What kind of shrimps for my reef?

[mga345]

My reef (3 months old) has 3 fishes, 2 lismata shrimps and about 20 snails and crabs.

I populate slowly and there are still no corals or other lives.

I would like your suggestions on what kind of shrimps can I add to my tank.

Thank you in advance,

Moshe

 

[Guygettnby]

what size tank do you have? what are you plaining on keeping in the tank? some shrimp are better then others depending on what you want to end up having in your tank. i would say stay away from Camel, peppermint, mantis and pistol shrimp unless you know what you are getting into and do your research first. alot of people are going to have different opinions on the different shrimp.

i have the following in my 30g reef.
1 coral bandit
1 monkey shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
and in my 12g i have 1 peppermint shrimp taking care of some aiptasia and once that is gone so will be the peppermint shrimp.

 

[mga345]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12753583#post12753583 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Guygettnby
what size tank do you have? what are you plaining on keeping in the tank? some shrimp are better then others depending on what you want to end up having in your tank. i would say stay away from Camel, peppermint, mantis and pistol shrimp unless you know what you are getting into and do your research first. alot of people are going to have different opinions on the different shrimp.

i have the following in my 30g reef.
1 coral bandit
1 monkey shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
and in my 12g i have 1 peppermint shrimp taking care of some aiptasia and once that is gone so will be the peppermint shrimp.

The description of my tank is in my signature.
I will have about 15 fishes (the regular ones that most reefers keep), all kinds of corals (softies, LPS,SPS).

When you say "stay away...", please explain why.

Thanks,

Moshe

 

[jubjub]

once ya get some fish cant go wrong with a cleaner shrimp....i had a battle with black ich and it cleared out the tank.....

also its amusing to watch the cleaner shrimp jump on the fish and clean them as they swim around (see this every so often on my yellow tang)

 

[tweetyfish]

...

 

[Guygettnby]

well, camel shrimp are defilently not reef safe and will pick/eat corals and anemones... peppermint shrimp in my opinion are not reef safe as well, as they will eat anemones and pick at corals. mantis shrimp are not reef safe to most and unless you know what your getting into meaning doing your research i would say stay away from them. now pistol shrimps are also not really reef safe but alot of people keep them in reefs paired with a goby. pistol shrimp like to burrow and move the substrate around alot so if your using smaller rocks to build your reef then they will all move and drop when he is making his caves. plus pistol shrimp will eat your inverts if they go into his cave.

again other people will have different opinions on what shrimp is reef safe or not. everybody has different luck with different shrimp.

 

[mga345]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12765793#post12765793 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Guygettnby
well, camel shrimp are defilently not reef safe and will pick/eat corals and anemones... peppermint shrimp in my opinion are not reef safe as well, as they will eat anemones and pick at corals. mantis shrimp are not reef safe to most and unless you know what your getting into meaning doing your research i would say stay away from them. now pistol shrimps are also not really reef safe but alot of people keep them in reefs paired with a goby. pistol shrimp like to burrow and move the substrate around alot so if your using smaller rocks to build your reef then they will all move and drop when he is making his caves. plus pistol shrimp will eat your inverts if they go into his cave.

again other people will have different opinions on what shrimp is reef safe or not. everybody has different luck with different shrimp.

Thank you for the answer and explanation.
I prefer to go to the worst case and not putting but only sure reef safe shrimps or other inverts.

I would be glad to get a list of inverts that are known for sure as reef safe. I am sure that there are such.

In the future, when my reef will be a year or more old, then I will make some tests with fishes and inverts that are not fully reef safe.

 

[Erick504]

I would go with a pair of cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp, and peppermint shrimp i never had a problem in my reef, they do a good job eating aiptasia anemones, never seen them mess with any other corals, just make sure u a really getting peppermint shrimp and not camel shrimp as there similar in appearance. Camel shrimp i would stay away from as they do have a appettite for zoanthids and mushrooms, but would be fine with other corals. Coral banded shrimp would also be a good choice, though they can be a little aggressive towards some fish, but shouldn't be a problem, though some people say they have had their shrimp eat there small fish.

 

[Guygettnby]

i have never had a problem with my coral bandit shrimp either, but i have heard people say they kill other shrimp and fish.

everybody is gonna have a different experience and opinion on all the different species out there. so just read what they have to say and make your decission from there.

 

[singold]

Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp are great, also will pick parasites off fish. Mine cleans my Yellow tang.

 

[Obliduty]

For me I'm a huge fan of:

-Skunk cleaners: clean fish, reef safe, and most "outgoing" non-shy shrimp

-Peppermints: stay small, never worry about aiptasia, most passive

-"burgundy hermits": they are the best hermit crab I've found sofar as they are less aggressive then blue-legs and are constantly moving.

Not a big fan of:

-Mantis: although "reef-safe" in the sense of coral, they will crush any other living thing when they get big. i.e. CUC, fish

-Coral banded: although some "play nice" I've seen enough of them bully and get aggro at other shrimp/CUC to make them too inconsistent for my liking.

Unsure of:

-Mithrax crabs: I have 3 in my 55g and I haven't caught them doing any dirty-work yet but I hear enough to worry me. For me though they really took care of my random nuisance hair algae etc.

-also pistol,camel, blood/fire shrimp, since I have no experience with them.