Wow. I suck at keeping cleaner shrimp

[Miami Reef]

This is very puzzling to me.

And I’m not new to reef keeping either.

First, my tank is 260 gallons. I have acropora, sps, 7 tridacna clams, a few LPS. A variety of trochus, astrea, and Mexican turbos.

I added 8 cleaner shrimp to my tank about 3-4 weeks ago.

They’ve been fine, but lately they’ve been dying one by one. I believe 4 died. 1 died yesterday and 2 died today. I lost another one a week ago.

Parameters are all in a good range and I sent out an ICP with no elevated metals.

I do weekly 15% water changes.

Here’s my working theory:

• I have a red flame hawkfish. Maybe it’s killing them?
• I have a mantis shrimp which hitchhiked from my KP rocks. It stays hidden but I can hear it snapping. Pretty sure I also have pistol shrimp as well, but I definitely saw a mantis shrimp. It looks black in coloration. Maybe it’s killing them?
• All the pistol shrimps that die are attached to the powerheads. My flow is very strong. Maybe they are getting sucked in?

About the mantis shrimp theory, I usually wake up to the cleaner shrimps attached to the powerhead (that means that sometime at night the shrimps died, which does seem likely murdered by a mantis, HOWEVER, today after work I saw the latest shrimp dead on the powerhead. Which means that it died in the day time, and the mantis shrimps NEVER meets a cleaner shrimp in the day.

The mantis shrimp hides in the right side of the tank, and the skunks stay on the left. It doesn’t make sense for them to meet each other, especially since the mantis doesn’t travel, and the skunks don’t either. I have a hard time believing that the mantis is killing them.

Here is a picture of the dead shrimp that I found after work. They all look like this when they died, I see a small opening in their flesh, but I’m not sure if the powerhead caused that after the fact that they’ve been dead.

Meaning, I’m not sure if they got wounded prior to meeting the powerhead.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Tamberav]

A mantis shrimp would eat them/tear them apart. When I had mantis they would make a mess of whatever live food they were eating.

When I had cleaners they did like to try and sit on pumps. Maybe they are getting stuck to it?

Man those guys are not cheap!

 

[Miami Reef]

A mantis shrimp would eat them/tear them apart. When I had mantis they would make a mess of whatever live food they were eating.

When I had cleaners they did like to try and sit on pumps. Maybe they are getting stuck to it?

Man those guys are not cheap!

When I watch the tank (I basically spend my whole weekend watching the tank and I spend my days after work watching the tank). I never ever saw the cleaner shrimps sitting on the powerheads.

Unless 100% of the time the shrimps that sit on the powerheads get sucked in. I would assume that some wouldn’t get sucked in right away. The shrimps stay hidden under the rocks about 98% of the time.

But it’s definitely possible that when I don’t watch the tank they sit on the powerheads, I just have a hard time believing it because I never saw them hang out around there…like ever.

I’m glad the mantis shrimp isn’t the problem. I like hearing its snaps lol.

But hey, if there was a parameter issue, wouldn’t that also kill the mantis shrimp? I don’t think it’s a parameter issue since all my corals are thriving and I work hard to make sure my elements are in good condition.

 

[Miami Reef]

Man those guys are not cheap!

Definitely not cheap! I personally hate the look of cleaner shrimp (roach phobia).

I only got them because my pyramid butterflies had a TON of flukes. The cleaner shrimps completely cleaned them off. It was so impressive and took less than 2 days.

 

[Hairyteeth]

They all have the same hole in the side? could it be a parasitic or bacterial thing? Maybe the #fishmedics would have a hint

 

[Miami Reef]

They all have the same hole in the side? could it be a parasitic or bacterial thing? Maybe the #fishmedics would have a hint

The black? The 2 remaining have that black spot as well. Is that not normal?

 

[Tamberav]

Oh I didn't see the black... well I think you can see their guts/food a bit but I do remember there being a disease effecting cleaners that has black markings.

 

[Mystersynyster]

I think the black spots are the organs, but yeah it does look weirdly close to the surface

 

[Tamberav]

You magnesium isn't high, is it? I know I killed two that way before.

 

[Miami Reef]

You magnesium isn't high, is it? I know I killed two that way before.

Definitely shouldn’t be. The only magnesium I add is the natural amount that my salt mix (IO) contains. I don’t supplement magnesium. Maybe in the future if demand shows a need for it.

I honestly hardly even test magnesium. My last ICP showed it was around 1340ppm ish.

I just took these 2 photos. It’s of my shrimp that’s currently alive. It has the black mark which looks like organs?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The black? The 2 remaining have that black spot as well. Is that not normal?

It would seem normal, based on these very scientific search results...

 

[Mystersynyster]

Hawkish supposedly like skunk cleaners, try to contain him and see if there is a diff

 

[salty joe]

I had a pair of skunk cleaners for a couple months and they seemed fine. One day, the fish are devouring a skunk carcass. That was a few months ago and I still have the one skunk. I thought maybe they were both males so they fought to the death.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

The black? The 2 remaining have that black spot as well. Is that not normal?

Is it black spot disease?

Thread 'Black dots on cleaner shrimp' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-dots-on-cleaner-shrimp.241445/

 

[Tamberav]

Your shrimp looks normal to me but pics are fuzzy so :)

I had an orchid dottyback kill two of them before. So it doesn't take a very big fish to take them out.

A mantis certainly would like to eat them, just every time my mantis ate something... it ATE it... they tend to bury meaty remains sometime and will toss out shell from their burrow. Just looks so intact to me to be the mantis. If you have snails or hermits, it may choose those easy snacks if it is a small mantis.

 

[Miami Reef]

Is it black spot disease?

Thread 'Black dots on cleaner shrimp' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-dots-on-cleaner-shrimp.241445/

YES! The one that died this morning looked EXACTLY like that picture. I thought it had soil on its body.

The one that died today after work (the photo above) did not look like that, but the one previously definitely did.

 

[Roatan Reef]

Hawkish supposedly like skunk cleaners, try to contain him and see if there is a diff

I have a red flame hawkfish. Maybe it’s killing them?... @miamireef

Absolutely. My Falco Hawk loves Cleaner Shrimp....it's an expensive snack. Learned the hard way.

 

[killer2001]

I'm a reefing n00b and my fire shrimp has been doing great for 3 months. He's an expert at hiding all day and night and molting.

 

[Garpgarp]

I can't comment on disease but putting animals in a tank with things that eat them is probably never a good idea unless they're added as dinner, you can't predict if the potential predators are a case of if or when.

In the time you have your back turned a mantis could go on a short stroll, turn a corner and strike something out of fright, with the victim found stuck to a powerhead the next morning. I'm sure a high flow setup could pull a cleaner away from an attacking hawkfish too.

 

[Miami Reef]

Wow guys. I have a crazy updat. I’m an to finish my water change, but I can’t believe what I saw.