Cleaner shrimp have an essential role in the ecosystem of coral reefs as they eat parasites off of fish and dead tissue off of live animals to maintain a healthy population. The cleaner shrimp lifespan is between one year and three years depending on their sex; females typically live longer than males.
In this blog post, you will learn about a cleaner shrimp lifespan. Cleaner shrimp are crustaceans cleaner than the average cleaner fish because they clean other animals and not just themselves.
See also:
- Can Shrimp Get Ich? Prevent This From Entering The Tank.
- Blood Shrimp Care: 6 Essential Things You Need To Get.
The Cleaner Shrimp
One of the most helpful cleaner shrimps you can add to your aquarium is the Cleaner Shrimp. As well as being tiny and peaceful little creatures, this shrimp species will take the time to clean your tank and fish thoroughly! The beast does this by setting up a “cleaning station” on live rock or coral and signaling any fish swimming nearby with its long antennas.
- Size: Skunk cleaner shrimps are small, growing up to 2 inches (around 5 cm) in length. In this way, they can quickly probe your fish when they are cleaning it.
- Lifespan: The Skunk Cleaner Shrimps are typically long-lived critters that can live as long as three years.
- Behavior: Cleaner Shrimps are peaceful and will not harm your aquarium fish or aquatic plants. Despite this, they can be mischievous and territorial towards other shrimps. You may need to keep an eye on your corals if you have an aquarium with a reef since they may steal their food from them.
- Food: Skunk Cleaner Shrimp can be fed with any food you put into the tank, including flake foods. It’s your responsibility to make sure that they’re getting enough to eat. Additionally, these shrimps will climb all over your fish and pick out all the tasty tissue and parasites.
- Tankmates: Skunk Cleaner Shrimp are peaceful and harmless, so they do well with other fish and can be kept in groups. The shrimp species should not be kept with aggressive fish like Hawkfish and Pufferfish that feast on shrimps.
- Aquarium size: The tank size is essential for Skunk Cleaner Shrimp as they can be delicate. We recommend keeping this species in a tank that is at least 30 gallons (114 liters).
- Acclimation: The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp must be slowly acclimated to their new aquarium home, just as you would fish. It is essential to introduce cleaner shrimp gradually to the tank to prevent them from going into shock. To execute this process, we recommend using the drip acclimation method. This acclimation method should take at least an hour or longer to complete.
The Cleaner Shrimp Lifespan
Most aquarists state that shrimp live about 2-3 years, while others claim that they live up to 4-5 years. Based on what we know about their reproduction cycle, they were probably purchased as young animals.
In any case, I would say the average life expectancy of an aquarium will vary greatly depending on its stability. Shrimp that died off at less that is probable that external influences caused the death of this young man, such as high nitrates, ammonia, lack of food, etc.
You should be able to keep these in your tank for 4-5 years if you keep the tank conditions stable and the critters fed. Typically, the life expectancy of a skunk cleaner shrimp is between five and six years.
Reasons To Add A Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp To Your Tank
You can undoubtedly have a reef aquarium without adding a skunk cleaner shrimp, but there are a few reasons why you should:
- They are incredibly delicate, graceful, and beautiful creatures.
- As the cleaners pick parasites off your saltwater aquarium fish, it is fun to watch their behavior.
- A reduction in tank aggression may result from this.
FAQs
Are cleaner shrimp hard to keep?
The Skunk Cleaner shrimp is usually very hardy if they have been acclimated slowly. It’s recommended to adjust them to your aquarium water for over an hour or more to avoid pH shock.
Can cleaner shrimp live together?
Anyone looking to breed cleaner shrimps – or regularly spawn shrimp larvae to serve as natural zooplankton for their corals/fish – only needs to place two shrimps together in the same tank.
Do cleaner shrimp eat algae?
Will cleaner shrimp eat algae? Generally speaking, saltwater cleaner shrimp will not eat an appreciable or beneficial amount of algae. They are carnivorous, and their natural diet is animal-based foods, not algae.
Conclusion
Cleaner shrimp are cleaner animals that live in the ocean and help keep it clean by eating parasites from other animals. It is a common misconception that cleaner shrimp eat fish, but this isn’t true. Cleaner shrimp feed on dead skin cells, algae, and parasites found on the bodies of fish or invertebrates. These cleaner shrimp have been known to live a long time, with some living as long as 50 years! – cleaner shrimp lifespan
Annette M. Chaney is an experienced marine biologist with over 20 years of experience as an aquarist and fishkeeper. She started her first aquarium at a young age, filling it with frogs and goldfish obtained from the ten-cent pet store.
Annette grew up caring for and breeding African Cichlids, which led to a hobby in high school that doubled as a profitable means. Attending Reed College gave her time to solidify herself as an accomplished aquarium caretaker with an eye for sales. After that, from 2009 – 2013, she studied at Roger Williams University – one of the most prestigious universities for Aquaculture and Aquarium in USA. She is the founder of AquariumCircle since 2010.