Function of the coral banded shrimp

untamed · #1 04-13-2009, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by my2rotties

So it is creepy and gross. I never see the thing do anything to be honest even after the lights go out...he looks more like a lobster then a shrimp... his arms fall off and grow back in a few days....ewww.

OK...the arms falling off thing isn't normal. That would suggest that he is fighting some battle with someone/something else in the tank.

If you want, you can hand feed them...or feed them with a feeding stick. That will at least make them more interactive with you and you might not find them so creepy.

reef bound · #2 04-14-2009, 12:07 AM

I agree with Untamed. The arms falling off sounds a little fishy to me, too. Something's chasing him in there. Ours would molt, like all the other shrimps, but his arms were always there. He was a good bristleworm eater, and scavenged for scraps all the time. We hand fed him as well, so he was quite interactive.

my2rotties · #3 04-14-2009, 02:27 AM

I don't see him a lot but one day he is missing an arm and two days later it is back... maybe I just can't see it at times. I tried target feeding him but he does his own thing. I did notice when he came out for food, my rotten satanic damsel fish (tried to catch and forever now) took a good shot at him. He has bitten me and it is not enough to rip off an arm though. This shrimp is really quite large, and a damsel would not be abler to take him. I see him come out and none of the fish even bother with him. They would rather swim the other way to be honest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reef bound

I agree with Untamed. The arms falling off sounds a little fishy to me, too. Something's chasing him in there. Ours would molt, like all the other shrimps, but his arms were always there. He was a good bristleworm eater, and scavenged for scraps all the time. We hand fed him as well, so he was quite interactive.