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Coral Banded Shrimp
Stenopus hispidus
Animalia›Arthropoda›Malacostraca›Stenopodidae
📍 Worldwide tropical oceans
Striking red-and-white banded shrimp with long white antennae. Acts as a cleaner shrimp on wild reefs. Keep only one pair — males fight.
Care Guide
Diet
Coral Banded Shrimp are carnivorous scavengers that feed on small crustaceans, dead fish, and organic debris. Offer frozen foods like mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and bloodworms 2-3 times weekly, supplemented with high-quality sinking pellets. They will also consume leftover food and detritus from the tank floor.
Behavior
These striking shrimp are semi-aggressive and territorial, particularly toward conspecifics. They are primarily nocturnal and spend daylight hours hiding in crevices and caves. Males are highly aggressive toward each other, so only one pair per tank is recommended; unpaired individuals may attack smaller tank mates.
Breeding
Breeding Coral Banded Shrimp in captivity is extremely difficult and rarely successful in home aquariums. Females produce eggs but larvae require specific planktonic food and marine conditions to survive. Most captive specimens are wild-caught, making breeding attempts impractical for hobbyists.
Tank Mates
Similar reef habitat preference; clownfish are fast enough to avoid aggression
Small, reef-safe fish that occupy different tank zones
May compete for food and space; monitor closely for aggression
Both are territorial; only attempt with adequate hiding spaces
Peaceful grazer that won't compete for food; helps with algae control
Algae-eating snail that occupies different ecological niche
Common Diseases
Bacterial Infection
Discolored patches on body, lethargy, loss of appetite, visible wounds or lesions
Improve water quality, increase water changes, quarantine affected shrimp, use broad-spectrum antibiotics if severe
Parasitic Infestation
Excessive molting, rubbing against surfaces, visible parasites on body or gills, reduced activity
Quarantine immediately, perform freshwater dips (brief exposure), treat with copper-free parasite medications
Molting Problems
Inability to shed exoskeleton completely, stuck in molt, death shortly after molting
Ensure adequate calcium and iodine supplementation, maintain stable water parameters, provide low-stress environment
Shell Disease
Pitting or erosion of exoskeleton, discoloration, soft spots on shell
Improve water quality and stability, increase calcium supplementation, maintain proper pH and salinity
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Quick Facts
- pH
- 8.1–8.4
- diet
- carnivore/scavenger
- salinity
- 1.023–1.025 SG
- minTankSize
- 20 gallons
- temperature
- 73–81°F (23–27°C)
Temperature
73–81°F
23–27°C