Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)

The Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) is the workhorse of the saltwater cleanup crew and one of the few invertebrates your fish will actively line up for. It sets up a cleaning station on the rock work, waves its long white antennae to advertise, and picks parasites, dead tissue, and debris off any fish that poses for it. Care level is beginner-friendly, temperament is peaceful, and it is fully reef safe, so it earns a place in almost any marine system from a modest reef to a large FOWLR.

Browse the rest of our invertebrates and saltwater livestock, or see what else is in the display tanks.

Care Guide

• Tank size: 20 gallons minimum for a single shrimp, 30 gallons or more for a pair. It needs mature live rock with caves and overhangs to claim as a cleaning station.
• Acclimation is the whole game: shrimp are far less tolerant of salinity and pH swings than fish. Drip acclimate slowly over 1 to 2 hours. Rushing this step is the single most common reason a cleaner shrimp does not make it through week one.
• Copper will kill it. Cleaner shrimp are extremely sensitive to copper-based medication. Never dose copper in a tank holding shrimp, and treat sick fish in a separate quarantine tank instead.
• Diet: Omnivore and scavenger. It will find plenty on its own in an established tank, but feed meaty frozen foods 2 to 3 times a week to keep it in condition. SFBB Marine Cuisine and Ocean Nutrition Frozen Formula One are both good choices.
• Molting: It sheds its shell as it grows and leaves behind a translucent, perfectly shrimp-shaped empty husk. Leave it in the tank, the shrimp will eat it back for calcium. Stable alkalinity and trace elements support clean molts.
• Numbers: Keep one, or keep two and let them pair. They are simultaneous hermaphrodites, so any two individuals can bond and they are usually peaceful together.
• Water quality: Stable is more important than perfect. Keep parameters steady with regular water changes and verify with a kit from our water testing range.

Choosing a Size

We stock this shrimp in four sizes. All four are the same species and the same care, the difference is simply how grown out the animal is when you take it home.

Specifications

Compatibility

Fully reef safe. It will not touch corals, clams, or anemones, and it coexists with other peaceful inverts. The only real question is whether your fish see it as a cleaner or as a snack.

Good tank mates are the peaceful reef fish that will happily queue up at its cleaning station:

• Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
• Blue Green Chromis (Chromis viridis)
• Banggai Cardinal (Pterapogon kaudernii)
• Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
• Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris magnifica)
• Yellowhead Jawfish (Opistognathus aurifrons)

Avoid: anything that eats shrimp in the wild. Triggers, hawkfish, lionfish, groupers, large predatory wrasses, and aggressive crabs will all treat a cleaner shrimp as food. If your tank has one of those, skip this shrimp.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• SFBB Marine Cuisine Cube 3.5oz, meaty frozen variety
• Ocean Nutrition Frozen Formula One for protein
• Hikari Marine-S, sinking pellets it will scavenge
• Boyd Vitachem Marine to soak foods and support new arrivals

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my fish eat the cleaner shrimp?
Most reef-safe community fish will not, and many will actively seek it out for cleaning. Avoid housing it with hawkfish, lionfish, triggers, groupers, or large predatory wrasses, which will see it as food.

I found a dead shrimp on the sand, but my shrimp is still alive. What happened?
You found a molt, not a body. The empty shell is translucent and hollow and looks alarmingly complete. Leave it in the tank and the shrimp will eat it back for calcium.

Can I use copper medication with cleaner shrimp in my tank?
No. Copper is lethal to shrimp and other invertebrates, and it lingers in rock and sand long after dosing. Treat affected fish in a separate quarantine tank.

How many can I keep together?
One is fine, and two will usually pair up and stay peaceful. They are simultaneous hermaphrodites, so you do not need to sex them. Beyond a pair, give them a larger tank and plenty of separate rock work.

Which size should I buy?
Medium suits most tanks. Go Large or X-Large if your display already has bigger or bolder fish, and Small if your tank is calm and you do not mind growing it out.