Opinions on pepermint shrimp?

[David]

OK, I have proven to myself that pep. shrimp do indeed eat aiptaisia, I put one into my 20 f/o two weeks ago and they are nearly all gone. (Also a good bit of cyano-bacteria vanished, coincidence?) Anyway, my suspicion is that anything that eats aiptaisia might very well also enjoy munching on a few soft corals as well, so I'm wondering if you folks feel that the animal is "reef safe" or not? If I drop a few of these baby's into the "black hole" of my 125 reef I will not be able to get them back out! What do you think?

[FishKid]

they may go after polyps, yellow polyps especially, as they resemble aiptasia.

mark

[Reefland]

...but typically they are reef safe. Many people add them to their reef for aiptasia removal.

Best of luck,
Scott

[asmith]

I have never had a problem with them attacking any polyps, but they are pretty good about eating sand bed infauna. Mine are always picking pods and worms out of my sandbed. I will be finding them a new home soon.

If you want them just to remove aiptasia, then you might want to try some of the other methods first such as injecting them with Kalk or boiling water.


Just my opinion/experience,
Andrew

[organicreefer]

i have found the easiest way to control aiptasia is with putty.when they retreat into a hole,simply seal them in their tomb .this works VERY well for controlling small numbers ime.

[Tim]

I have approximately 10 in my 90 gallon. They have been excellent. I have an ongoing battle in my 55 with the aiptasia and when possible I will remove 1 piece of infected liverock, place into the 90, and the next day it is clean. There are polyps of various sizes in the 90 as well as mushrooms,xenia, encrusting gorgonian and others. They have never bothered any that I have seen. They also release newborn into the water column on a very regular basis and seem to contribute a very positive overall effect. The shrimp will from time to time work the substrate but I think it just contributes positively to natural selection. YMMV but they have been good to me!

[Reinhold]

Do your Peppermint Shrimp ever come out in the day? I put two into my tank two months ago, they dove into the live rock, and I've never seen them again. I haven't lost a fish or a coral for 7 months, so unless they were killed by something, I don't think they died natural deaths.

[FishKid]

I have one rock with 3 aiptasia on it, I would love to throw the rock out, but it has a pretty large button polyp colony. I havent been able tofind any pickling lime anywhere, so the war is in a stalemate.

mark

[Tim]

I've got 4 that are failry large for peppermint. They will come out whenever I feed. the last 6 were smaller. I can almost always find them but they aren't as active during the day as the larger ones. They all really love to hangout (hangunder?) ledges. Anywhere there is an overhang they will usually setup shop, as long as they have a way to retreat HTH

[Firefish]

I think they are minty Seriously, I've had one for years and there have been times when I haven't seen him for months. No problems with anything though,FWIW.

[Duncan]

Organic,
Barbaric and devilishly evil idea you have there. I love it.

[organicreefer]

duncan,works like a charm too

[chromis]

I think it was Dr. Ron who said "peppermint shrimp are best between 2 crackers!"

[Ninong]

Yes, it was Dr. Ron who said that. He says a lot of funny stuff. Anyway, he's not in favor of Lysmata wurdemanni for reef-tanks; he prefers L. amboinensis. Only problem is that L. amboinensis will ignore aiptasia.

Ninong

[chromis]

You should have heard him at MACNA! He was very abrupt to the plenum people and non coral feeders

[Ninong]

Ha! If you think that was abrupt, you should read what he says in some of his e-mails!

He has a very colorful way of expressing his opinions.

Ninong

[Bughead]

Putty! Great idea. Any particular kind? I have wood putty, but it's water soluble.
I only have one aptasia, but it's doubled in size in the past two weeks. I've tried to inject him, but he hunkers down and I can't shoot him. I like the idea of sealing him in his tomb.

[organicreefer]

bughead, underwater epoxy putty,aquastick etc..hth

[deepsix]

Put me down for having several, and they seems to fit into the community well................but I have lost a lot of yellow polyps to them.