Skunk Cleaner Shrimp aggresiveness

Hello everyone

I have come here with an urgent question..

I have a an aquarium with two Skunk Cleaners in it. Only them. No fish, no nothing. They get along very well, and i have even seen them give way to share food i dropped off for them. No fighting, nothing.

I introduced a third shrimp, another skunk cleaner into the tank, today. Immediately, the other two attacked it with ferocity. They even ripped off one of the whiskers of the newcomer!!

Now, the new shrimp is hiding in the farthest corner of the tank, away from the other two.

Why such aggressiveness? I was told these shrimp are very gentle and never aggressive towards one another.

Will they get used to each other? Or will the other two keep attacking the new shrimp till it dies?

Much appreciated in advance...

 

I woke up this morning and checked on the shrimps..

The newcomer is hiding inside a rock, with ALL its whiskers ripped off...

 

to me it sounds like a territory issue, if you introduced the two at the same time they can get along with no big issue but once the territory has been established then add a new comer there are bound to be territory issues thats just there nature.

my advise pull all three out and put them in seperate containers

rescape the rock work change it up and make small changes overall

compleatly black out the tank and aclimate the shrimp for a couple of hours leave the tank blacked out for 24 hours and see if the agression has subsided

or you can pull the injured out and try to relocate him, replace him and try to add another (mabey more than one male/female in there now), or try to return him for store credit.
,

hope this helps

 

Agreed- you need to take action. They'll probably eventually kill him.

Skunk Cleaners are the same as any other creature we keep in that each has it's own personality. Their noted 'normal' aggressiveness (or lack thereof) is basically just a guideline. It does not mean one can't or won't do something out of the ordinary.

 

Thanks for your replies!

I just came back from work. I saw the newcomer not hiding, but in the open and the other shrimps in the other corners. Occasionally, one of the other shrimps would chase or poke the new comer, but will just leave it alone..

Right now, nothing is going on. All is normal..

Does this mean the shrimps are getting used the new comer?

 

No, they are tolerating it for now. Their territory will grow and they will make short work of number 3. It will be gone soon, Ive tried with blood, and cleaner shrimps in the past. They do great in groups of two, three will always kill the odd one off. Pairs work best, you can mix the types of cleaner shrimps if you want. I have Blood, peppermint, pederson, and harlequin shrimp in my reef if you want to try a few.

 

so add a fourth? just a thought

 

If i add a fourth, they will stop fighting and being meanies?

 

no clue

 

I decided to take it back to the store.. the poor thing can't even keep itself upright and can barely move. It doesn't even react much when i touch it...

So yeah, taking it back to the store and hoping it will like being back to its old home. I don't want it to die :/