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View Full Version : Banded Coral Shrimp in tank WITH CORALS


chrisbenavides
04/18/2006, 10:50 PM
Just wondering what you all thought about keeping a Banded Coral Shrimp in a tank with zooanthids, polyps, brain, Xenia, mushroom, torch, and kenya tree corals.

Is this shrimp a bad choice?

I like the personality of the shrimp, and too be honest, I really don't have much personality in my inverts (e.g. hermits). I don't have a sea star, nor any other true crabs, so I figured if this guy would be cool for the tank with these corals and my reef safe fish.

Can you post your experience please.

Some say caution, and some say reef safe. What is it?

THANKS!!!

P.S. What about the Arrow Crab?http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=43&pCatId=1258

http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=43&pCatId=1284

Octoberfest
04/18/2006, 11:13 PM
I don't have many corals, just some mushrooms and a toadstool and my Coral Banded shrimp is a monster, never bothers with them. The only thing he does is get cranky with other fish that swim too close.

fareforce
04/18/2006, 11:38 PM
Coral banded shrimp are hit or miss. 50/50 chance is they will work with your reef.

boodwah
04/19/2006, 02:21 AM
Mine spends all of his energy snatching at fish that are too big for him to do anyhing with except annoy. But he has never harmed my corals. BUT, he will steal the food from them. You have to keep him at bay while feeding the yellow polyps.

jgoodrich71
04/19/2006, 07:55 AM
As with any shrimp, if you try to target feed corals, a BCS may steal the food from the coral. The same thing with an arrow crab. I find generally BCS are safe. Every now and then you find ones that are very aggressive. One way around this is to try and find a mated pair of BCS. They tend to be a lot less agressive.

Do not try to add both a BCS and an arrow crab to the same tank. One will end up getting pulled apart by the other.

FelipeBastos
04/19/2006, 08:05 AM
Chris,

I have a coral banded and an arrow crab in my 55 gallon. They seem to occupy different sides of the reef, always leave each other alone.

I have 8 zoo colonies, a leather coral and a candycane hard coral. Nothing bothers them , except a sundial snail I had, but removed it once I realized it was predatory on zoathids.

Hope this helps,

Felipe
www.Felipe-Bastos.com

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 09:42 AM
what about the Arrow crab? any morer opinions on him?

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 01:56 PM
can anyone comment more on keeping an arrow crab?

jgoodrich71
04/19/2006, 01:58 PM
Really the same as a BCS. They do seem to bother some corals more when they walk over them. I guess they just aren't as light on their feet as BCS. They fill similar niches.

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 02:42 PM
Is this pretty accurate? http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_stenopus.php

I say forget about the Arrow Crab. I just read many bad things about it in the reef tank. Whereas the CBS or BCS is liked by many in the reef.

Question: Will this shrimp it algae? Will it clean the tank of bryopsis or other types of algae? Just wondering. I would get a cleaner shrimp, but they are not that cool looking, or have the personality that I am looking for I guess.

jgoodrich71
04/19/2006, 02:51 PM
Won't disagree with what was said there. They will not eat algae of any kind. They are more of a predator/meaty scavanger.

MarkD40
04/19/2006, 04:01 PM
I have a huge CBS I have had 5 years. I am suspicious he has eaten a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp but he has never bothered anything else. When fish get near he lurches at them in a protective "stay back" display that could be viewed as aggressive behavior but even as big as he is there is no way he could grab and hang on to a fish and kill it. He leaves my corals alone. I drop a shrimp pellet in the tank when I feed my fish and no matter where he is in the tank he makes a bee-line for the pellet. It is amazing how sensitive his antennae are.

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 04:20 PM
So pretty much its a go with the Coral Band Shrimp? I am leaning on it. I know that I am a little paranoid every time I add something new to the tank. I just want to make sure that it won't kill anything I bought or want. (e.g. corals and fish).

I always wanted a crab, but everybody says that these guys will just about eat anything they so desire. That can mean coral too right? So this is why I wanted to get a shrimp with some character. I know that the CBS has it, so now I am a lot more comfortable adding it to the tank.

Whats the percentage (estimated) that this shrimp would be a bad choice in the reef tank? Since it is a hit and miss (according to some), whats its chance or likelihood that it would be a bad choice.

THANKS ONCE AGAIN GUYS! :)

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 05:04 PM
bump :)

nm354
04/19/2006, 06:16 PM
just remeber that the arrow crab gets some good size on it and i have watched them try to stab fish in smaller tanks.

kisscouple
04/19/2006, 08:26 PM
Hello I have a mated pair of CBS they dont bother any of my zoos or mushrooms. They hide alot really until feeding time :) I think a mated pair would be better for you. Just my opinion

Scuba_Dave
04/19/2006, 08:54 PM
I had a very large CBS in my tank, I never saw him touch any coral
If you buy 2, make sure they are a mated pair
2 will not stay in a tank - they will seek each other out & fight to the death

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 10:47 PM
So I guess the consensus is for a go! :)

I'll pick one up tomorrow at the LFS. Is there anything I should look into in picking a CBS? I saw one that would really flare out his claws at fish swimming near by. I thought that was cool, and it was what attraced me to this shrimp. I don't think it can hurt any of my fish. Right?

I have a medium Yellow Tang, a bicolor blenny about 3in, a royal gramma about 2 1/2in, two false perc clowns about 2in.

KEITHMC
04/19/2006, 11:01 PM
I have a CBS in my reef tank all i have ever seen him do is chase the cleaner shrimp away from his home. Silly cleaner just wont take the hint =)

chrisbenavides
04/19/2006, 11:52 PM
Thanks y'all! check out my pics I posted in my gallery. I kinda just figured out how to do it, so I started posting the pics.

Thanks for everything! :)

chrisbenavides
04/20/2006, 09:48 AM
Would getting a smaller CBS be better than a bigger one?