I have seen perhaps 3-4 Aiptasia residing in the live rock of my newly started 215G aquarium. My aquarium has been running for about 7 weeks now and was finished cycling about 2 weeks ago. I just added a cleaning crew and among the cleaning crew is 3 peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni). I was told when picking out my cleaning crew that they are good for eating Aiptasia. I thought all the cleaning shrimps were safe safe, but I have read mixed reviews on the peppermint shrimps. Does anyone have peppermint shrimp, specifically Lysmata wurdemanni, and if so I have you witnessed them eating the soft corals such as polyps or mushrooms? Thanks.
aiptasia control
- Thread starter yakfishin
- Start date
Shagsbeard
New member
First off... there's no such thing as 3-4 Aiptasia. There's 3-4 that you see... and ten or more that you haven't seen yet. That's the problem with controling the buggers, you can't get rid of all of them one at a time... and they reproduce pretty much at will.
Most of the predators for Aiptasia will also go after soft corals as well... peppermint shrimp included... but it's a trade off.
I went for the big guns and got a Auriga Butterfly. Hundreds of aiptasia were gone within an hour... and pretty much every thing else in the tank as well. I can't keep any corals or what not until that beast finds a new home or dies.
Most of the predators for Aiptasia will also go after soft corals as well... peppermint shrimp included... but it's a trade off.
I went for the big guns and got a Auriga Butterfly. Hundreds of aiptasia were gone within an hour... and pretty much every thing else in the tank as well. I can't keep any corals or what not until that beast finds a new home or dies.
cloudancer
Premium Member
Peppermint shrimp may also have trouble with larger Aiptasia so you may need to tackle those by hand (kalk water or one of the other popular solutions).
I don't have any larger ones, not yet anyways. I cured most of the live rock myself and don't see any signs of aptasia on those. I added perhaps 6 pieces of live rock purchased at a LFS to supplement my other rock, and it is on these that I have seen a couple of the aptasias. I do know that there are probably a few more that I don't see, that is why I would rather do a natural method of control instead of chemical. Most of what I read is that there is 3-4 different species that are all labeled as peppermint shrimp, of which most will eat soft corals- with the exception of Lysmata wurdemanni. I was hoping to hear of someone with these in a reef tank that may have first hand experience with them.
I've watched one or two of my peppermint shrimp eating soft corals. One even demolished a pile of Xenia. There are a number of species sold as peppermint shrimp, though, and I never bothered tracking down exactly what I had. Since Aiptasia and soft corals are all polyps, though, some dietary crossover isn't that surprising.
Well, I have two groups of mushrooms in the tank right now, so I guess I will hold off on future purchases until I see how they make out with the shrimp. If the shrimp will at least consume the aiptasia then at least that will be over with and I can then figure out what I can do about the shrimp, if in fact they bother the corals. I'm going to eventually add a small specie lionfish- so he may take care of the shrimp for me!
