Monkey Shrimp?

[djskott]

Anyone know if these are Reef Safe?

Skott

[BTL]

humm? Sea monkeys? oh yeah, my fish love to "Play" with them

[djskott]

No not brine shrimp
Monkey shrimp... I want to order some shrimp from saltwaterfish.com and they have a package with some of these in it, If they aren't reef safe i want to substitute them

Anyone know if they are safe or no?
skott

[djskott]

*BUMP*

[ReefGirl]

Saron aka Monkey or Marbled shrimp are not reef safe. They're known to eat clams, anemones, LPS & soft corals, tho I'm not sure if they would bother SPS.

HTH
RG

[FMarini]

Hi:
Saron shrimp are NOT reef safe. There is a nice write up about them in TRA vol1. They clearly state that they will eat soft corals(like polyps and such).
frank

[djskott]

is this also true for Camelback shrimp?
skott

[Ninong]

Originally posted by djskott
is this also true for Camelback shrimp?
skott

Yes.

[djskott]

Thanks for the Input.
Skott

[mabridges]

Anyone know if these are Reef Safe?

Skott

Monkey Shrimp are also called.
Buffalo Shrimp, is a small compact shrimp that is colored in spots and stripes of brown, tan, white, and green. These shrimp prefer lots of rockwork and to be kept in groups. The Monkey Shrimp has an extended pair of front legs along with a small hump on their tail. They will not harm other aquarium inhabitants , unless provoked, and will search for food at night.

Shrimp belong to the Class Crustacea and Order Decapoda, which is characterized by two pair of antennae, three body parts, and five pairs of legs. The head of Shrimp is connected to the thorax and covered by a shell called carapace. The antennae of Shrimp are normally long and thin and serve the Shrimp as extended eyes. Shrimp have highly developed abdomens which allows for quick movement. In order for Shrimp to grow they need to shed their exoskeleton, a process called "molting", which allows them to remove their restricting shell and begin a new one. Often times in the home aquarium Shrimp will leave this translucent shell in full view so it can serve as a distraction while the Shrimp finds a hiding place and allows its new shell to harden.

[Ninong]

Hello mabridges,




Didn't you notice that this thread is eight years old?

Since this is your first post to the forum and since, for all I know, you could be a very young person, or maybe even a brand new LFS employee, I will try my best to be diplomatic in my response.

However, your information is not only incorrect, it's dangerous advice.

Didn't you notice that both ReefGirl and Dr. Frank Marini had already answered the question correctly? These shrimp are definitely NOT reef-aquarium safe!!! Not at all.

All of your post is cut-and-paste from this vendor's website. That information is incorrect! If you're going to copy from an online source, you have to be able to know whether the information you are copying is correct or not. If you do not have an adequate amount of knowledge to recognize bad information, then don't copy it. It's really that simple. That's the sort of information new LFS employees hand out, not responsible hobbyists.

If you're wondering why they are not reef-aquarium safe, then you should read my post from five years ago here, which I will copy below:

They are NOT reef-safe! They are nocturnal predators and eat lots of different corals. I have no idea why some online vendors consider this species "reef-safe." I guess it helps sales.

You may have seen a few posts by hobbyists saying that they have a Saron sp. shrimp in their reef tanks and they haven't had any problems that they are aware of; however, any review of the literature will quickly confirm that they are known to eat coral polyps (especially SPS) and sometimes attack clams. They are strictly nocturnal so it is possible that most people just aren't aware of the problem or perhaps the shrimp are being well fed with the food that is going into the tank for the fish and they are not doing all that much damage.

According to Dr. Ron Shimek, they eat the polyps of a wide variety of hard and soft corals. According to Fossa & Nilsen (TMCRA-3) they have observed them eating coral polyps. According to Delbeek & Sprung (TRA-1), they eat coral polyps and sometimes attack clams at night.

However, most of the online vendors rate them as "reef-safe." Go figure!

[Parrothead]

Ninong,

That was very diplomatic, we are all proud of you,

Thank you for keeping the uninformed.....informed.
Thanks for all you do here

Tanks
Robert