Cleaner Shrimp

Cleaner shrimp make interesting additions to your reef aquarium. They are scavengers and help clean up leftovers in your aquarium. Some perform other very important duties such as keeping your tank rid of aptasia anemones or providing a natural defense against ich outbreaks.

Shrimp are a complex type of arthropod. They have an even number of jointed legs and segmented bodies. They have a circulatory system, nervous system and a brain. They also have an outside shell or exoskeleton, which they need to shed in order to grow.

Here’s one final bit of information. They will not tolerate any rapid change in water quality. This also means you have to be patient when acclimating them.

The Skunk Cleaner shrimp will make a great addition to your reef tank. They are scavengers and will eat almost anything. Mine makes a mad dash any time I am feeding.

They have a red back with a white strip down the middle. Because of this they are easy to recognize.

They are very well known for their symbiotic relationship with many fish. This simply means they will set up a little cleaning station and picking parasites off of them. The fish will actually swim over to the shrimp to get cleaned. It’s very fun to watch.

Quite often when I have my hand in the tank he will climb right on my hand. They are very friendly and I highly recommend them. I only have one but its fine to have more.

This shrimp is definitely one of the most beautiful of all the reef safe shrimp. They eat almost anything that they can find.

Fire shrimp are mostly blood red with little white dots which can be all over their body and white tips on their legs. They also have long white antennae.

The fire shrimp does not like intense light and will seek out a dimly lit area to set up its territory. They may not tolerate another shrimp in their territory that they perceive to be a threat. That being said, they do like to have a mate and get depressed if they can’t find one. It has been recommended they be kept in pairs.

Like the skunk shrimp, these guys will also clean dead tissue and parasites off of fish.

They will grow to about 2 inches.

As with most shrimp, water quality needs to be good. They will not tolerate even low levels of copper and need proper levels of iodine to aid in molting.

The peppermint shrimp, also known as the veined or Caribbean cleaner shrimp, is not really known to do much fish cleaning. Instead, they are much more of a scavenger. They will roam on your live rock and substrate in search of leftover meaty foods.

They have been known to eat Aiptasia which is a good thing if you any.

He has a red body with yellow/white vertical stripes. Other patterns are common as well.

This shrimp will get along with just about all other invertebrates and fish. They are a very peaceful species.

They grow to around 2 inches.