Cleaner shrimp cleaning station question

[Ti]

I recently dropped a cskunk cleaner in my tank and last night I caught it TRYING to clean my blue tang, but my tang resisted and kept swimming away form it's claws.
Anyone had this problem before?
Will my blue tang eventually succumb?

[Gools]

some of my fish don't like to be cleaned and some do. It may take awhile for them to get comfortable with each other

[JohnHenry]

I've had a coral-banded cleaner shrimp in with my blue tang for a year.5 now. The tang will often go up to the shrimp to get cleaned, but it always looks like the tang is very nervous about the whole thing.

He'll twitch, and wiggle, and back in between the shrimp's claws. The shrimp will pick quickly for a few seconds, as the tang nervously jitters around. Then, usually within 3 or 4 seconds, the tang gets spooked and jets away. It's very cute to watch. It's like the tang knows it's good for him...but is still uneasy about getting so close to a shrimp with long, sharp claws!

Much like the person with a toothache who puts off going to the dentist!

[Ti]

I just ejected my coral band.
He was lunging at the fish. obvisouly no cleaning station there...

[JohnHenry]

I think the lunging is just part of their show. They don't lunge to spear fish...never heard of them attacking live fish.

[Ti]

Originally posted by JohnHenry
I think the lunging is just part of their show. They don't lunge to spear fish...never heard of them attacking live fish.

I found it chomping down on my firefish.

[JohnHenry]

Wow! Maybe the firefish was already dead?

[Ti]

Originally posted by JohnHenry
Wow! Maybe the firefish was already dead?

I really doubt that.
Considering the territorital behavior the shrimp displayed and I have even witnessed it at night crawling through a crevice to sneak up on my blue tang and clown to grab them, I am pretty sure it killed the firefish.
the firefish would be an easier kill since it is in the rocks with nowhere to dart to.
Plus, I had another one which was purchased from the lfs, they had only been in the tank 3 days and were healthy.
so I know it was murder.

[JohnHenry]

so I know it was murder.

That's a little harsh, maybe poor shrimpy was just a little hungry? CBSs are great shrimp! But small firefish could maybe be easy prey for a large CBS, although I've heard CBS aggression on fish is pretty rare. How big is your tank?

I had another one which was purchased from the lfs, they had only been in the tank 3 days and were healthy.

If they'd only been in the tank a few days, then that somewhat discounts the possibility of knowing they were 'healthy'. Actually, it makes it sound more likely that the firefish might have been dying on their own (due to acclimitazation troubles, or pre-existing sickness), and the CBS just came to dispose of the dying flesh. Just a thought.