Peppermint Shrimp

[DetectiveTofu]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone here has experience with peppermint shrimp.

Do they really consume aiptasia like many others say? What is considered "high nitrate levels?" I know all invertebrates are sensitive to nitrates, and ideally should be at zero, but what can they tolerate?

Will the peppermint shrimp get along with a firefish, two false perc.'s, a royal gramma, cerith snails, nassarius snails, and red legged hermit crabs?

thanks in advance!

RF

 

[TikiDan]

My pepermint shrimp ate the small aiptasia but not the largeer ones. And they got along with all of my tank mates including two False percs snails and crabs.

 

[4jlong]

i had aptasia and my peppermint shrimp wouldn't eat it until i used joes juice on most of it, so then there was only a few left and he scarfed those quick!

 

[otterpop510]

peppermint shrimps don't need zero nitrates, but should be decent water quality. should be no issues with any of your other fish/inverts either. but hit and miss for eating aptasia.. i put in one, it didn't eat them.. promptly dissappeared (peppermints are known for that..).

several months later got 3, within one week all my aptasia was gone (didn't have alot to begin with, but enough to bother me). 6 months later, no aptasia and one peppermint is still alive and having a good time in my tank, along with my cleaner, blood and harlequin shrimps (they all get along fine.. )..

best bet is if you can get the lr with the aptasia out of your tank, just put it (either everything, or one rock at a time) into another container with a few peppermints and don't feed anything.. seems to be the best way to get them to eat the aptasia. also, they seem to like to eat the smaller ones, so injecting the larger ones with vinegar, kalkwater, etc. can help make the peppermints more effective..

 

[rhaey]

Peppermints usually eats small aptasia and small worm. They are not for humangous aptsia. But they are good to have in the tank to control or prevent aptasia. I forgot who I sold my peppermint, but boy they shrimp is old.

 

[650-IS350]

I just dumped a pep in my QT with a rock with Palythoa Grandis which had one aptasia the size of a dime on it. It was eaten by the pep the next day.

 

[kaihonu82]

i had a pepermint shrimp in my tank and he was a carnivore. he did an excellent job of stalking every single one of my snails in my tank, and the moment they dropped off a rock or the tank wall, he was all over them. it was a really good way to get rid of all my snails...oh wait, i liked my snails

bah, i've heard they're great for aiptasia...but unless that is a big problem, they're more trouble than they're worth, imho.

 

[650-IS350]

KAIHONU82 are you sure you got the lysmata wurdemanni ? and not the Rhynchocienetes uritai ( bad one ) ???

 

[DetectiveTofu]

So you think the pep shrimp will hunt down my red legged hermits, nassarius, and cerith snails??

 

[650-IS350]

I got a rather large PEP in my 100 gal that dosn't bother anything in my tank.. just eats scraps.

they might try to steal food from anemones or other corals but thats it.

 

[DetectiveTofu]

i am only worried about my hermit crabs, snails, and fish, as my tank is a FOWLR
yay or ney?

 

[650-IS350]

IMO its a YAY since TRUE pepermints are beneficial in reefs for aptasia control and they also forage for scraps... only if its a TRUE pepermint ( lysmata Wurdemanni ) and not the cold water species of pep. which California has and not the Camel Back shrimp (Rhynchocienetes uritai ) which WILL eat soft coral such as poylps and zoanthid types.

read these...

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aippepshrpfaqs.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aiptasia.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dancingshrpfaqs.htm

 

[DetectiveTofu]

thanks very much delsol650; a lot of help and information~!

 

[DetectiveTofu]

one more ththing though! How many true peps would you put into a 35 gallon fowlr? ~40 lbs LR.

 

[650-IS350]

I had only 2 in my 100gal. I think you should be good w/ 1 or 2 unless you truely have a aptasia infestation. If there not eating aptasia, they're scrounging around for excess food.

 

[kaihonu82]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9800840#post9800840 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by delsol650
KAIHONU82 are you sure you got the lysmata wurdemanni ? and not the Rhynchocienetes uritai ( bad one ) ???

You certainly could be right, in that case...shame on Dolphin for selling me what they called a true pep. shrimp

this was months ago, and since then my tank is doing fine, so I'm not trying to complain. I was just sharing my story.