Description
Bring a Live-In Doctor to Your Aquarium Ecosystem!
Witness one of the most incredible symbiotic relationships in the ocean, right in your own home. The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) is more than just a beautiful addition; it's an essential service provider for your tank's inhabitants. Renowned for its bold red and white stripes flanking a vibrant yellow body, this shrimp is best known for its role as the reef's trusted hygienist.
The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp will establish a "cleaning station," often on a prominent piece of rockwork, where fish will instinctively visit to be cleaned. The shrimp will fearlessly move over the fish's body, gills, and even inside its mouth, diligently removing harmful ectoparasites (like saltwater ich), dead scales, and other irritants. This natural cleaning service dramatically reduces stress and improves the overall health and vitality of your fish.
Beyond its crucial cleaning duties, the Cleaner Shrimp is also an effective scavenger, seeking out any uneaten food that settles in the aquarium. They are incredibly active, peaceful, and always entertaining to watch as they wave their long white antennae to signal their services to passing fish.
Key Benefits:
- Natural Parasite Control: Actively removes and consumes common external parasites from your fish, reducing the risk of disease.
- Promotes Fish Health: By cleaning wounds and removing irritants, it lowers fish stress and helps prevent infections.
- Fascinating Symbiotic Behavior: Creates a captivating and educational display as fish of all sizes queue up for its cleaning services.
- Effective Scavenger: Helps keep your tank clean by consuming leftover food and detritus.
- 100% Reef Safe & Peaceful: Completely safe for all corals, anemones, and other invertebrates, and will not bother healthy fish.
- Iconic Appearance: Its bright, bold coloration makes it a stunning and easily recognizable centerpiece invertebrate.
Care & Keeping:
- Tank Requirements: A minimum of a 20-gallon tank is recommended. An established aquarium with stable parameters and live rock is essential to provide shelter and grazing surfaces.
- Diet: The Cleaner Shrimp gets much of its nutrition from the parasites and dead tissue it removes from fish. However, its diet must be supplemented. It will readily accept most aquarium foods, including frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and high-quality pellets.
- Compatibility: This is a peaceful, community-safe shrimp. It is highly social and can be kept singly, in pairs, or in groups. Caution: Do not house with predatory fish that are known to eat crustaceans, such as lionfish, hawkfish, triggerfish, or large, aggressive wrasses.
- Acclimation: Crucial: Invertebrates are highly sensitive to changes in salinity, pH, and temperature. A slow drip acclimation process over a period of at least one hour is strongly recommended to ensure its survival.
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Water Parameters:
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Temperature: 72-78°F
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Salinity: 1.023-1.025 sg
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pH: 8.1-8.4
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Iodine: Requires trace amounts of iodine for proper molting.
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Invest in the health of your fish and the beauty of your reef. Add the indispensable Skunk Cleaner Shrimp to your aquarium today!
