Tip of the Day – 9/26/2013

While cleaner shrimp appear to be relatively harmless in the home aquarium, they can actually be quite vicious, especially toward each other. The coral banded shrimp is one of those well known aggressors, and it will tear up any cleaner shrimp it shares a home with. It may take a while for it to happen, but it will happen at some point. Peppermint shrimp have also been known to show their bad side from time to time. They often get blamed for missing polyps, mysterious invertebrate deaths, and a handful of other bad behaviors. Whether or not the shrimp are the culprits of a fish death is debatable in most situations, but there is no denying that they are capable of killing. Just be careful when mixing invertebrates and keep an eye out for missing limbs. And don’t forget to enjoy the cleaning behaviors, as most shrimp will also clean your hands whenever you’re working in the tank.