Melanarus and shrimp?

[jws0318]

I have a Melanarus wrasse and I am curious if anyone has any experience with keeping any kind of shrimp with one? My LFS has told me that it is likely that the wrasse will eat any shrimp I put in the tank, but I'd swear I've heard otherwise. I can understand the sexy shrimp being bite sized treats, but what about the larger varities like peppermint, blood red, cleaner or others?

I also have a few small fish (gobies, assesor) so i want to avoid any of the "opportunistic feeder" types of shrimp, but i would really like to add 1 or 2 if possible. The tank is 60g with 50lb live rock and lots of nooks and crannies.

Anyone have any experience/ideas?

Thanks

 

[8string]

My Melanarus wrasse was the first fish that I added after my clowns. I have three shrimp in there and the fish doesn't even look at them. I've seen it sit still for the cleaner shrimp, even.

The only problem that I've had was when the wrasse was picking on some snails and they died. I think that they were on the way, anyhow, as they'd cleaned up all the algae.

 

[el aguila]

I do not know if this is true or not, but I have heard that larger Melanarus eat shrimp and smaller ones may not. Regardless you will hear some that don't have problems and others that do.

I had 2 shrmp in my tank before adding the wrasse. At first molt of the shrimp they were gone. I recently tried one large cleaner shrimp. Melanarus popped it hard a couple of times and the shrimp dissappeared into the rockwork never to be seen again.

My Wrasse goes after all snails/hermits except conchs.

 

[zebrasoma17]

I have a melanurus in a large tank with no shrimp but I recently witnessed one eat a newly introduced cleaner shrimp in a nearby LFS display reef tank. The wrasse hovered about 12 inches above the shrimp immediately after it was introduced. The wrasse then suddenly darted down and snatched it right off the sand. The wrasse was about 3.5 - 4 inches long and was in transition to male coloration.

 

[snorvich]

I do not know if this is true or not, but I have heard that larger Melanarus eat shrimp and smaller ones may not. Regardless you will hear some that don't have problems and others that do.

I had 2 shrmp in my tank before adding the wrasse. At first molt of the shrimp they were gone. I recently tried one large cleaner shrimp. Melanarus popped it hard a couple of times and the shrimp dissappeared into the rockwork never to be seen again.

My Wrasse goes after all snails/hermits except conchs.

That was my impression as well. However, since I do not keep one, I have no first hand experience.

 

[jws0318]

Thanks guys....sounds like its probably not a good idea.

 

[JohnV8r]

For what it's worth, I just bought a 2" male melanarus wrasse from my LFS. I had asked for their help in finding a solution for the high number of spaghetti worms in my tank. I have four shrimp: A skunk cleaner, two large peppermint, and a fire shrimp.

The LFS' steered me away from looking at a Copper-banded Butterfly in my SPS/LPS mixed reef. They told me the CBB would most likely end up picking at my duncans and other LPS with soft parts. They also cautioned me about CBB and SPS with extended polyps.

They then recommended the Melanarus as a possible eradicator of the spaghetti worms and went through a series of questions in regard to my concern about keeping a Melanarus with shrimp:

1. Does your reef have a healthy population of pods? Answer: Yes, I have hundreds in my refugium and main tank. Reasoning: Melanarus wrasses will hunt pods before going after large shrimp.

2. What is the size of your shrimp? Answer: They all are at least 2" - 3" in length without antennae. Reasoning: Melanarus wrasses won't bother shrimp that they are introduced to that are the same size or bigger.

3. What is the nutrient load in your tank and how do you feed your fish? Answer: I carbon dose so that I can keep my fish fat and well fed without having nitrate/phosphate issues. Reasoning: A well fed Melanarus will not bother shrimp, especially big ones.

I'll report back what my experience is. At this point, my Melanarus is looking over the rocks and pecking at things (I'm guessing pods) in between feedings. I love my shrimp, but with my huge rock stack, they are rarely front and center. In fact, I've named the Fire shrimp Howard Hughes. He's locked himself in a cave and I only see glances of his white antennae. On the hand, the Melanarus is front & center and BEAUTIFUL! In the grand scheme of things, I would prefer to have all of them. However, if I had to pick one or the other, I would take the wrasse at this point.

Only you can decide what your risk tolerence is, but I don't think it's as simple as "you can't keep a Melanarus and shrimp together." There are several factors that impact the risk to shrimp.

Hope that helps.

 

[sanchoy]

Experience


Don't go after big shrimps (cleaner) but ate many snails and hermits. My hermits would cower in the caves until nightfall in fear of the Mel wrasse. When small it was safe then when it got bigger it destroyed the cuc

 

[JohnV8r]

It will be interesting to see how it shakes out. I can say that my most industrious sand cleaners are my Diamond goby and my Fighting Conchs. I do rely on blue leg hermits for cleaning the live rock, so that would be a bummer if they disappeared.

We'll see whether keeping him well fed makes a difference.

 

[jws0318]

I ended up adding a larger cleaner shrimp to the tank - he's been in for 72 hours, and the wrasse hasn't even looked at him. I know its early on, but so far so good.

 

[spieszak]

It will be interesting to see how it shakes out. I can say that my most industrious sand cleaners are my Diamond goby and my Fighting Conchs. I do rely on blue leg hermits for cleaning the live rock, so that would be a bummer if they disappeared.

We'll see whether keeping him well fed makes a difference.

To the "well fed" thing... I'm not speaking to this scenario, but just in general, because I find the "well fed" argument kind of pointless in a lot of cases... mostly because when I hear it, I hear it in opposition to the fishes "favorite" food. The argument goes, I know they like x, but I'll just keep them well fed. The counter is "I LOVE steak... I wouldn't choose not to eat it just because there is a HUGE bowl of spinach on the table".... Just some food for though...

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I've got a 3 1/2" melanarus in my tank with a pair of peppermints. No issues here.

 

[JohnV8r]

Either my cleaner shrimp has molted and is in hiding or the Melanarus has cleared the way for me to get a Mystery Wrasse. Update to come....

 

[el aguila]

I have a school of Anthias and feed frequently. The Melanarus is a pig and is very well fed.

I also have a 100G cryptic fuge and another 100G fuge plus culture Tisbe copepods.

However I really like the coloration of the Melanarus and the fish in general - no plans to get rid of him. On the otherhand if he turned up dead tomorrow, I'ld think long and hard about getting another.

 

[Buzzword]

Melanurus large male 5 inches and Mystery wrasses 3.5 inches with large 3+inch Bullseye Pistol, 1.5-2 inch Blue Coral banded and added a Cleaner shrimp after the wrasses and no problems after the Melanurus looked him over a few times. Melanurus loves nassarius snails though, if they come out under the lights it's lights out for them!

 

[JohnV8r]

And the news is...my cleaner shrimp molted AGAIN!!! I think I'm suffering from wrasse-induced anxiety. The shrimp is fine and out again after molting. The Melanarus wrasse is innocent.

 

[el aguila]

And the news is...my cleaner shrimp molted AGAIN!!! I think I'm suffering from wrasse-induced anxiety. The shrimp is fine and out again after molting. The Melanarus wrasse is innocent.

Good luck! I hope that your wrasse continues to not bother your shrimp.

It would be interesting to post a poll for Melanarus owners to see what percentage respond with model citizens, only bother snail/hermits, or everything including shrimp to get a feel for what kind of percentage of shrimp munchers there really are. If you do a search here, you will see the Melanarus/shrimp question pop up frequently. Might do that later this afternoon if I get some time.

I have a friend that lives close by and has a closely related Christmas wrasse that is larger than my Melanarus, and it is a model citizen.

 

[jws0318]

It would be interesting to post a poll for Melanarus owners to see what percentage respond with model citizens, only bother snail/hermits, or everything including shrimp to get a feel for what kind of percentage of shrimp munchers there really are. If you do a search here, you will see the Melanarus/shrimp question pop up frequently. Might do that later this afternoon if I get some time.

Great Idea - Poll added!

 

[Tate]

I've had one in a 55g with a coral banded shrimp for 4 years without issue.

I never tried a more docile shrimp species as the coral banded itself is pretty ornery.

 

[Northstar24]

My Melanurus is about 4 inches now. He is fine with the cleaner and the fire shrimp that were in the tank before him. I tried adding a few peppermints for Aipstaisa control and he had them all before they hit the rocks. Its definitely a possibility, you just need to keep an eye on the fish and see what it does