Lysmata amboinensis comp., sys.  11/16/06 Hi WWM crew <Hello, Michelle here>   Can I have 2 Lysmata amboinensis in a 30 gallon tank with ample live rock and hiding places?  <Should be ok provided they are well fed.  If they get hungry enough they will eat one another.>  I have one Lysmata amboinensis in the 30 gallon tank right now.  Would it have to be bigger or smaller or could it be the same size?  <Same size would be most ideal>  Would this work?   Thanks a million! <Welcome>

Cleaner Shrimp and Queen Angel Bob, I have a dumb question. I need to combine two tanks for several weeks to do some work on the one. I have several cleaner shrimp in the one tank , and a 5 inch Queen angel, 3 green Chromis and a mated pair of Tomatoe clowns in the other. I could find no information on if the queen (boss of the show tank) will make a meal of the cleaner or not.  I have seen the angel eat a 2 inch brown colored worm off the live rock in a flash. <Mmm, hopefully not... there is some chance of this, of course... but there are Cleaner Shrimps (e.g. Stenopus hispidus) in the Caribbean... where this Angel species is found... and they are known to develop symbiotic relations with non-indigenous cleaners... You could always do the wholesaler technique of floating a colander, or placing the shrimp in a container with perforations... to keep water coming through, but keeping predators away. Bob Fenner> Thanks for your help.

Cleaner shrimp and Queen Angel Bob, This is not a question, but a follow-up to what I asked you last week. I put the cleaner shrimp in my show tank, and watched the reaction of the Queen Angel. Well to make a long story short, the angel went right up to the shrimp, head up and fins flapping. The shrimp jumped on him and proceeded to clean the inside of his mouth and gills. I was amazed at the symbiotic relationship. It is not uncommon for the shrimp to be on the angel six or seven times a day. There has been no parasite outbreak in my tank, so I wonder what the shrimp is finding if anything on the angel. <Necrotic tissue, bits of this and that...that are not discernible to you and I> I have also noticed a change in the Queen. Before the shrimp was added he would bully the other fish if they even got close to his favorite spot in the tank.. He has calmed down a lot and seems to tolerate them in his spot in the tank, unlike before. Thought you would be interested in the outcome. <Yes> Thanks again for all your help. <You are welcome my friend. Be chatting. Bob Fenner>

Candy-Stripe Cleaner Shrimp Will my candy stripe cleaner shrimp be able to handle lower SG, say 1.018? <tolerable if acclimated to very slowly...no lower please> Also - I have a purple tang that every now and again gets "cloudy" in the side fins, almost looks like ick, but I am not sure, I always thought ICK was more like a grain of salt?  <correct... the turbidity could be mucous secreted from irritation by a parasite or other pest> They'll be there one day, and gone the next.. just stress?  <something more> Tank "credentials" are all good, and I rarely see him get aggressive with other fish or vice versa... Thanks & have a happy Easter (if you celebrate!) ~bill <yes... thank you kindly. A blessed day to you and yours as well. Anthony>

Re: cleaner shrimp Hi how's it going <Doing good... just check'n the questions...> I just setup my 75 gal reef tank about 10 days ago it has about 70 lbs. of live rock in it and I am waiting for it to cycle. A  friend gave me a couple pieces of live rock from his tank to make room for something else in the process I ended up with 1 of his cleaner shrimp in the rock and I can't catch it does it stand a chance of living and if so does it need to be fed anything <Well... if the tank is just starting to cycle it most likely will not survive.  But stranger things have happened!  I feed my cleaner shrimp: in the morning, marine fish flakes, in the afternoon a small amount of krill/silverside.  He loves it!!  If you want to try and catch the shrimp, take an old panty-hose and put some food in it.  My shrimp always rush right into it.  Hope this helps!  Phil>

Cleaner shrimp, Ammonia Hello, I have a 29 gallon tank with about 30-35 pounds of LR.  I have had the setup for nearly 2 months and according to my nitrite tests, it is finished cycling.  I have gotten rid of the damsels I had to help with the cycle and added a percula clown and a Firefish along with 2 large and 2 small turbo smalls and a few blue legged hermit crabs, (not including some stowaway snails and at least 1 crab in the LR). That's not overcrowded, right? <right>  I recently noticed that my clown was developing ick and since I don't have a QT ( soon to get one) I lowered SG raised the temp and even gave him a freshwater dip.  He looked better for a while then the spots returned (I realize I'm treating the symptoms , not the cause).  I then bought a indo-pacific cleaner shrimp the other day but the clown hasn't gone near it.   Is there anything that I can do to entice the clown into recognizing the shrimp as a cleaner? Granted I have only had the shrimp for a few days. The clownfish is tank raised, so does that play a part? <  Just give them time>Also, the ammonia is at about 0.25-0.15 ppm and a little concerned.  I saw some contrasting points in your FAQ about this, so is it better to let my LR and bio filtration get used to the lessened bio load or should I do a water change, ( I do 10 percent changes weekly regardless since the tank cycled). One last thing, I was considering a royal Gramma and/or a coral beauty angel.  What are your thought on that as far as compatibility with the live stock I have, bio load, etc. Love the site and the info is life saving.  Thanks for any advice, Joshua Wells < If you have livestock in there you will want to lower the ammonia to zero ASAP.  I would choose the Gramma over the angel as the angel will need more room than this and will probably terrorize the rest of the fish.  Wait at least 3 weeks before adding anymore fish to let the system stabilize and to be sure and make sure the tank is ick free.  Cody>

Cleaner shrimp escapes powerhead intake! Hi Bob & Crew, <Hi! Ananda here this morning....> I just found my cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) stuck in the intake of a powerhead. I turned the pump off and the shrimp scuttled off under the rocks. He's come out since and looks OK, touch wood. <Indeed. I've heard of creatures going through powerheads... not a pretty sight.> My question is this : do you think the shrimp will be smart enough to avoid the powerhead in the future? <Goodness, no...if it has happened once, it is likely to happen again, eventually.> If not I'll try to place a foam baffle of something in front of the intakes. <If you have a bio-ball, that would work and would not require cleaning as frequently as foam. Also check the pile-o-stuff that came with the powerhead -- the ones I have include a grid-like cover for the intake.> Many thanks for your continuing efforts on Wet Web Media - it's a fantastic resource for learning and research.  John Kellett <And many thanks to you for your kind words. --Ananda>

Anemone Shrimp Can I keep a group of  Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis)  in one long tentacle anemone? and if I have two long tentacle anemones touching each other will the damage each other? <<Best is just one, or a pair of these small shrimp in an anemone they've already demonstrated a symbiotic relationship with... and just a cautionary remark regarding other fish livestock with them... only easy-going non-shrimp eaters need apply! Bob Fenner>>

Question on cleaner shrimp I am trying to acclimate cleaner shrimps from the LFS that keep them in natural seawater. What is natural seawater salinity anyways? My tank is now at 1.024-1.025. <Right about here specific gravity wise... Not important that this be a particular density, but that the spg be kept more or less constant... best to check on daily, learn to adjust simply (like by adding freshwater from a jug next to the tank to a predesignated water level...> What procedures do I need to take in order to acclimate cleaner shrimps to my tank. <I would "drip" acclimate them... Protocol stored on site: www.wetwebmedia.com. No need to dip/bath, and generally, if they're in good apparent condition, no need to quarantine> Right now I'm trying to get a LFS water sample to match salinity. Then I will try the cleaner shrimp. <Theirs will likely be much lower... to save money on salt mix, allow for higher gas solubility (and hence stocking capacity), and reduce likelihood/spread of pathogens/parasites... If more than a thousandth, do acclimate the shrimp in a quarantine system slowly to your standard> Do you think you can keep a cleaner shrimp in tap water tank? <What? If you mean, salt mix made with tapwater... this will likely work, unless your tapwater has real troubles... See the tapwater use for marine systems works on the WWM site re... If you're suggesting placing these animals directly in tap/freshwater, no... this will likely damage them to the extent of causing their deaths.> Thanks. <Bob Fenner>

About cleaner shrimp. Hello Robert Fenner. I am wondering if you have additional, in depth info on cleaner shrimps. (the skunk). I have read the ones at your site. Just want additional info. on cleaner shrimps. <Put the family names in your search engines... read over the links (to TMC, the Breeder's Registry, Liquid Life... posted on the WWM links pages and bibliography/further reading sections... on Cleaners> I have a 6-gallon w/ a sebae clown and 2 glass shrimps. Do you think the cleaner will be ok in such a small tank when it molts? Don't want things to harass it. <Perhaps... if there is enough cover... not too much in the way of hungry predators... enough biomineral and alkalinity, food to help the specimen reform its exoskeleton...> Should I add more rock work? <If it "will fit", sure. Bob Fenner>

Pacific Cleaner Shrimp Hi Bob, I was wanting to get a cleaner shrimp but before I did I wanted to ask you a couple of questions before I do. So my first question is how should you acclimate the cleaner shrimp into my tank. For example how long, should lights be off, <For the day, night that they're installed> those kind of things. And secondly should the amount of salinity in my tank be the same as the store's tank from where I got it from, to avoid shock in the shrimp. Thanks <Yes, important here... and then to be on guard to not change it too much too soon. I am in favor of a "drip" type of acclimation for these and most crustaceans, with the animals ultimately "poured" into the main system (not exposed to the air). Please see the "Acclimation" sections and FAQs and "Cleaner Shrimp" areas of our site: www.WetWebMedia.com for much more. No dips necessary or suggested. Bob Fenner>

Cleaner shrimp Hi Mr. Fenner I am writing you once again with yet another question. I know that a cleaner shrimp along with all other types have their antennas for an obviously important reason <Make that for reasons... taste/smell, feeling, balance, defense, communication...> but what I would like to know is how this will affect him. I have a royal Gramma that nips at my cleaner shrimps antennas, and in the last two days, two or three of his antennas have gone down from around a nice 5 inches long to maybe an 1 1/2 and the rest are now about 2 or 2 1/2 inches. He is still out in the open and active, even trying to climb onto the Gramma when he comes near but I'm wondering if this will affect his well being. Or do they just break off every so often, and grow again, <More like be like new when they molt...> and even though I see the Gramma nip, it's not really him that's making them shorter?  <Likely is> He hasn't molted recently, so he's not in that sensitive stage at the moment. Thanks again Greg <Do keep up your alkalinity and calcium levels... and have plenty of cover... especially for molt times. Bob Fenner>