Peppermint Shrimp Question

[park83]

I have been keeping a mushroom coral for a while and would like to slowly get my tank ready to try other soft coral, however, I have a problem...aipstasia.

I just traded my coral banded shrimp for 2 peppermint shrimp this past weekend. They don't seem to be largely taking care of my problem yet, however, I have noticed some behaviors.

1. They seem to have some interest in the aipstasia. They will take a quick chomp of one, but then they move away.

2. They also seem to get stung by them and it makes them jump. I had figured a species specializing in eating aipstasia would not have this problem.

3. I caught one of my shrimp eating one of the aipstasia I killed by injecting with vinegar.


I can't seem to draw any conclusion from this info. Will they finally come around and start eating more aipstasia? Are they just eating all the tastier things in my tank first? Did I get the wrong shrimp or a species resembling peppermints?

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.


Thanks!

 

[Cheech]

I'd be inclined to think that if they went for them and took a few bites off them that they are peppermint shrimp. I have heard that they sometimes won't go for the larger ones...

I got 2 peppermints in my tank and they cleared up any sign of aiptisia rather quickly. I'd give them a few weeks and see how it turns out.. Good luck, and keep us posted

 

[park83]

I'd be inclined to think that if they went for them and took a few bites off them that they are peppermint shrimp. I have heard that they sometimes won't go for the larger ones...

I got 2 peppermints in my tank and they cleared up any sign of aiptisia rather quickly. I'd give them a few weeks and see how it turns out.. Good luck, and keep us posted

Thanks. Some are pretty large, so I may have to kill them manually...

 

[Reefscape]

I would agree with Cheech ( although i hate to admit it )...They can be finiky in what size aiptasia they do go for..The two i brought in my first reef never touched them....both, in susequent tanks, they have done the job...

 

[Zebodog]

Peppermints tend to work better in a large group - mob mentality

I also beleive that peppermints have a tendency to shy away from larger specimens of aiptasia and go for the younger, tastier morsels. I've never heard of peppermints touching majano's either and they can occasionally be mistaken for the aipy's.

The camel shrimp resembles the peppermint very closely and generally won't touch aiptasia although I think they tend to be fairly rare. Look for a large hump (hence the name camel)

 

[Blown 346]

The one mistake everyone makes is buying things to help rid of something like Aipstasia, or algae.

Shrimp are a hit or miss, some will eat it and some wont. The best thing to do is get rid of it yourself by using either joes juice or kalk.

 

[park83]

Peppermints tend to work better in a large group - mob mentality

I also beleive that peppermints have a tendency to shy away from larger specimens of aiptasia and go for the younger, tastier morsels. I've never heard of peppermints touching majano's either and they can occasionally be mistaken for the aipy's.

The camel shrimp resembles the peppermint very closely and generally won't touch aiptasia although I think they tend to be fairly rare. Look for a large hump (hence the name camel)

Maybe i'll buy 2 more of them. It wont hurt, having them in there...even if they dont clear up my aip, they still help to clean up the aquarium...

 

[Zebodog]

I would be very surprised if 4 in a 45gal don't take care of the little brutes for you. Keep them hungry by reducing your feeding for a few days.

I dropped 6 in my 65gal and the decimated the aiptasia in short order. Granted, I didn't have many to start with.

On a side note, if you have an opportunity to watch them mow through the aiptasia it's almost brutal. If aiptasia weren't such pests I'd feel sorry for them.

The one advantage that, in my opinion, peppermints have over chemical means of iradication is their ability to get into the nooks and crannies that you may not be able to with taking the rocks out of the tank.

There is a disadvantage to having peppermints though. They aren't really picky about the difference between aiptasia and zoa's or paly's so if you plan on adding those down the road you'll likely find the peppermints will go for those as well.

 

[park83]

I would be very surprised if 4 in a 45gal don't take care of the little brutes for you. Keep them hungry by reducing your feeding for a few days.

I dropped 6 in my 65gal and the decimated the aiptasia in short order. Granted, I didn't have many to start with.

On a side note, if you have an opportunity to watch them mow through the aiptasia it's almost brutal. If aiptasia weren't such pests I'd feel sorry for them.

The one advantage that, in my opinion, peppermints have over chemical means of iradication is their ability to get into the nooks and crannies that you may not be able to with taking the rocks out of the tank.

There is a disadvantage to having peppermints though. They aren't really picky about the difference between aiptasia and zoa's or paly's so if you plan on adding those down the road you'll likely find the peppermints will go for those as well.

I never bought any more, but i'd say about 90% of the aips have been eradicated. I rarely ever see the peppermints in action, as during the day they just hide in the rocks, but at night i've caught them roaming around. They seem to be nocturnal in their aip eating.

 

[Phatboydime]

Pardon the lack of knowledge here, but why would you want to kill the aiptasia? The pics that I can find they look nice to have, are they poisonous or carnivorous?