true or false? "peperment shrimp

[Scoobaman17]

I had gotten two peperments for my 24 aquapod to take out some aiptasia. They never touched it and eventually died for no reason.

Recently at my LFS someone told me that thier are two kinds of peperments, and only one kind eats the aiptasia. Is that true or false?

And if it's true then which one eats the aiptasia? Because some of my corals are being stung and it's ticking me off. Thanks!
~Chase

 

[whatcaneyedo]

I have been told that also. I once bought 3 peppermint shrimp at the same time from a LFS and 2 of them would eat aptasia and the other one did not. So I think it is just random hit and miss and that there is only one type. Or it could be a difference between gender or something... not sure. Try again is all I can say. Maybe buy some from a different store. Or if you can keep a copperbanded butterfly I have seen those eat aptasia as well.

 

[CELACANTHr]

There are 2 different species of what look like "peppermint" shrimp. They areLysmata wurdemanni,and L. californica. L. californica is a temperate species though. It is from the catalina islands, which is why its other name is the Catalina peppermint shrimp, so you may have gotten the L. californica, and it was kept in too warm of an environment. I am not sure if one eats aiptasia or not, but it is a hit and miss thing when it comes to pep.'s eating aptaisia.

HTH :rollface:

P.S. FWIW, there aren't really sexes in species int he Lysmata genus. they are female after they have shedded their old exoskeleton, adn are witing for their new one to harden. the rest of the time they are male.

 

[Sk8r]

I also found that if the water is not 'right' even the true peppermints will not eat aiptasia. Once I corrected the water and in particular got the alkalinity up, they started onto their job again.
Another thing with shrimp: drip acclimate them when you put them in. Due to their shells, they're subject to osmotic shock if the parameters of the water change too fast.

I test for: alkalinity, salinity, calcium, magnesium.

 

[The steven liu]

My peppermints havn't touch the aiptasia. But again my aiptasia is twice the size of those peppermints.

 

[rdanamorton]

peppermint shrimps

peppermint shrimps

i tried the same stategy....lost my peppermint in less than 48 hrs. lfs also said it was likely the acclimation...i did not do it slow enough. i went back in to try another time mentioning tha t aptasisa control was my objective. they said it was not the best idea. a worker there suggested injecting with lemon juice....what the heck it was cheap.

i did it yesterday to three, nickel sized aptasia ....poof there gone, or so it seems for now?

might give it a try.

 

[Scoobaman17]

The only thing I have about that is that my aiptasia are very close if not touching my corals, can I still inject them?

 

[rdanamorton]

aptasia

aptasia

couldn't say for sure re how close to the coral to be safe., i have a few clove polyp about 6 inches away.

anyone else heard of lemom juice injection?

 

[sassyfishy]

Joe's Juice worked wonders for ridding my tank of the larger aiptasia pests. My peppermint shrimps tackled the tiny aips with no problem. From what I understand, Joe's Juice is safe to use near corals.

 

[kmk2307]

Rhynchocinetes durbanensis, the camel-backed shrimp, may be confused with Lysmata also. These are generally more "risky" and may be harmful to other tank inhabitants and I imagine they don't eat aiptasia.

Kevin

 

[speckled trout]

I found 'em for $2.99 apiece at City Pets in Houston. I bought a dozen from them and haven't seen an aptasia since. I never had a big population of them in my 105g, just a couple. I got tired of dealing with them on an individual basis, so I tried the peppermints. Worked for me. I still have close to all of them the last I could tell. They're impossible to count in the rock work because they dart in and out. I purchase them about a year ago, too. Well worth the expense IMO.

 

[jjmcat]

2.99 per shrimp wow they go for around 15 bucks a piece here.

 

[speckled trout]

They seem to get them only seasonally, though. They'll go months without having any and then all the sudden they'll have atank or two with several hundred.

 

[AlphaFish]

I had a similar experience when I bought a pair of peppermint shrimp. Not only did they not touch the aiptasia, they both died about a week later. I've had a pair of scarlet cleaner shrimp for about 8 months, and they seem to do just fine (active, eating and molting regularly). None of my other inverts had a problem. So forget about the aiptasia... I'm just concerned that these guys died so fast. Are they particularly fragile? ...Especially when my other shrimp and crabs all seem fine? Tank is a 46G bowfront established for 1 year. Water parameters all seem "normal". I suppliment with a little iodine once a week.

Thanks for the input.

 

[icyuod2]

my tank was over run with aptasia (100plus ) 3 pep's cleaned out the tank in less than a week(big ones included) and they have never returned.