Cleaner vs Blood Shrimp

[Beverly]

Have had cleaner shrimp in the past. Loved them for their great character and visibility in the tank Never kept blood shrimp and am wondering if they are as visible and have a similar interesting character as cleaners.

[albert_dao]

I have kept this shrimp on several occassions and to tell you the truth, I've never really been happy with them. If you've ever kept Peppermint's before, you'll have a good idea about how often you're going to see these guys out in the open.

[Beverly]

Thanks, Albert. Cleaner shrimp it will be

[Zerandise]

from what i understand the more you have the more they are out but at $35 a pop who wants more than two lol

[albert_dao]

True enough, but not to any great degree.

When I had a group of four, they were out... marginally more then when I had single animals.

I think they are stunning animals, but seriously, I doubt I'll ever buy one again.

EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, they weren't out anymore in groups then they were as single animals. Yeah, on more deliberate thought, I'm thinking this is more a case of spotting Waldo more often just because he's on the picture more then once. He's not any easier to find as an individual, but the odds are higher that you will find him.

[Bob I]

If you really want something you never see you should get a Stenopus zanzibaricus, which is one of the Boxer shrimps. I have had one for many months, and have seen it a couple of times. (I know it is still there because I saw it yesterday)

[Corey]

go to J&L, cleaner shrimp are only 14$

[Chin_Lee]

i have two of each in my tank and the cleaners are always visible and will eat from your hand, clean your hand when you are landscaping, and run around catching food. the bloods are always in caves. the two are in seperate areas of the tank and won't congregate. the cleaners always find each other regardless and "hang" out. after getting into so much trouble for spending $25 per shrimp from my wife, i will never buy them again considering the fact that I have to get on my hands and knees to look into their hiding areas to see them.
I've had the cleaners for about 3 months and they must have shedded at least 4 times each if not more. the bloods have sheded about 3-4 times each.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Love my cleaners. I even had one that set up a cleaning station at the corner nearest my computer workstation so I got to see a Jacque Cousteau-type symbiotic relationship as I worked. How cool is that?

The only reason you see Fire/Blood shrimp at the LFS is because they're always in bare tanks with little or no live rock. The LFS is stupid (at least not in this case). If they put them in a similar aquascape as you might at home, they'd never sell any because nobody would believe that they are there

[EmilyB]

Are blood shrimp fireshrimp?

I have four scarlett cleaners, two fireshrimp and two peppermints in the 230g.

The fireshrimp are awesome, they have their own cave, and only clean "fireshrimp approved" fish..

I feed three times a day and they are always visible. I would never be without a pair of them.