Sexy Shrimp vs. Clowns in anemone?

[jonnybravo22]

Scenario: Gigantea anemone, percula clown pair, trio or pair of sexy shrimp.

Do to the clowns have to fight the shrimp off to host the anemone? Would all coexist?

Priority is to let clowns host anemones and i'm considering what kind of shrimp to add for sandbed mixing / cleaning. If the clowns would have to compete with the sexy shrimp i'm considering a cleaner shrimp instead.

any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tahoe61]

Scenario: Gigantea anemone, percula clown pair, trio or pair of sexy shrimp.

Do to the clowns have to fight the shrimp off to host the anemone? Would all coexist?

Priority is to let clowns host anemones and i'm considering what kind of shrimp to add for sandbed mixing / cleaning. If the clowns would have to compete with the sexy shrimp i'm considering a cleaner shrimp instead.

any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

Have both sexy shrimp, a pair of clowns and three BTAs' in one tank and no problems for a long, long time. Cleaner shrimp IMO would be the last shrimp I would choose for a tank with BTA, but again just my experience with both.

 

[jonnybravo22]

thanks for reply. why no cleaner? what was the experience?

do the sexies help mix sandbed / eat leftover food?

 

[tahoe61]

thanks for reply. why no cleaner? what was the experience?

do the sexies help mix sandbed / eat leftover food?

Cleaner shrimp can become aggressive and I have had them tear apart inverts to get the food inside, after a feeding regardless if the shrimp was feed. My experience has been that they can cause problems with clams and anemones. Sexy shrimp are so cool, they hang out together, never harrass anything and they love soft corals and anemones.:rollface:

 

[jonnybravo22]

thanks.

do they eat scraps from sand?

 

[EllieSuz]

I have three sexy shrimp and I've never seen one anywhere near the sand. They pick detritus from the rocks and steal food from corals. The pretty much live in my hammer and my duncan. Cute little guys.

 

[tahoe61]

thanks.

do they eat scraps from sand?

According to the reading I have done they eat the slime from soft corals and anemones' and that is what they seem to doing in my tank. They will eat what I feed the rest of the tank too, but I have never seen them in the sand. A cleaner shrimp will not eat detritus either, they only want the good stuff.

 

[davocean]

I've heard of coral banded shrimps being nasty/mean, but never cleaners, worst they may do is rob food, but the awesome job that they do cleaning/grooming fish is well worth having them.
As for sexy shrimp, should be no problem.
My last nem only tank had sexies, a white spot shrimp(they will also take host from nems) and a pair of porcelain crabs, and all got along just fine.
Even my aggro maroon accepted both sexies and porcelain.
But I wouldn't get them for cleanup purposes, or at least don't expect a lot.
But they add great spice to a nem tank.

 

[Ben_Im]

I hate cleaner shrimp. It would constantly harass my BTA looking for food, causing the bta to close up frequently.

 

[jonnybravo22]

ok. thanks for the helpful insight.

My question then is what do you recommend to keep my sand bed relatively free of excess rod's food? I was thinking a shrimp of some kind would be a more attractive / interesting option than a hermit crab.

 

[davocean]

Various snails are my only cleanup crew, lots of them.

 

[EllieSuz]

I think we're missing an essential point in this discussion. Sometimes we acquire an invertebrate for the interest factor. I didn't buy my Sexy Shrimp for their clean up ability, but because they are an interesting creature to observe. I feel the same about the Cleaner Shrimp. Love to watch them groom my fish. I also have a Pom Pom Crab and while we don't see it often, when we do, he's a hoot to watch.

 

[davocean]

Exactly, agree w/ ^^ that post.
I like lots of inverts so you never see everything in just one visit/look.
Keeps things interesting w/ that rare treat of sightings.
Things like sexies you won't see out all the time, but it's pretty cool when you do.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

My question then is what do you recommend to keep my sand bed relatively free of excess rod's food?

definitely cut back on feedings!

 

[jonnybravo22]

thanks for input -- (i guess?)

to clarify, i dont have a problem at the moment with food on the sandbed, but i just added a shallow sandbed from barebottom and i'm trying to cover all my bases. i loved how clean my system was with barebottom but wanted the look of sand after a few months and now that i have the shallow sandbed in there i really like the look of my tank. Gary it's actually similar to your sandbed (from what i can tell from pictures, due to shallow level you can see small patches of glass in a few places, less than an inch of sand, much less in some places).

i just dont want this decision of adding the sandbed to backfire so i'm looking for something to keep the sand mixed. Gary what do you use?

 

[jonnybravo22]

I think we're missing an essential point in this discussion. Sometimes we acquire an invertebrate for the interest factor. I didn't buy my Sexy Shrimp for their clean up ability, but because they are an interesting creature to observe. I feel the same about the Cleaner Shrimp. Love to watch them groom my fish. I also have a Pom Pom Crab and while we don't see it often, when we do, he's a hoot to watch.

I'm hoping to find something that is both interesting and functional!! :lol:

 

[doryrocks]

here's my experience with cleaner shrimp: if fed well, it won't start picking apart my corals for food; it did not clean any of my fishes; it does keep the sandbed clean.

Peppermint shrimps are very uninteresting as well, but they do keep the sandbed clean too.

You could try the more reef-safe hermit (ie blue and red leg) or sea cucumbers. But imo if you have enough sand bed fauna (ie pods, spaghetti worms, small bristle worms) it should be enough to keep your sand bed clean. In fact, I find them much more reliant than buying specific cleaners because these fauna always self-regulate: increase or decrease in population in poportion to the waste available, thus they will most likely always keep your sand bed clean.

 

[mranthonymb]

sexy shrimp are sexy i wish i could get some... well gl with your clowns

 

[jonnybravo22]

hmm but do sexy shrimp help move sand?

what about a bumble bee shrimp?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Gary it's actually similar to your sandbed (from what i can tell from pictures, due to shallow level you can see small patches of glass in a few places, less than an inch of sand, much less in some places).

i just dont want this decision of adding the sandbed to backfire so i'm looking for something to keep the sand mixed. Gary what do you use?

I don't have any sand stirrers per se.
I have a massive amount of water flow above my half BB/half SS sandbed.
My fishes and bristleworms pretty much keep the sandbed cleared of anything halfway edible. Detritus breaks down (eventually) and gets lifted to the overflows.