Which shrimp is better?

[krak256]

I have 14g biocube and I currently have a cleaner shrimp. I'm not sure what algae he really eats, but i know he eats all the leftover food and steals food from my acans.

So I was thinking of selling him and getting sexy shrimp? I'm hoping the sexy shrimp will be just as good cleaning up algae/leftover food but not aggressive enough to steal food from my corals.

What do you think? Pros/cons?

 

[reefs4life]

Nah I don't think that would be a good choice for what you plan on having the shrimp for. A sexy shrimp is way too small and it's not as much of an avid eater as the cleaner shrimp is...that's my personal opinion

 

[h20 freak]

Ive never seen my cleaner eat algae:shhh:

 

[reefs4life]

The best algae cleaner is a sea hare by far. If you really think you have an algae problem that's the way to go

 

[krak256]

thanks! i think i will stick with my cleaner shrimp then

 

[Keith P]

My cleaner was always stealing food from my corals..

I had a cleaner and a peppermint in my 12G for quite some time. They never bothered each other.

 

[DrCooper]

Cleaners mostly eat stuff off the fish such as parasites and all that I thought. My guy also steals the fish food/Coral food but he is a great addition!

not sure but thats just me

 

[skene]

Keep in mind that shrimp are scavengers. Whatever they can get a hold of, they will eat. If it takes your Acan 2 minutes before it really takes the food down, then that is 2 minutes that the shrimp has to steal it from it.
If it can... it will.

My cleaner will eat anything I put in the tank. Whether shimp pellets, flakes, algae sheets.

 

[cybermeez]

The best algae cleaner is a sea hare by far. If you really think you have an algae problem that's the way to go

Not in a 14g Biocube. A Sea Hare needs A LOT more algae than that to survive. In the wild they grow to a foot or more. Assuming it's even the kind of algae they like, in a tank that small he'd eat it all in a day or less and then slowly starve to death. These guys have been known to wipe out algae in 120g tanks and then die for lack of food. They are neat animals, but have a very poor survival rate in captivity and best left in the wild IMHO.

Cleaner shrimp are scavengers and don't eat algae really (I've seen mine nibble a little nori, but rarely). Feed them before you feed your corals and they will be less likely to steal food.

If you are looking for a good algae eater I'd go with snails. Depending on the kind of algae you need to get rid of I'd suggest Nerite snails for diatoms and cyano, Trochus snails for film algae and Turbos for hair algae. The first two stay small at an inch or less while Turbos can get to be double that size depending on the species. The bigger the snail, the more algae it needs to survive.

 

[h20 freak]

I would suggest a good variety of snails maybe like 5 turbo,5 nerite, 5 astrea, 5 trochus.Maybe less, algae shouldn't be that big of a problem.