life expectancy of cleaner shrimp??

[TinaM]

I have had a cleaner shrimp for about two and a half years. He was doing fine, eating, molting, growing. Yesterday I found him dead. I tested the waters and everything was fine except the nitrates where at 10. They are normally 0. Do you think he just died of old age????

 

[SuperNerd]

Don't worry, it doesn't seem like you did anything wrong. That's about their lifespan.

::hug::

 

[TinaM]

thanks for the quick reply. I really felt bad he was my favorite little critter! I feel better now that I know he lived a full life!!

 

[Ryanqk]

yeah i have one thats thriving in 40ppm nitrates, im sure your nitrate spike is probably a result of his death not the cuase, thats a pretty full life for a shrimp. Sorry for your loss, get another they such awesome critters!

 

[TinaM]

Yeah I will definitely look for another one soon!

 

[kjord97]

yeah i have a cleaner shrimp that is reaching his 2 year mark, last month i went ahead and added 2 more cleaner shrimps to make him happy at an old age. hehe

also i have a blood shrimp and a coral banded shrimp that has been with me since i started 3 years ago.

 

[calypso_mustang]

I had two cleaner shrimp, everything had been transfered from a 75 to a 155, and they did ok, but then everythign started crashing... recovery was slow but they both made it. The two were reaching their 1 year mark and about 3" long each. They both died one about 3 days after. The boyfriend was very thoughtful and replaced them both with a coral banded shrimp. He says after vacation we will add more cleaners, but I am iffy.... any thoughts......

 

[Kgoarmy17]

I've been fooled by a molting before ; / Mostly by my porcelain crabs....and a Calappa gallus I used to have, that was the worst. Such a neat guy.

In all honestly sorry to hear for your loss. It's nice to hear a person who can keep such an animal for such a long time, compared to other stories.

Calypso- Dont mix CBS with cleaners, usually CBS will be far more aggressive and will kill other shrimp. My CBS's were aggressive to everything, even me at feeding time. In a large tank like a 155 you can try it, but it would be a large risk imo.