Cleaner Shrimp

[hannahs]

I got a cleaner shrimp a few weeks ago and all he does is sit in one corner in the sand. He never goes on the rocks or anything. Just sits in the sand and barely moves. If I stick my hand in the tank this is the only time he will move. He jumps onto my hand whenever I do anything in the tank. Is it normal for them to stay in the same place all the time and not even go onto the rocks?

[Argent]

Mine often just sits upside down under one of my rocks and slightly sways in the current.

[hannahs]

Yea, but does yours move around the tank? Mine has stayed in the exact same spot for two weeks! It seems really odd to me.

[CoolGuy77]

A while back I bought one cleaner shrimp and it was really shy and stayed hidden. Then I saw somewhere if you get two they stay together and move all around the tank. So I went out and bought another, and the two of them never stopped moving. I don't know if this is always the case or if there is something wrong with yours, but when I got a second one those shrimp were awesome to watch. You don't have to worry about getting a male and female either, because they are similar to clownfish, in that they can change sex.

[hannahs]

Well, he's not shy though. He stays right in the front of the tank by the glass. He doesn't hide at all. Here he is in the front left of my aquapod:

 

[Phixion]

I have one and it is ALL OVER the tank much of the time, the rest of the time it spends hanging out upside down on the rock work, or hanging out behind the rock out of sight...

[JackJack7]

I got a cleaner shrimp a few weeks ago and all he does is sit in one corner in the sand. He never goes on the rocks or anything. Just sits in the sand and barely moves. If I stick my hand in the tank this is the only time he will move. He jumps onto my hand whenever I do anything in the tank. Is it normal for them to stay in the same place all the time and not even go onto the rocks?

How did you aclimate it when it came from the lfs?

[hannahs]

I floated the bag, then added tank water every few minutes, then once the bag was full I poured out about half and added tank water again every few minutes. Total acclimation time was about 45 minutes.

 

He's been in there for about two and a half weeks so I really don't think it has anything to do with acclimation. But I don't know for sure.

[Phixion]

I don't think it's acclimation at this point either, but I could be wrong. it could just need more time to get used to the tank... =/ How's your parameters, especially iodine which can assist with molting?

[hannahs]

I haven't tested for iodine, but ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all zero. pH is 8.2.

[rics4me]

That is unusual behaviour. Although cleaners can have great personalities and be sociable with their owners, almost all will want to be close to structure. It makes sense that they would do this as otherwise (in the wild anyway) they"d become a quick prey item. As long as its eating well perhaps you have no worries, but it may be a good idea to take coolguy77"s suggestion of adding another one. Whenever I"ve had multiple cleaners they seem to be more active.

[hannahs]

Well, I would add another one, but my tank is only 12 gallons. I'm not really comfortable having two in that small of a tank.

[FishFreak87]

i have 2 in my 12 gallon , it shouldnt be a problem. Good Luck

[DementedLullaby]

I have a skunk cleaner and a blood red cleaner. My skunk cleaner is totally kick ass active. All over the place almost all the time. The bloody dude is really sketch. He hid for ages and is just now starting to explore a bit and actually sit in plain view.

 

Next hope : The porcelain crab makes an appearence more than once a week