Pepermint Shrimp

[cthegame]

I go a peppermint shrimp 3-4 days ago to eat all the apitasia but so far he hasn't touched any...is this one of those things where its 50/50 chance that they will eat them?

All he does, is follow my fire shrimp around. Do these two types of shrimp get along this well?

 

[bobby]

I have been doing some reading on this latley, and have found that carmel shrimp are sold as peps, but do not eat apstasia. You can tell be a color differnce, just google each and you will see. I just got some apstasia from a frag I got, went to the LFS and got a pep that looked just like the pic and in the next two days they were gone.

 

[cthegame]

Damn i think you're right...The shrimp i have has the same lines but is a lot darker...you can barely see the lines...

So what, i didnt get a peppermint shrimp?

 

[bobby]

I don't know. I would have to see a pic.If it is a carmel then it could eat some types of coral like yellow polyps. That where peps get their bad name.

 

[Bifferwine]

Bobby is right, a lot of fish stores "accidentally" sell camel shrimp as peppermints. Even if you do get a peppermint, not every one will eat aiptasia, which is why I recommend getting more than one. Then there's a better chance that at least one of them will take a liking to the pests.

 

[cthegame]

Impossible to take a pic...he only comes out at night.

 

[reeffreak]

Some distributers can't tell the difference and sell camels to LFS.They themselves aren't always knowledgeable either.I find that they get around to after sometime.I have some Pepermints that gone to work on some aips but still after months haven't gotten to them all.Camels have a much more pronounce hump than peppermints plus more white and less transluscent if that makes sense.

 

[Piggy]

You can get a pic at night. That's how I took the one of my foxface.

 

[cthegame]

well he has no white and is very transluscent...if that helps

 

[cthegame]

OOk yea its a peppermint for sure...i just checked here Melev's Reef - Visual Identification and it looks exactly the same.

I guess i'll buy a few more of them. I cant let the aipts take over...

 

[yote]

I'd get at 3 or 4 more pepperments.That whay you got an even better chance at them eatting aiptasia.

 

[UnderwaterWorld]

Yea the peppermints are transpert when the light hits them a certain way, the camel shrimp have a huge hump, I have had one peppermint in each of my 2 tanks and it has done the job each time!

 

[cthegame]

Ok so last week i went and bought another peppermint and surely enough, he started devouring the aips in my tank. One by one they are disapearing...yay!

My question is, after all the aips are gone, will there be any nutrition issues for the peppermint? The LFS guy said they might starve to death without any aips but i wonder if he is wrong and me feeding the tank as i usually do will suffice...

Thanks in advance.

 

[yote]

Shrimp are scavangers.They'll make it on left over fish food and waste.

 

[cthegame]

That's what i assumed but since LFS guys act like they know it all, i figured i would make sure with you guys and surely enough, HE WAS WRONG.

Why oh why do they not learn. How can they run a reef store without knowing these basic things. :frustrat:

 

[yote]

You forget,Their in for the money.So they dont care if an animal lives or not.
If it dies,they figure your going to buy another one,therefore more money in their pocket.

 

[simpleman]

I've tried peps in all my tanks and they live for a while eat all aptasia and then disappear never to be seen again. I don't know if they get eaten or self destruct once their job is done. It's always been a mystery to me! :12:

 

[Bifferwine]

In my old tank, I never had any aiptasia, but had a pair of peppermints. They got by just fine on whatever food they could find.