GOLD vs PURPLE Coral Banded Shrimp

SauceyReef

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This thread will be all about the Golden Coral Banded Shrimp (Stenopus zanzibaricus) vs the Purple Coral Banded shrimp (Stenopus tenuirostris). Both of these shrimp are also commonly referred to as Boxing Shrimp. We will be excluding the normal CBS (Stenopus hispidus).

To many sites and forums lack any legitimate posts on JUST these two shrimp not including the much larger and more aggressive Coral Banded shrimp. I would like to hear stories, experiences, and any legitimate information regarding either the Gold or Purple coral banded shrimp and NOT the normal CBS. I hope this will help future reefers and aquarium owners interested in inverts to help make the right choice regarding each of these shrimp. Each species is clearly very different than the other in terms of personality, size, and aggression - at least this is what we find through the small amount of info in the web.

In the meantime I will post my own personal experience and some general information about each species. I have had both the Purple CBS and currently have a GCBS in my FLuval Evo 13.5 gallon mixed reef. The Purple CBS was one of my favorite additions in terms of shrimp I ever have. It had live for a few years although rarely made it out to the front of the tank during the day. In fact I would go months without seeing it - making the appearance that more special. The shrimp never caused any problems and was the uttermost peaceful tank mate. It did not grow to large - about an inch at most.

The Golden CBS I currently have had for around 2 months. It seems a bit larger than the Purple CBS. It is living with a Skunk Cleaner and a Randalls pistol shrimp along with many hermits and snails / small fish with no problem. This is what confuses me. The information I have found on the web TOTALLY contradicts the personality of the shrimp which seems extremely similar to the Purple CBS. I have heard they can get quite aggressive and pick on smaller tank mates. The only aggression I have seen is when a hermit starts intruding into the burrow the shrimp has made a home with. He tries to push them away but the hermits just ignore it most of the time anyway. I also had a very small Yasha Goby stay with the Golden CBS in the burrow for a few days before I got a pistol. The yasha clearly thought it was a pistol shrimp. The GCBS did not seem happy but did not even pick a single fin of the goby and just let it stay there. The shrimp easily could have made a meal of the fish. I plan on adding some Sexy Shrimp and other smaller commensal shrimp. I hope for the best but am adding them because I am thinking all will be fine.




Information Online

Purple CBS:
Care Level: Easy
Aggressiveness: Peaceful
Reef Compatible: Yes
Water Conditions: 75-82° F, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025
Maximum Size: 1.5”
Compatibility to other species: Do not house with fish that will hunt shrimp, such as groupers, anglers or lion fish.
Origin: Indo-Pacific
Potential Lifespan: 3+ years
Family: Stenopodidea

This is a much better alternative to Stenopus hispidus as the blue coral banded is much smaller and therefore much more peaceful and less prone to attack. It is actually curious why this species is not as popular as S. hispidus. This shrimp is nocturnal, and will remain reclusive during the day. They will also act as a cleaner shrimp, ridding you fish of parasites. Additionally, the blue coral banded is an attractive part of your cleanup crew as they will help eradicate pests in you tank. Do not keep this species with other of their own kind as fighting will follow. You may have them in mated pairs. This shrimp can be put with other peaceful shrimp, however be cautious when placing this shrimp with a smaller species of shrimp, as the smaller species may be killed. This shrimp will scavenge for food, you may also supplement their feeding with shrimp pellets and meaty foods, such as raw shrimp or fish.




Golden CBS:

Care Level: Easy
Aggressiveness: Aggressive
Reef Compatible: Yes
Water Conditions: 75-82° F, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025
Maximum Size: 3”
Compatibility to other species: Do not house with fish that will hunt shrimp, such as groupers, anglers or lion fish. This species will not tolerate others of its own kind, other shrimp, and will kill small and methodical fish
Origin: Caribbean and Indo-Pacific
Potential Lifespan: 3+ years
Family: Stenopodidea

Much like their cousin, Stenopus hispidus, these shrimp are very aggressive. They will often kill small fish and will kill shrimp. They are very territorial and will not tolerate members of their own species unless it is a mated pair. I do not recommend these shrimp for any set up except for a species specific tank, or you know you will ONLY have large fish (that will not eat them) and clen up crew (absent of any other shrimp of course.) However, be aware they may injure your larger fish as well. When young, these shrimp will provide a cleaning service for your fish, but as they get older, they become more aggressive and are less likely to clean your fish. They will also rid you tank of many pests, and are known for eradicating bristle worm populations in very short order.

PCSBS.jpg GOLDEWCSB.jpg
 
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SauceyReef

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Oh the purple ones are so cool. I would have gotten a purple instead of a golden if more readily available. The purples are now around $50 at any site I can find. I tried buying one from Live Aquaria and it was DOA and destroyed upon arrival. The next week I went to my LFS and saw a golden one around the same size. I looked up some info and found a few forums backing up they stay smaller so thought I would give it a try.

The purple lived in my 32gallon bio cube mixed reef with all sorts of different inverts and fish for a very long time with no problem. Just read another thread here about someone having one for 5 YEARS! - Clearly not all the information online about these shrimp is correct.
 
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My guy has blue on him! Lol.
D
Okay now it gets even more interesting... So most of the Gold CBS photos have all gold/yellow on them. My GCBS also has some purple in it like yours unlike all the photos. Is there possibly even a 4th species of CBS with gold and purple?? Hopefully more people can chime in :) (For example - both photos below show Gold CBS but you can see the different markings as monkeyC brought up above)

Golden CBNS.jpg oold CBS.jpg
 
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SauceyReef

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Wonder if it has to do with atlantic vs pacific or indian ocean???Ect. Like the pacific skunk cleaner has a diffrent tail than the atlantic.
D
That would make a lot of sense! I wonder if there are large personality differences in pacific skunk cleaner vs the Atlantic as well as coloration differences. Just like these two GCBS.
 
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I have been setting up a Fluval 13.5 Evo mixed reef for a future commensal invert tank. I think nanos are perfect because many of these shrimp including the sexys are so small it would be hard to find them in a large tank - seeing nothing would predate on them.

I plan on experimenting with a lot of commensal shrimp that are generally known as reef and shrimp safe. So far I have:
- 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- 1 Golden Coral Banded shrimp (description above)
- 1 Randall's Pistol shrimp
Everyone living peacefully. The skunk cleaner and GCBS interact at night and get pretty close. They show no signs of aggression towards each other. I am yet to see the GCBS run into the pistol but assume it will happen eventually when the pistol moves over to the GCBS rock.

This next month I have been stocking the tank out with little RFAS (rock flower anemones) and maxi minis. I have 5 total now - all in hopes to make the tank more habitable for the commensal anemone shrimp - oh and because RFAS look fricken awesome. I plan on adding:
- 5-7 Sexy Shrimp
- Pederson Anemone Shrimp
- Anton Bruni Cleaner Shrimp

This will be the true test for the Gold CBS. With potentially near 10 other shrimp many far smaller we will see how they all fair together. I will keep everyone updated. Getting the sexy's the next couple weeks from two different locations.
 
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SauceyReef

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-update-
The invert mixed reef has so far been a giant success! I never understood how docile shrimp are when welll fed. All the inverts seem to be incredibly peaceful to one another. The golden coral banded shrimp truly is just how the purple coral banded shrimp used to be - very peaceful and rarely comes out. Here are some photos!
 

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More photos! A few in you can see how small some of these sexy shrimp are.. it boggles me that the other shrimp don’t mess with them. They have had many chances to do so and are clearly not interested. In fact I think they sometimes interact and or possibly communicate with their antennae. Often I will see the antennae touching. I’ve seen the skunk cleaner definitely check out some of these sexy shrimp with the antennae. Super cool :)
 

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SauceyReef

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Another update a month later

This species of CBS seems just like the purple one and again reinforcing they are totally harmless and docile. I dont even spot feed him to much anymore. It seems the porcelain crab and hermits / pistol shrimp are likely more dangerous to the CBS! Ive seen the porcelain crab pinch off an antennae when the shrimp got to close.. His little cave I made ended up being filled with sand. Now he hangs under the main rock with the wrest of the shrimp. I have fish ranging from cm's to quite larger than him and no one is bothering anyone.

Definitely a GREAT species of nano shrimp to have in a mixed reef! I will post a video soon.
 
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SauceyReef

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Final Update: I ended up getting a Possum Wrasse and these two did not like each other at all. I guess Possum Wrasse are notorious for being picked on. But they ran into each other a few times causing the shrimp to lunge and the possum wrasse to freak out. I thought it would be best to rehome it as it was getting quite large for the tank and I did not want any problems.
 

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