Cleaner Shimp molting

[fortheloveofcrabs]

I got a cleaner shrimp less than a week ago and last night (March 22) he molted! I guess that's a good sign. His exoskeleton is still in the tank... but what do I do with it? Do I remove it, or do I just leave it in there to umm.. well, go away on its own... or what?

 

Second question: If I add another cleaner shrimp in say a month or two, will the two shrimps be okay together? Or will the 'duke it out'? I've heard that you should add all your tangs at one time (or just keep one)... are shrimp like that, or should they be alright... Furthermore, could I get the second one as a different type of shrimp?

 

Finally, are there any type of starfish that are nano safe and stay small? What about urchins? Any personal experience would be awesome!

 

Thanks in advance!!!

 

-Pauly

[darwin604]

Provide a bit of info on your tank size . . that makes all the difference.

 

Tons of options to choose from . . limiting factor is how much room you have.

 

As for the cleaner shrimp, I say stick with one.

 

d.

[hairboy]

I have a skunk and a peppermint in my 18 gal.

 

I put them in at the same time.

 

The skunk is running the show in the tank and has grown about twice his size since I put them in.

 

The skunk chases the peppermint around now and again to keep him in his place I guess, but that's about it for the aggression.

 

And the pep took care of my aiptasia too!

 

The skunk shrimp is a hoot to watch, very elegant. Seen him in a tug of war with a bristle worm over some dead snail meat. The skunk won, but the worm gave it a good fight.

 

Brian

 

ps. I try to fish out the molts just in case they get rotten.

 

pps. Stay away from starfish. Some hitchhiker stars ate my hitchhiker button polyps.

[Nautica-db]

I got one yesterday an when I woke up today he has already molted

[TroyT]

depends on the tank size if you can have more than one. skunks are not aggressive toward each other like other shrimp types are. There is a pecking order from what i have seen in the past. the only shrimp i would not pair up (unless it was matted) would be a coral banded with any other shrimp of any kind. so two would be fine if your tank can handle the bio-load. always take out the molt. hth

[fortheloveofcrabs]

The tank is quite small (5.5 gal). Well, before I got a reply, my hermits and the shrimp devoured the shell! I guess is was high in protine! HA!

 

So no to a second shimp. stay away from stars, but what about urchins?

 

Thanks a lot!

[MrKrispy]

It is common for them to molt shortly after being put in a new tank. Maybe they get fed better than the LFS. If it molts again in a week or two I would start to worry.

 

I usually fish out the molt but I have left it in sometimes. My emerald crab likes to pull it in a cave and chew on it so...

[Nautica-db]

Yea I feed him alot better then the LFS I know hes happy know only if he can get the trust of my little fish he been happyer

[MillerLite]

I think adding the second cleaner should be fine. If nothing else, you should see your shrimp carrying eggs most of the time since they are believed to be hermaphroditic. Lots of threads on this issue. As far as the urchin, I would recommend staying as far away from them as possible. Had one in my 30 reef and I wondered for the longest time why I was having problems growing corraline. Removed my urchins and then had an explosion of corraline growth. The little bastages were eating it up as fast as I could grow it. Noobie mistake...we all have them.