Blue Throat and Shrimp

[PokerG]

I have had my blue throats in the tank for around 6 months, I need to get rid of an aptasia outbreak and since the copperband I bought for the job has snubbed it, I wanted to go for the peppermint option.

What do you think my chances are that the peppermint will survive (as well as any other shrimps I might want)? Please bare in mind that I have both male and female triggers and the male is about 6" and female around 4".

Maybe I should take the triggers out, add the shrimps, leave it a day, then add the triggers, might give them a better chance...

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Gary

 

[NicoleRM]

You could try to sneak them in at night while the fish are sleeping.

 

[Gobie]

You couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t pay me to put peppermints in my tank! Wait for the copper band to get a taste, they will be gone in a month. Hopefully you will be able to get the butterfly on prepared food, I couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t. After a year there was nothing left in the tank to keep him fed no more aptasias or tube worms.

 

[PokerG]

My copperband eats frozen marine mix and picks all day long. The aptasia could be all thats left in the tank before he gets around to eating them.

Why would you not put a peppermint shrimp in your tank?

Gary

 

[Gobie]

I have stupidly done it two times once in a 90 and then in my 180. Both times they picked on my sebae anemone, polyps and open brains. I watched them do this at night with a red flashlight. Thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s why I went with the copper band this last time. The peppermints arenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t going to eradicate the aptasias anyway, you will always have them here and there. Getting peppermint shrimp out of the tank is a nightmare, I was almost ready to rip the whole tank apart. It took me days of setting there with a trap to get all of them out.

 

[PokerG]

Don't remember reading that peppermints aren't reef safe... Fortunately I don't have too much in the tank at the moment for them to pick on! Mostly Euphylia sp. Xenia, some shrooms and a couple of others.

The last thing I want to do is start injecting the aptasia, thats too much like hard work.

Gary

 

[Gobie]

You should be ok. I only saw them pick on open brains, some polyps and my seabae anemone. They probably canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t kill the corals because they only pick small pieces off but it isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t doing the corals any good.

 

[Bret61081]

I have several shrimp in with my blue throat trigger. CBS, pepermint, blood red and regular cleaner shrimp. pepermint shrimp do help with aptasias but they never do it all of them expecially if they are large! I have a few pop up here and there but they usually take a few weeks and they aregone!

 

[nengland]

I've had a cleaner shrimp with my bluethroat. Granted it's only been a couple of weeks, but everything seems to be alright. (knock on wood)

 

[coolie]

I would add some berghia vericonis (sp). I just added 8 of them to my 90 and I have been slowly seeing less aptasia. Unfortunately, after the aptasia are gone, the berghia will die because they only eat aptasia.