i witnessed something really cool last night...

reefguy · 02-04-2002, 10:42 AM

FINALLY...for the FIRST time, i witnessed my cleaners doing their job!

my coral beauty came over to the pair of skunk cleaners and opened his mouth, wide! the cleaner then proceeded to probe his mouth with his cleaning arms...how cool! as if that wasn't cool enough, my lawnmower blenny came over after the coral beauty left. he raised his gill plate on the left side of the head and the cleaners took over

then, the coral beauty came back for seconds! i'm just really happy that i got to see them in action--i knew they were cleaning, but i had never seen them before. anyway, just thought i would share

MontanaRocknReefer · 02-04-2002, 10:56 AM

Pretty cool stuff Reefguy! It is neat to see things in your own tank that would be happening on a wild reef! Johnny

Allyson · 02-04-2002, 11:00 AM

Cool! How long have the cleaners been in your tank?

reefguy · 02-04-2002, 11:03 AM

well, the skunk cleaners have been in the tank about four months. the pair of scarlet cleaners have been in the tank about three months. i think the biggest factor was getting the fish to accept the cleaners and allow them to do their job. for a long time, the fish didn't like the shrimp and bullied them around...that has changed now

FishDaddy · 02-04-2002, 01:22 PM

Isn't that wonderful? One of the fascinating aspects of reefing is the interaction between the critters in the tank. My Ocellaris clowns would never let the Scarlet Cleaners clean them; at least whenever I was looking; but the Cherub Angel tolerated them well. I'm Cleanerless right now; got to get another couple!
Dick

hayday · 02-04-2002, 02:41 PM

i just added two skunk cleaners a week ago. these guys are way cool!

for the first coupla days, they just hid behind the rocks, but now, they come rushing out whenever they hear me approach the tank; no doubt they've associate me with food. at yesterday's feeding, they both literally jumped off of a rock grabbing for food bits that went floating by. one of them was oblivious to being tangled up in the spines of the urchin, deperately trying to get some food.

these guys have personality to spare. can't wait to see them in action.

-hayday

reefguy · 02-04-2002, 02:48 PM

just wait until they jump on your arm and try to clean it while you are scraping the glass or just doing tank maintenance

now THAT always amazes people!

yoshi333 · 02-04-2002, 07:32 PM

I just bought a skunk cleaner shrimp last week. Once, it approached my maroon clown and placed its antennae on the clown. When this happened, the clown seemed to have freaked out and swam away quickly. Since then, it likes to hide behind rocks.

Should I buy a second cleaner shrimp to have a pair for mating? do they work better at cleaning as a pair? or are more bold as a pair?

reefguy · 02-04-2002, 07:53 PM

well, i've heard that they clean better in pairs, but i have no experience in that department because i bought a pair right off the bat. my two pairs always hang close to one another, the like shrimp rarely being out of sight for more than a few seconds

reefguy · 02-04-2002, 08:41 PM

i actually caught them on digicam!

enjoy...

FishDaddy · 02-04-2002, 09:00 PM

Great Picture, Reefguy! Call it "The Lysmata Lambada".

Dick)

Alice · 02-04-2002, 09:27 PM

A really great benefit to having multiple cleaners in your tank is that they will always be spawning. It's very difficult to raise the fry but when they release them the corals and fish will have a free feast!

I was lucky enough to see one of my cleaners releasing fry once, it was really a neat thing to see!

Alice

yoshi333 · 02-05-2002, 04:25 PM

I'm thinking about picking up another Scarlet cleaner shrimp so they can spawn. How do I know if my shrimp is male or female?

hayday · 02-05-2002, 04:38 PM

it won't matter if it's a boy or a girl. they change sexes every so often to ensure survival of the species.

-hayday

FishDaddy · 02-05-2002, 04:54 PM

The Scarlet Cleaners (Lysmata amboinensis), are actually hermaphroditic.

Dick