Fire shrimp

[brett559]

Thinking of adding a fire shrimp. My LFS has some cool ones in stock. I'm intrigued given their cool bold red color and the thought of cleaning fish just seems cool to me.

I have 3 peppermint shrimp that I (think) are keeping aiptasias away, but I don't see them that often. Are fire shrimp more active/noticeable? Or would they just hide like my pepps do. Also, any chance the pepps and fire wouldn't get along?

Are they really beneficial, i.e. a worthwhile member of a CUC?

Finally, I've seen videos of them cleaning people's fingernails. I simply don't want that. Will he come after me every time I put my hand in there? :fun5:

Let me know your experiences with these guys?

 

[imjedi76]

fire shrimps tend to be more shy and hide.. however when an opportunity for food presents itself it is anything but shy.. you can hand feed it pieces of shrimp if you want.. its hard to say whether or not they fight.. its hit and miss.. mine are on opposites sides of the tank and I have had no issues.. but I've read others who experienced the opposite.. just make sure they're the same size..

 

[brett559]

The fire would be a lot bigger. Maybe not the best idea....

 

[ThRoewer]

My experience is that they don't work out well with marine bettas.

 

[sublime9182]

Thinking of adding a fire shrimp. My LFS has some cool ones in stock. I'm intrigued given their cool bold red color and the thought of cleaning fish just seems cool to me.

I have 3 peppermint shrimp that I (think) are keeping aiptasias away, but I don't see them that often. Are fire shrimp more active/noticeable? Or would they just hide like my pepps do. Also, any chance the pepps and fire wouldn't get along?

Are they really beneficial, i.e. a worthwhile member of a CUC?

Finally, I've seen videos of them cleaning people's fingernails. I simply don't want that. Will he come after me every time I put my hand in there? :fun5:

Let me know your experiences with these guys?

Mine is super shy he only comes out when there is food I have a pep to they don't bother each other. The pep will clean my hands but the fire won't go near anything that moves lol.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

My two peppermint shrimp are out all of the time. I'm going to guess that yours are DOA. Now as far as eating aptasia goes, I'm still on the fence with this one. I'm about to pull out the Joe's juice

 

[caribfan]

I've got three skunk cleaners, which are out all the time, and two fire shrimp. The fire shrimp come out less frequently, but have started to make an appearance when I dump food into the tank.

Don't know if they would get along with the peppermints, but they don't have any problems with my skunks.

Regardless of whether they are beneficial, they are stunningly beatiful. I'd say go for it, as long as you don't have any tank mates that would make a meal out of them.

 

[Irishdolphin]

I have 1 peppermint and 2 fire shrimp and there is no trouble between them. I rarely see the peppermint, maybe once a month or even less often and only spot him late at night after lights out. The fire shrimp come out whenever I feed but they're still fairly cautious - hug the rocks where possible

 

[Lmax8rn]

I have two skunk cleaners , two fire shrimp, and a banded coral shrimp in my 110 mixed reef, all get along fine. The pairs hang out together, but the fire shrimp don't do much in the way of cleaning. The skunks do tho, and a lot! The fire shrimp hide about 50% of the time, NEVER see the banded coral shrimp, but the skunks are always out front and center. Feed your peppermint so well, they completely decimated a pipe organ coral I had and all my small feather dusters among other things, and I consider myself a heavy feeder. I'll never have another peppermint again (yes they were definitely peppermint sand not camels).

 

[Chaucer]

Ive had 2 fire shrimp over the years, both kept a very low profile in my tanks. They find a safe spot for home and stay there. Easy to feed and a beautiful animal.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I have a skunk cleaner that is out all the time, a pair of fire shrimp that are not out, but visible and come out for feedings, and 10 peppermints that are rarely seen except after lights out and all the fish have gone to bed. They share the tank with a bunch of wrasses and a pr of marine bettas. There has been no aggression between the shrimps, there is no aiptasia because of the peppermints and they g ave not picked on any coral.

 

[Wonton Soup]

I wouldn't keep a reef tank without at least one pair of either fire shrimp or skunk cleaner shrimp.

I currently have a pair of both along with 3 peppermints that all get along really well. The fire shrimp tell the cleaner shrimp where they can hang out and they all tell the peppermint shrimp where they can hang out though their favorite places to loiter changes every day.