Skunk shrimp

[Mmsetta]

Do yellow tangs kill skunk shrimps? My 1 year old shrimp passed today. Bummed! Added tang about a month ago. Never saw him picking on him?

Just curious

 

[143MPCo]

Hello, from everything I have read, and my own experience it's not likely... yellow tangs are classified as "herbivore" so stick to eating mostly marine plants, and the occasional substitution of mysis along with whatever else we feed them...skunk shrimps have a lifespan of around 2 years in the wild, and sometimes as long as 4 years in captivity... I guess it could be possible it was being overly aggressive and killed it but, that seems unlike... I've had a mated pair going on two yrs now and none of my tangs have ever been caught in an aggressive altercation with either one.

Did you find the shrimp dead and being picked over as a food source by the Tang?

 

[143MPCo]

Additionally, if the shrimp was wild caught it would be a little hard to say how old it was at date of purchase with any certainty.

 

[Mmsetta]

I did find the shrimp deAd under a little rock. Didn't see anything picking at it and it was intact too, so didn't see signs of aggression.

 

[saltyphish]

Question. Is it possible it is just the molt? I ask only because my wife called me up saying our shrimp was dead. Needless to say when I got home there was a perfect version of my shrimp out in the open just slightly more clear and lifeless. If that is the case then the real shrimp would be in hiding until new shell has hardened a little.

 

[Mmsetta]

I wish that were true, but nope- he gone

 

[143MPCo]

Question, do you have any other shrimp in the tank?

 

[Mmsetta]

No other sheimp

 

[143MPCo]

ok, are you planning on adding any, maybe a couple of peppermint, it might be the only way to test whether or not it's tang.

 

[Mmsetta]

May get another skunk

 

[143MPCo]

Ok, reason I said peppermint shrimp they are normally cheaper, and IMO no big lost... I can almost hear the tree huggers screaming... lol

 

[Mmsetta]

Good idea, and I have a couple aptasia he could feast on too

 

[143MPCo]

ok, good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

 

[Fishmania21]

I lost my cleaner shrimp because his molting failed.....it has the body and tail skeleton off but the head stuck....always scared whenever there is a skeleton in the tank lol