question about coral banded and cleaner shrimp?

[duongtony]

Help? Can I mix a coral banded & a cleaner shrimp together?

 

[brettandlyndi]

I've seen it done before. My father has a couple of cleaner shrimp and one coral banded, and they stay on opposite sides of his 175 bowfront. I would think that if the tank is large enough, it'll be fine.

 

[jcgso]

Mine coexist with no problems. I would suggest getting a coral banded that's smaller than the cleaner.

 

[brettandlyndi]

Yeah, and also adding the cleaner shrimp first would probably help too. They can establish themselves in the tank first, and it might help.

 

[fppf]

My mated pair of coral banded and skunk cleaners do fine together. So fine the both mate and lay eggs. The eggs do in fact hatch but so far none survive. I also have 4 peperment shrimp in there, at least I think I still do, almost never see them.

 

[crpeck]

I added a small skunk cleaner when my Banded Coral Shrimp was over 2 years old and VERY large. I was worried about it, but noticed very quickly that the little cleaner is WAY faster than the Banded Coral.

The BCS tried to chase the cleaner for a couple of days until he figured out that he never was going to catch him and they've been fine ever since.

 

[RGBMatt]

Don't get your hopes up. Banded coral shrimps can be very aggressive - one friend of mine has lost two cleaners and a bunch of fish to his. (he is not the world's most responsible aquarist and still thinks he can keep the thing)

You might be OK if your tank's big enough, but don't be too surprised if your cleaner disappears.

 

[crpeck]

I have seen a number of posts where people say their Banded Coral has gotten a fish or some other animal so I believe that it must happen. But it always amazes me because I've watched my BCS try his very best to grab a fish or that cleaner shrimp and he is just SO slow that he never gets even close to making contact. He is really quick with all his little tiny hands underneath .... it's hilarious to watch him juggle when he's lucky enough to catch a bristle worm. But those big pinchers are slow and not only that, they're not that sharp or strong. He's taken to trying to come pinch my arm when I'm working in the tank sometimes and even if he gets me, it really doesn't hurt. I hate to say it but we all kind of laugh at his efforts around here.

Of course, I'm not saying that this one shrimp is the definitive CB Shrimp. I guess I'm just lucky that he's so inept. I've just always wondered when I've heard those stories whether the fish or shrimp that a BCS "killed" was actually dead, sick, or dying before the BCS got it.

Cathy

 

[package]

I lost several cleaner shrimp until I removed my large coral banded. Never saw it happen but the cleaner shrimp survival rate went from 0% to 100% when the CBS was removed.