When curating which fish, creatures, and corals you will keep inside your home tank, it is important that you consider not only which creatures look good together and that you want but also that they will get on well together. This is because some pairings are notoriously bad either due to aggressiveness, size issues, or the fact that one will become lunch for the other!
One of the most popular additions to an enthusiast’s home aquarium is cleaner shrimp. These little creatures can help to keep your tank and fish healthy and in good working order. However, before adding any cleaner shrimp to your aquarium it is important that you know how they will interact with your other creatures.
Can you have both shrimp together?
Yes, you can keep both tiger pistol shrimp and cleaner shrimp in the same tank without any problems.
If you need more information regarding both shrimp, please keep reading and learn more.
What are cleaner shrimp?
The term “cleaner shrimp” actually encompasses several types of shrimp and refers to those which help to keep your fish in a healthy condition. They will clean your fish for any parasites that they may have as well as eat away at the mucus and parasites on or around wounds on any injured fish. This will help your fish to heal quicker and to reduce their injuries.
What are tiger pistol shrimp?
Tiger pistol shrimp are stout snapping shrimp that originate from the tropic waters in the Indo-West Pacific region. Unlike cleaner shrimp, they do not feed off of parasites and fungus, but instead are actually carnivores. This means that they will prey on small invertebrates. However, they may also eat microalgae.
Can tiger pistol shrimp live together with cleaner shrimp?
Typically, yes. Tiger pistol shrimp can live together with cleaner shrimp in the same tank. This is because of two things: location and size. Most of the time, if you have rocks in your home tank, your cleaner shrimp will sit above the rocks whereas your tiger pistol shrimp will sit below them.
This separation helps to keep any tensions at ease between the two in the same tank.
Another reason why they are usually fine with being in the same home tank is because cleaner shrimp are larger than other food options for tiger pistol shrimp. In fact, many hobbyists find that if they have crabs or snails in their aquarium before introducing any tiger pistol shrimp then these quickly become targets.
The tiger pistol shrimp will start to eat these other creatures instead of the cleaner shrimp.
Can you put 2 cleaner shrimp in a tank?
Yes, you can put two cleaner shrimp in the same home tank. They will typically form pairs and so you can actually also have even more than two in the same tank. You can also mix cleaner shrimp with most other types of shrimp and they will live peacefully in your tank without causing any issues.
Examples of other shrimp that you can have in the same tank with cleaner shrimp are:
- Blood shrimp
- Lysmata
- Peppermint shrimp
- Deep water cleaning shrimp
Cleaner shrimp are pretty docile and so the only thing that you will need to take into consideration when placing them in your home aquarium is the behavior and aggressiveness of the other creature. This will let you know whether or not they will get along well with cleaner shrimp if added to your tank.
However, one thing to note is that cleaner shrimp can be very protective of their partner. You should always put an even number of cleaner shrimp into a tank, in pairs, so that there is no competition over partners. In this case, they may act out and kill their competition.
Can you put 2 tiger pistol shrimp in a tank?
Whether or not you can put two tiger pistol shrimp in the same tank depends on the size of your aquarium. This is because tiger shrimp can become pretty territorial and so you want to be able to give them each their own space.
There may be problems if they try and get into the same burrow, which can lead to a fight over territory and could possibly even lead to one tiger pistol shrimp killing the other. If you have enough room in your tank then it is worth getting them set up at the two ends of your tank, so that they are as far away as possible from each other.
What is the lifespan of a cleaner shrimp?
On average the lifespan of a cleaner shrimp is 3 years. As we have said, cleaner shrimp is an umbrella term for several different types of shrimp, so this lifespan can vary. For example, skunk cleaner shrimp will live longer than the average cleaner shrimp and can exceed 3 years.
What is the lifespan of a tiger pistol shrimp?
The average lifespan of a tiger pistol shrimp is slightly longer than that of a cleaner shrimp. Tiger pistol shrimp can typically live anywhere up to 4 years.
To sum up
Learning which pairs of creatures you can have together in your home tank (without causing problems) can be a tricky task, but it is an important one! You do not want to spend a lot of time and money curating your perfect tank only for arguments to begin and even to end up with dead fish and other creatures!
So, although many people choose to add cleaner shrimp to their home aquarium in order to help keep their fish safe it is worth noting which creatures they can and cannot live with, and usually, this depends on the behavior of the other creature in question.
Tiger pistol shrimp, for example, are perfectly fine to keep in the same tank as cleaner shrimp. They will not usually go anywhere near each other and are not aggressive towards one another.
However, the problems start when you increase the numbers. More than two cleaner shrimp or more than one tiger pistol shrimp in the same tank can cause issues.
References:
- Facts and Care Information About Marine Shrimps https://www.thesprucepets.com/facts-and-care-marine-shrimps-2925569
