It's usually a very bad practice to get a critter to eat [fill in blank.]
There are a few exceptions, critters that can really help, and whose oddities can be managed. Pep shrimp are one.
They love aiptasia. One pep shrimp can keep a 100 gallon tank aiptasia free, even if there are dozens in the fuge [where they're actually not a bad life form.]
Peps have a few 'ifs.'
1. there's a lookalike, a camel shrimp, who is not a good fellow. Don't get sold the wrong thing. Experienced fishstores and dealers are not going to make that sort of mistake.
2. keeping more than one kind of shrimp in the tank is often problematic: they may eat each other.
3. some fish are fond of shrimp. Peps are good at evading hungry fish, but some fish are really good shrimp-hunters.
4. peps are curious: they will occasionally run over and steal a polyp off your birdsnest sps, or annoy a new coral. I've had both things happen and found it no reason for panic. A birdsnest has hundreds of polyps, and won't miss one, and the shrimp won't do it beyond a few tries (they have a rotten memory for a bad taste). They really don't hurt things. Except yellow star polyp. Those are apparently so like aiptasia they taste good. On the other hand, if you've had that now-rarely-sold species take over your tank---get peps.
5. some peps won't learn to eat aiptasia. To get one that will, get them from a dealer who swears they're eating that food. Or get 5 juvies. Out of that number, usually one will turn out to love aiptasia. It is NOT however guaranteed. I once had to go to 10 before I got, suddenly, 3 that would.
6. you'll rarely see any of them---they prefer the dark back and underside of rocks. But aiptasia will disappear.
7. All but one. I swear they farm ONE aiptasia so it will produce delectable rice-grain size babies. But a tank can get along fine with one aiptasia.
8. and if there ARE no more aiptasia, your shrimp will live fine off regular fishfood, including shrimp meat---which tells you something about shrimp.
They're my favorite answer, because they don't require me to do a thing, and they don't bother the reef half as much as human intervention, even if they eat a few birdsnest polyps by mistake.
There are a few exceptions, critters that can really help, and whose oddities can be managed. Pep shrimp are one.
They love aiptasia. One pep shrimp can keep a 100 gallon tank aiptasia free, even if there are dozens in the fuge [where they're actually not a bad life form.]
Peps have a few 'ifs.'
1. there's a lookalike, a camel shrimp, who is not a good fellow. Don't get sold the wrong thing. Experienced fishstores and dealers are not going to make that sort of mistake.
2. keeping more than one kind of shrimp in the tank is often problematic: they may eat each other.
3. some fish are fond of shrimp. Peps are good at evading hungry fish, but some fish are really good shrimp-hunters.
4. peps are curious: they will occasionally run over and steal a polyp off your birdsnest sps, or annoy a new coral. I've had both things happen and found it no reason for panic. A birdsnest has hundreds of polyps, and won't miss one, and the shrimp won't do it beyond a few tries (they have a rotten memory for a bad taste). They really don't hurt things. Except yellow star polyp. Those are apparently so like aiptasia they taste good. On the other hand, if you've had that now-rarely-sold species take over your tank---get peps.
5. some peps won't learn to eat aiptasia. To get one that will, get them from a dealer who swears they're eating that food. Or get 5 juvies. Out of that number, usually one will turn out to love aiptasia. It is NOT however guaranteed. I once had to go to 10 before I got, suddenly, 3 that would.
6. you'll rarely see any of them---they prefer the dark back and underside of rocks. But aiptasia will disappear.
7. All but one. I swear they farm ONE aiptasia so it will produce delectable rice-grain size babies. But a tank can get along fine with one aiptasia.
8. and if there ARE no more aiptasia, your shrimp will live fine off regular fishfood, including shrimp meat---which tells you something about shrimp.
They're my favorite answer, because they don't require me to do a thing, and they don't bother the reef half as much as human intervention, even if they eat a few birdsnest polyps by mistake.
