How to Care for Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

Skunk cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) are more than just attractive marine aquarium inhabitants, although their long white antennae and red and white striped bodies are striking. Skunk cleaner shrimp take their name from a helpful habit of picking the parasites off fish. Reef fish usually understand what the shrimp are doing and wait patiently while the cleaner shrimp investigate them for parasites and dead skin.

Things You'll Need

  • Established reef tank
  • Plastic container
  • Meaty fish food
  • Iodine supplement
  • Nitrate test kits
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Float the bag containing new shrimp in your tank. Remove a little water from the bag and throw it away. Scoop up the same amount of water from the tank and add it to the bag. Repeat every five or 10 minutes over an hour or longer before releasing the shrimp. Skunk cleaner shrimp become shocked, sometimes fatally, by sudden changes in water chemistry.

    • 2

      Provide meaty foods, such as frozen shrimp, or live foods two or three times a week. It is extremely unlikely that your fish will have enough parasites to keep the shrimp nourished. Gauge how much to feed by how much the shrimp eat. If they take everything rapidly, feed more or more frequently. If food is left over, feed less.

    • 3

      Use an iodine supplement for reef tanks as per the instructions. Skunk cleaner shrimp need iodine for their exoskeletons, which they periodically shed.

    • 4

      Conduct weekly nitrate tests. Like many reef animals, skunk cleaner shrimp don̵7;t tolerate high nitrate levels. If levels climb above about 5 ppm, conduct larger or more frequent water changes.