shrimp compatibility ...

[pc604]

Hi,

Every time I buy a peppermint shrimp, my skunk cleaner either kills it or harasses it into hiding so that it never comes out to eat, and it eventually starves to death. And I thought they were supposed to be friendly. I have a 20 gal nano ... could it be that the tank is too small for them to coexist?

My cleaner shrimp is also quite large, and I can never find a peppermint of similar size at any LFSs.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by pc604

Hi,

Every time I buy a peppermint shrimp, my skunk cleaner either kills it or harasses it into hiding so that it never comes out to eat, and it eventually starves to death. And I thought they were supposed to be friendly. I have a 20 gal nano ... could it be that the tank is too small for them to coexist?

My cleaner shrimp is also quite large, and I can never find a peppermint of similar size at any LFSs.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

I would probably think they are not compatible. Especially in a small tank. I have always found cleaners to be aggressive scavengers. I personally would not try it.

[pc604]

Ya they're pretty aggressive... killed the last peppermint I bought.

Anybody with similar experiences or am I the only one?

[pc604]

bump..........

[DanG]

I've got 2 peppermints and a skunk cleaner and they've been happy together for the last 6 or so months...
I've never noticed any agression from the skunk.

[pc604]

Thanks for the reply.

Hm...maybe it's just my skunk cleaner that's aggressive. Or maybe my tank is too small. How big is your tank btw?

[Ruth]

I put a peppermint shrimp in my 44g with a common cleaner and voila - no more peppermint. I am not positive it was the cleaner though as I also have a small Niger trigger in there. To date he has not bothered any of my inverts but I know that they are prone to so who know if it just died of ??? or if there is a killer lurking in my tank.

[pc604]

Yup that's exactly what happened to me. My skunk cleaner just would not stop harassing the little peppermint.

[marie]

I've found cleaner shrimp have a tendency to be thugs, even picking on little fish at feeding time

[pc604]

and I just hate it when they steal food from corals when you're target feeding... i really want a peppermint though ... darn

has anybody kept peppermints and skunk cleaners in tanks <20 gallons w/ no problems?