Is my Coral Banded Shrimp a fish killer?

[Lemony Lemons]

I woke up this morning and could not find my cardinal fish. After searching all over, inside and out, I gave up. I just went to check on my tank before bed and the CBS was upside down under his usual shelf and he had the body of my cardinal in his possession! I reached in to grab it and he took it with him into the cave.

I finally got the corpse, R.I.P. Michael

Do CBS usually grab small fish?
Are the usually repeat offenders?
Will CBS grab bigger fish, like my foxface?
Should I remove him?


Any input is appreciated!

 

[tank of gems]

I never heard or seen a cbs go after a fish unless it's defending itself. On the other hand if the cardinal was dead it will feed on it for sure and may Michael rip

 

[Mike in CT]

My CBS will be a little aggressive towards any fish that goes near it, but it has not grabbed any of my 6 small fish. I don't think it's unheard of for one grab a small fish if it can. I would not worry about any larger fish , in fact my CBS will hop on my tangs face to attempt to clean it.

 

[Sacohen]

I had a CBS and was constantly having fish "disappear"
Once I removed the CBS my fish have all been there when I look at the tank.

Coincidence


I actually saw him grab another shrimp (can't remember the kind right now) and kill it.

 

[Lemony Lemons]

I've been looking at other forums, etc. Apparently the fish killing is common among cbs, some have even had them grab tangs! I'll cook that sucker if he touches my foxface! I've been target feeding him so hopefully he stays full enough to not grab my smaller ones :-/

 

[gidenski]

No issues here from my CBS. He stays out of others way and they stay out if his. My cleaner shrimps on the other hand are aggressive with two peppermint shrimp I just added.

 

[Mike in CT]

With all their appendages.... If a CBS grew as big as a big dog, nobody would get in the ocean! They are some wild looking creatures!

 

[sean9_man]

I had a CBS which always tried to grab fish swimming by but never caught anything except when a fish died. However he killed a bloodfire shrimp that last 2 hours in the tank. It would always stress new tank mates I put in so I moved his home into the sump!

 

[CUNAReefer]

I woke up one morning to find my yellow watchman breathing hard. After looking a little closer, I noticed he was hanging out of my CBS mouth. Yup... CBS was eating him alive.

 

[dmann]

Dang i hope i dont have sny trouble. I jist added a cbs a week ago. Ill be ****** if my osc pair or my tomini ends up victim

 

[Sacohen]

They are unpredictable. I had a pair in a 125 years ago and they didn't bother anything, but the one I put in m y 55 was a troublemaker.

It may have been the amount of room they had obviously a 125 is much bigger than a 55 so more territory for each inhabitant.

 

[dmann]

Mine is a little guy in my 60g cube

 

[Lemony Lemons]

I have him in my 90g. He's got his own little cave now so hopefully he's content doing his upside down randomness and leaves my fish alone.

 

[Sacohen]

Good luck. They are great to watch.

 

[Lemony Lemons]

Mine is a little guy in my 60g cube

He's so tiny! Mine is twice the size , he's beefy lol. Maybe that's why. Hopefully the supplement feeding helps!

 

[dmann]

What are you feeding him?

 

[reeffirstaid]

IMHO, it's very unlikely a coral banded shrimp could catch, kill and eat a healthy fish. The speed of the shrimp, even its striking speed, pales in comparison to the speed of even slow fish species.

 

[Lemony Lemons]

What are you feeding him?

Besides what he eats around my tank, I squirt frozen krill to him. I also feed brine and mysis to my fish but he doesn't seem interested in those. He loves the krill though and it's fun to watch him grab at em. I feed him right after lights out - when he comes out from being upside down and starts to make his rounds lol

 

[sergio13]

I thought I was the only one? I had a small coral beauty and it dissapeard then I had a goby I still don't know where it went and lately I've seen the cbs going after my blue tang.

 

[Lemony Lemons]

I thought I was the only one? I had a small coral beauty and it dissapeard then I had a goby I still don't know where it went and lately I've seen the cbs going after my blue tang.

Not the only one at all - after my 'googling' I was kind of shocked at the amount of people who have witnessed their cbs snatched up a small and sometimes bigger fish! Poor unsuspecting guys lol