Murderous Cleaner Shrimp
 

Interesting article (sorry if it's been posted before). Explains why I could never keep more than 2 of these guys!

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/...s-sex-life.ars

I did see that. I'm actually a little puzzled by the results because they observed that ALL tanks that had housed more than a pair of shrimp had had at least one mortality.

I can think of at least 3 occasions in the past decade within a tank of my own where I housed 4 or 5 cleaner shrimp and never had any mortality like that.

In my current 280g I have 4, and we're coming up on month 12. There is an interesting group dynamic to the 4, in that 3 are always together and one is a lone wolf. If one molts however then it is a veritable orgy (I can think of another term to describe it however it is not for polite company .. :p )

It makes me wonder if territory size could play a role. I haven't read the actual study itself but in no synopsis or blog where it's talked about does it list the number or size of tanks used for each data sample. If for example they used 10g tanks for all the setups then yes I would absolutely believe that more than a pair is an absolute no-no. In fact maybe even a pair is too much for 10g.

I would also hope that they used a large enough sampling of tanks (ie. more than 1 of each setup).

Nevertheless, it is an interesting study. I have always believed that there was more going on with shrimp than we think, for bugs, they're remarkably social creatures.

anyone kept 2 in a 10g and can share experiences?

I agree. I have one in my 20 and he is always taking care of the other critters cleaning them off. Especially our ocellaris, those 2 are attached at the hip

I currently have 3 in a 60g 2' cube (holding one for another local reefer).

At first the older ones chased the new one, but I chased them off with a turkey baster. Now they leave each other alone.

Better be careful, it might not last...

I think territory size probably has something to do with it as well, I bet some tanks are probably big enough to support 2 stable pairs. I had 2 in a 20 gallon after I broke down my 90 and they did fine, I just made sure to feed them every day. I tried keeping 4 in my 90 at one point. Then one mysteriously disappeared. Then the third started hanging out by itself off in the corner, then a few weeks later he also mysteriously disappeared.

Cleaner shrimp are annoying little pricks in my books, all mine does is steal food from my corals and close polyps for its own amuse ment, it doesnt even eat the food half the time. haha

I used to have 4 cleaner shrimp (all hung out together) and 2 fire shrimp in my 160 display. All seemed well and good between them all. No fighting, or deaths. Unfortunately, I lost all of them when my chemistry went all wacko and crashed my tank. I just bought 2 cleaners, planning on buying a couple more... maybe I'll pick up 2 fire shrimp instead.

I had 2 cleaners in a 20gal, for about 2 years, didn't have a single problem with them getting along. They always hung out together and were the best of buddies until they both died of old age. Miss the little guys although they are pricks when you're trying to feed corals.