebody that says they have had success, I still would not do it. Not with a fish downing hermits with "gusto".

On the bright side, this means you need to set up another tank!!!

Haha, I wish. Unfortunately, I will just have to forgo the shrimp. I set up this big tank which was a little outside my budget so I would not have several systems. Oh well, can't have everything.

 

[oct2274]

Sounds like a tasty shrimp dinner for sure

 

[QUASIMOTO]

I would strongly suggest not taking the risk...

It will never happen, shrimp are very tasty, to humans and Tusks!

 

[AuroraDrvr]

Why not try with some cheaper red shrimp like Hawaiian Volcano shrimp, or hell even glass shrimp beforehand?

 

[MikeandNicole]

I know this is 2 unrelated species but here is a quick story from me:

I was going to put some peppermints in a tank with a mystery wrasse, he had always been pretty chill so I figured he would be ok. When I put the bag in to float the wrasse swam up and tried to get the shrimp in the bag, therefore I put the shrimp in another tank. You can try a test this way or with a breeder box.

 

[jd474]

All 3 tuskfish I keep can not be housed w/shrimp. They have voracious appetites to say the least, and will eventually eat them.

 

[frankpayne32]

I'm sure he would eat most shrimp without question. However, I was hoping that he would view the cleaner shrimp as beneficial and therefore leave it alone. Many predatory fish will do this on a natural reef. However, like someone pointed out earlier this many not work in a captive situation where the cleaning station is not established.