Cleaner shrimp, worth it???

I've been thinking about maybe getting a cleaner shrimp or two for my 75 gal. But do they just bug LPS coral until the coral regurgitates the food you just feed em? What shrimp have you had luck with?

 

We have 3 cleaners in a 90 gallon and they do steal food from corals. Our sun coral is being bowl fed as a result but may not survive.

Wondering if they are worth it. Am also interested in the responses from more experienced folks.

 

I traded mine in cuz it irritated my corals. It never "cleaned" any fish (they usually don't in captivity) so I figured what's the point?

 

Maybe in a small tank but in a good size tank seems like there's plenty of room for all to be happy. They do steal food but I love cleaner shrimp. They're cute and will come up and clean your finger nails.
They did clean my fish.
I had some peppermint shrimp and consider them a waste of money because they are nocturnal .. I rarely saw them as they stayed hidden.

 

IMOPE, the Coral Banded Shrimp is the best. They do not clean fish, but they also don't bother corals. They prey on bristleworms and scavenge for leftovers, and can be hand-fed small chunks of raw seafood occasionally.

 

I love my cleaner shrimp. He adds so much personality to the tank. The only time I have problems is if I spot feed your corals with frozen foods, the shrimp will try to steal the food and irritate the coral. But I broadcast feed brightwell zooplankton and dont have a problem.

 

Cleaner shrimp have a tendency to be "insistent" if they decide to clean your fishes, meaning they will actually follow the fish around and bug them. I know peeps who have gotten rid of them for this behavior.

If you want a "cleaner" in your tank for whatever reason, I'd look into a single or group of neon gobies. Rather than chasing your fishes down, they will set up a cleaning station, and will clean any fishes that line up for them. I've also had Janns' pipefishes perform this service, but only when they felt like it.

CBS get big and cranky, altho I kept one for about 8 years.

 

I removed both of my cleaner shrimp from my DT becuase they wouldnt leave my corals alone after target feeding... I even fed the cleaners first, but they would end up finishing their food and rip out all the food from misc polyps. They would steal the food and not eat it which bugged me the most. In the end I chose my corals over the cleaner shrimp, they are cool though....my tank was a 57g and I had 2 for what its worth

 

The best ornamental shrimp I have owned was a red fire shrimp, mine have always been passive and not intrusive. Sexy shrimp where pretty cool too but they can become corals eaters.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497 525 697&pcatid=697

 

I can confirm that they voraciously steal food from LPS. However, I just hand feed mine a small piece of food to gnaw on right before feeding the corals and it leaves the corals alone.