Fire Shrimp And Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

[AK77]

Hi guys. Are these two species of shrimp ok to keep together? IE they won't try eating one another will they?. Also how many Skunk cleaners is a good number to have in a 180Litre/40G (UK) tank?

 

[SkiFletch]

While they can/do play nice (especially if introduced simultaneously at night), there is such a thing as too many shrimp... Might want to stick to no more than 2-3 for a tank that big

 

[AK77]

Hi Ski,

Thanks for the tip. I was planning on getting 2 - 3 cleaner shrimp today to set up a cleaning station for the fish. One or possibly both my tangs look to have Ich or at least something that looks like it If its not ich, is there anything else it could be?

I noticed my bigger tang go down to the fire shrimp last night, and he lay there for about 30 seconds. The shrimp didnt seem bothered by the tang at all and may even have picked something off the tang, so I'm hoping they will make use of the valet service provided by the Skunk cleaners.

I want to avoid copper treatments at this stage, especially because I have a starfish and fireshrimp in the tank.

Thanks again,

AK

 

[SkiFletch]

Oodinium or in the case of clownfish Brooknella ook very similar to marine ich.

 

[AK77]

Thanks Ski,

I'm monitoring the situation and trying to ascertain exactly what they have. There was some flashing against rocks the otherday, which has since ceased. I know that this may be because of the cycle of the disease and so am keeping a close eye on things. I've not noticed any undue gill movements and the fish seem energetic and are eating well.

I purchased 3 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp today, along with some blue-legged hermits. My LFS is so damn expensive. £13 ($26) a shrimp and live Indonesean rock is £14.95 a kilo! They should just point a shotgun at you as you walk through the door and rob you of your cash - it'd be quicker !!

At the moment the shrimp are all playing king of the castle, since I rearranged the rocks today into slopes either end of the tank. Ironically, its the fireshrimp that has been cleaning the fish the most. He latched right on to the smaller tang for about 20 seconds. I'm hoping that during the night or perhaps when the shrimp are a little more settled in, they will get to work.

I am considering getting a hospital tank or even just a large plastic container that I can fill with a lower salinity water (1.013-5) to house the fish in if things get worse. I'd then leave the main tank fish free for about 3 weeks which in theory should break the cycle of infection and the parasite dies without a host.

As I'm writing this, the Fireshrimp again latched onto a tang, so they definitely have something. At the moment the Skunks are a bit hesitant, but should hopefully grow in confidence and jump on too.

I'll try getting a picture next time of the cleaning in action but, knowing my luck, it will be like the Kit-Kat commercial where the photographer waits for 6 hours in all sorts of weather, for a panda to come out of the cave in the zoo. He turns his back for 2 minutes to eat his chocolate bar, at which point 3 pandas (mum, dad and kid) emerge on rollerskates and do all sorts of tricks, before skating back into the cave moments before the photographer turns back around to maintain his vigile for the elusive panda lol.

Thanks again Ski. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

AK

 

[SkiFletch]

...and the fish seem energetic and are eating well.

As simple and un-complicated as that might be, energetic fish that eat well is almoast always a sign of a healthy fish. As for the tang, their skin is always attracting parasites or needing cleaning. They frequent cleaner organsims all the time in the wild, so its just fine for them to do it in your little slice of reef

 

[AK77]

Hi Ski,

Well the tangs definitely seem to prefer the fire shrimp to the skunk cleaners. The bad thing is, they look to be getting worse, with maybe 10 dots on each flipper and 30ish on the head/body. The fish still seem lively and are eating well. I'm making sure that I feed little but often, to help keep energy and strength up.

The shrimps are cleaning, but not enough I guess. I'm going to try and get hold of a little hospital tank and do hyposalinity, taking the water down to about 1.009. I'm planning on taking water from the main tank and adding RO gradually over a few hours to drop the salinity down, reducing the shock to the fish. Hopefully a week of this will kill the parasites, since they are unable to live in water with such low salt levels. This should also mean that any tomites in the main tank will be unable to find a host, thereby breaking the cycle.

Everything I've read on blue tangs suggests that they are predisposed to parasites and infections

AK

 

[SkiFletch]

Is it a "surgeonfish" or a "powder blue tang"? PBT's are some of the most ich-prone fish out there. The key to both is not only feeding well, but feeding often... They're like elite athletes, they need to eat multiple times a day.

 

[AK77]

Hi Ski,

They are both Royal Blue Tangs.

They both looked fine in the LFS. I'm suspecting that they actually contracted it from my blue damsel that came with the tank. It was flashing against rocks, but there was no sign of white spots and there still isnt. So I'm a bit stumped to be honest. I know they are really prone to developing it though.

The one thing I have noticed is that the clownfish hasnt contracted it. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the sleeping patterns. The tangs will swim inside the rocks and lie down and go to sleep. The clownfish just seems to swim 24/7. Could it be that the tomites find it easier to target a dormant fish as opposed to one actively moving? I'm assuming that the current isnt as strong inside the rocks.

I'm looking for an 18"-24" hospital tank now and will try the hyposalinity.

AK

 

[leecara]

are you selling the tangs back to the lfs when they are to big for your tank?
how big are they?
because when they get fully sized they shouldnt be kept in anything nder 110 gall ish
also they could be getting white spot from being stressed from being a to small tank?

 

[AK77]

Hi Lee,

They are only small at the moment, one is about 2.5" the other about 4". The tank is 100x50x40 cm / 180 litres with plenty of room to move and just under 30kg of live rock for them to hide in. The rocks are stacked in slopes at either end of the tank, so there is a good run of open water for them.

From the hours I've spent reading up on whitespot and RBT's, it seems that this species of fish are extremely susceptible to whitespot. The fish are very active at the moment and are feeding well on King British Marine food and seaweed suppliments.

If and when the fish become too big for the tank, I'll probably sell them on or if I have the room, set up a bigger tank. Failing that, I'll get a portion of chips to go with them

AK

 

[leecara]

yeh i wanted one for my 90 us gallon tank but people ssaid it was to small as they can grow to just under 1 foot long
i know it a shame as the tangs are the best but thats life lol for my tank im going to be keeping a yllow eyed bristle tooth tang as they as the samllest but still with a 75 gall min

 

[AK77]

90 US G is 340 Litres? Nice size tank. You could of course get a juvenile tang and sell it when it gets too big. Might be a good investment .

 

[leecara]

yes but i wold get to attached to then let it go

 

[AK77]

Well I'm happy to report that it appears I'm winning the war against the whitespot. From about 40 cysts the other day, the fish currently have 1 each! The shrimp have been cleaning them regularly, with 2 cleaning stations - 1 at each end of the tank.

It may be purely coincidental, but I decided to add another powerhead to the tank a few days ago. As a result, the water at the left hand end of the tank, where the tangs sleep (opposite the powerheads at the righthand end), is moving visibly quicker. I am wondering if this has been beneficial with regard to preventing reinfection from the tomites.

My reasoning for this is that before hand, the water was relatively static inside the rock pile/formations. Any bursting cysts would fall onto the rocks or substrate below and would allow for easier passage for the re-emerging tomites to swim in the calmer water and infect the fish again. With the increased flow of water now, I'm presuming that the bursting cysts that fall to the substrate, are being purged from the rock formations into the open tank where the currents are stronger and hopefully making it much for difficult for the tomites to locate a host and therby die after 24 hours.

Be interested on peoples thoughts on this.

The fish both are remaining energetic and eating well. They are still flashing against the rocks occassionally, but nowhere near as much as they have been before. I'm still monitoring the situation and trying to source a hospital tank to give them hyposalinity treatment.

AK