Cleaner shrimps and their effectivity.

[Ali.F]

Hello,

Ive been reading forum discussions here on Reef2reef and some other forums for many years, and something that always cross my mind is when i read posts about Cleaner shrimps and how they are not effective and only there for us to watch on and entertain us, which i totally dissagree with since i really believe that nature wouldnt produce anything without a purpose.

I recently came over this research and would like to share it with you, and to my surpise, Lysmata Vitata is the best performing cleaner shrimp in this study.

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32293-6 <- article about the study made on four different spieces of cleaner shrimps.

2. https://thefishsite.com/articles/cl...ernative-to-parasite-protection-on-fish-farms (Using Lysmatata Vitatta in a study for controlling pests)


I wish you all a good friday and a excellent weeknd.

Best regards
Ali

 

[SlugSnorter]

Nature can produce "useless" things, and cleaner shrimps are not "useless", they help clean the tank and help fish stay healthy, they do not however make or break surviving disease outbreaks

 

[Dw79]

As the the last post stated, nature can definitely produce useless things!
I work with a few of them every day. Lol

 

[SlugSnorter]

As the the last post stated, nature can definitely produce useless things!
I work with a few of them every day. Lol

I wonder what OP means? do they mean like not helpful to others or doesn't do anything cause both exist

 

[Cwentz758]

As the the last post stated, nature can definitely produce useless things!
I work with a few of them every day. Lol

Amen

 

[Ali.F]

As the the last post stated, nature can definitely produce useless things!
I work with a few of them every day. Lol

Hahaha best reply ever, i feeel you!

 

[Ali.F]

Nature can produce "useless" things, and cleaner shrimps are not "useless", they help clean the tank and help fish stay healthy, they do not however make or break surviving disease outbreaks

Did you read the report? they can take away up to 80% of the parasites and in different stages, i believe that is a break to get the fish to eat etc.

 

[J1a]

While cleaner shrimps may not be able to surgically extract offending ich parasites from fish, they do wonders to, well, clean. We can compare this with the health benifit of regular brushing of teeth, while it certainly won't cure cancer, it does contribute to the overall health of the individual human.

I prefer to look at the provision we made for our fishes in totality. Something like this:

Good nutrition = +30% chance of thriving
Cleaner shrimp = +10% chance of thriving
Aggression = -10% chance of thriving

I know it's rather arbitrary, but if we think along these lines, we can maximize the chance of a fish thriving in our care. So even if cleaner shrimp only marginally improve fish life, I would have them in my aquarium.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Did you read the report? they can take away up to 80% of the parasites and in different stages, i believe that is a break to get the fish to eat etc.

many parasites are beyond their reach or appetite, while they can assist, as I said they are not the primary deciding factor

 

[dakoop]

They aren't useless, they make a great snack for my puffer