Fire Shrimp

With small white spots on its deep red body, long white antennae and white-tipped walking legs, the fire shrimp is one of the most sought-after ornamental shrimp in marine aquariums. It belongs to the same genus as the cleaner shrimp and needs similar care; the difference is that it is much shyer and avoids bright light. In the weeks after it arrives it may hardly be seen at all; as it gets used to the aquarium, it comes out of its crevice at feeding time.

It is seen cleaning fish, but it does not do this as regularly as the cleaner shrimp. Most specimens on the market are wild-collected, and captive breeding is limited. When buying, active individuals with intact antennae and legs should be chosen.

It lives on the tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, usually in deeper and dimmer areas than the cleaner shrimp. Cave mouths, the undersides of rock overhangs and narrow crevices are its main habitat; it is mostly found in pairs.

• Volume: At least 75 liters for a pair; a live rock layout with plenty of crevices.
• Water: Salinity specific gravity 1.023–1.026, pH 8.1–8.4, temperature 24–27°C. Nitrate should be low and stable.
• Light: Shaded crevices and overhangs are essential. In very brightly lit reefs it hides during the day and comes out when the lights are dimmed.
• Reef compatibility: Reef-safe; it does not harm corals, and only occasionally snatches food from a coral's mouth.
• Acclimation and medication: It is very sensitive to differences in salinity; it should be acclimated by the drip method for at least 1 hour. Copper-based medications and hyposalinity treatment are lethal.

An omnivorous scavenger. It is easily fed with frozen mysis, brine shrimp, chopped mussels and sinking marine granules. Because it is shy, it is a good idea to place a small morsel in front of its crevice with tweezers or a feeding tube before the fish grab the food; 3–4 times a week is enough.

Peaceful; it leaves fish and other invertebrates alone. During the day it waits with its antennae sticking out of the mouth of its crevice, and it becomes bolder in the late afternoon. It can be kept without problems in the same aquarium as the cleaner shrimp.

Good companions: Clownfish, gobies, blennies, cardinalfish, dwarf angelfish; cleaner and peppermint shrimp, snails, hermit crabs.

Avoid: Hawkfish, large wrasses, triggerfish, lionfish, pufferfish and moray eels; coral banded shrimp.

Keeping them as a pair is the most natural setup; sellers usually offer pairs that live together. A single specimen also lives without problems, but in a pair they come out more often. Too many individuals of the same species in a cramped space may attack each other during molting; in aquariums over 200 liters with plenty of rock, two pairs can be kept, and each pair should have its own crevice.

Like the cleaner shrimp, it is a simultaneous hermaphrodite: every adult can function as both male and female. Right after molting, the individual in the female role mates and carries its eggs under its abdomen for about two weeks; the larvae are released at night. Larval development is long and difficult; no young are raised in a home aquarium.

• Molting: Every few weeks; a molting shrimp hides. An empty shell you find is not a sign of death.
• Failed molts: Fluctuations in salinity and water parameters. Stable water and regular partial changes are the best protection.
• Sudden deaths: Copper, rapid acclimation, lack of oxygen.
• A newly arrived specimen hides during the first weeks; make sure the food reaches its crevice so that it does not go hungry.

Because it is a hermaphrodite, there is no male–female distinction; any two adults can form a pair. An individual carrying eggs under its abdomen is functioning as a female at that time.