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Cultivated Reef

The Unofficial Sexy Shrimp Thread


Lalani

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Why do I often see my single Thor picking on something while on frogspawn tentacles, on ricordea, on blasto, on favites, on trumpet? Should I remove them? Or? Thanks

When you see him picking at the corals, does it look like he is actually hurting the corals or is he maybe eating the slime coating off them? They are known to stand on corals and make them slime up so they can eat the slime. If the corals seem bothered by this at all, you could feed the sexy shrimp one piece of flake food or pellet each day. That usually keeps them satisfied. :)

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Thank you so much for this topic! I have learned so much already. I wanted to put some Sexies in my 11g, but I got a Fire Shrimp due to impulse buying... don't we all know about that! Anyhow, I love my fire shrimp but he's very agressive. So, when I finally setup my 5.5 pico I know exactly what I want now just reading this thread. Great job Fab and Lalani for tag-teaming this thread and keeping up! Thank you!!

 

Keep Up The Good Work,

Polly

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When you see him picking at the corals, does it look like he is actually hurting the corals or is he maybe eating the slime coating off them? They are known to stand on corals and make them slime up so they can eat the slime. If the corals seem bothered by this at all, you could feed the sexy shrimp one piece of flake food or pellet each day. That usually keeps them satisfied. :)

 

I would love to keep him satisfied, and that would also make my corals happy. See Lalani, I don’t know how much food he actually gets. When I leave few pellets on the rocks for him then probably either bristleworms or hermits get to it first, and if I leave it on the sand than usually nassarius are fastest. Is there a spoon for feeding sexy shrimps?

 

Seriously, unless I quickly learn how to feed him properly and keep him satisfied he will have to go eat corals someplace else, and that would make my son unhappy. :(

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el fabuloso

Sexy shrimps are inquisitive by nature and will often investigate/pick at new corals that have been added to the tank. When I added a paly polyp in my tank it caught the interest of one of my sexies and was harassing it at first. I kept an eye on the polyp which ended up with some light lacerations. After a couple of days the sexy shrimp stopped picking at it and is actually now hosting it with the polyp healing up beautifully. My blastos are a different story altogether as none of the sexies show any bit of interest in them at all.

 

Sexy shrimps love to eat and are pretty damn determined to get what they want. I try to target feed them as best as I can but sometimes when I'm in a hurry, I usually just throw a few pellets in my tank and hope that they'll be able to find them on their own and they usually do. Sometimes the hermit crabs will get to the pellets first and the sexies will shamelessly snatch them out of their claws. Once, a mushroom caught one of the pellets and had already closed up on it and one of the sexies bravely crawled inside to pull the food out.

 

Since I'm already on the topic of food and eating, I thought I'd share some pics of my sexies during mealtime.

 

CIMG4487.jpg

Here's one with a pellet all to himself.

 

CIMG4488.jpg

This one found a pellet lodged between some corals.

 

CIMG4492.jpg

And this one is sharing her pellet with a striped mushroom.

 

CIMG4323.jpg

And sometimes they eat together!

 

So when they want something, they'll find it and they'll do whatever it takes to get it. For sexy shrimps that have trouble grabbing food, I would suggest using thongs to target feed to make sure they get their fill.

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Thank you so much for this topic! I have learned so much already. I wanted to put some Sexies in my 11g, but I got a Fire Shrimp due to impulse buying... don't we all know about that! Anyhow, I love my fire shrimp but he's very agressive. So, when I finally setup my 5.5 pico I know exactly what I want now just reading this thread. Great job Fab and Lalani for tag-teaming this thread and keeping up! Thank you!!

 

Keep Up The Good Work,

Polly

+1!!! Thanks so much guys! You are wonderful! This thread has been so helpful! Thanks a bunch!!!

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Great pics Fab! It is fun seeing them eat! I tried to get pics of mine eating but my camera sucks so no go! But I am getting a new one for my b-day in a few weeks. It should be great for tank pictures! I will post more when I get them!

 

 

 

 

Okay one more thing!

 

Would sexies eat a dead ricordea? Mine is MIA. It let go of it's rock so I am assuming it died? I can't find it anywhere. Do sexies eat dead stuff like that?

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John Hopkins

saw sexies first the first time face-to-face today !

they are so cute and tiny !

 

Just a few questions

 

1. would sexies host in the same coral/anemone as clownfish ?

or would the clowns kick them out ?

 

2. Also how many could i fit into a 28G tank

 

3. why is it best to keep them in groups of 3 ?

 

just trying to learn as much as possible before i get my tank, so that all of my fish and inverts will live long happy lives

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Would sexies eat a dead ricordea? Mine is MIA. It let go of it's rock so I am assuming it died? I can't find it anywhere. Do sexies eat dead stuff like that?

I'm really not sure if the sexies would eat it if its dead, I'm guessing they would. Are you sure the ric is dead? Mushrooms will detach from the rocks if they want to relocate.

 

1. would sexies host in the same coral/anemone as clownfish ?

or would the clowns kick them out ?

 

2. Also how many could i fit into a 28G tank

 

3. why is it best to keep them in groups of 3 ?

 

just trying to learn as much as possible before i get my tank, so that all of my fish and inverts will live long happy lives

1. If clownfish are hosting a coral, they will act aggressively to any critter that wants to host it also, because they want to protect it. Its possible that they can co-host ( :lol: ), but I doubt it.

 

2. In a 28gal. tank..... Hell, you could keep around 40 of the little suckers!

 

3. They feel more comfortable in groups, just like shoaling fish do. If you keep them in a group, it is much more likely that they will remain in the open where you can see them, instead of hiding.

 

Before you buy any sexies, make sure that all the other fish and critters that you want to add will be compatible with the them. Also, like all shrimp, they like mature and stable tanks.

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John Hopkins

ok, if i got a nem, and a pair of clownfish were hosting in it, would the sexies be safe in the same tank ?

 

and all the other fish would be fine :

atm im thinking

 

pair of clowns

clown goby

firefish OR a few pyjama cardinals

skunk cleaner

2/3 hermits

snails

 

lol 40 sexies in tank, thats funny ! :lol:

Edited by John Hopkins
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I'm really not sure if the sexies would eat it if its dead, I'm guessing they would. Are you sure the ric is dead? Mushrooms will detach from the rocks if they want to relocate.

 

Well, I posted about the ric on the beginners forum. I assumed it was dead because it detached but several people said the same as you, that it just relocated. I am hopeful that that is true! Still now sign of it. Hopefully it is okay. I will keep watching.

 

Thanks for the help!

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I just got back from my LFS. I got 3 new sexies so that make 5 now! I am pretty sure the two I had were females, two of the new one are males and the third new one I am not sure about yet. I am hoping to get a picture of them all together soon. They seem to be sticking together so far so I am hopeful that I can get some good shots!

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I just got back from my LFS. I got 3 new sexies so that make 5 now! I am pretty sure the two I had were females, two of the new one are males and the third new one I am not sure about yet. I am hoping to get a picture of them all together soon. They seem to be sticking together so far so I am hopeful that I can get some good shots!

Congrats! :D

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Thank you :)

 

It's s fuji finepix s5200, set one wide aperture, macro, manual focused as tight as it goes and pressed on the glass, also ISO and exposure turned way down. 25 pics later I have a few good ones, lol. :lol:

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el fabuloso

Awesome pics, Lalani! I like the orange polyps btw. :)

 

Last night I was feeding my sexies and one of them climbed up to the highest point in my tank almost like it was waiting anxiously. When I dropped the pellet in, the sexy jumped and caught it in mid water just as the current took it right past her! It was so cool to watch, too bad I couldn't catch it on camera. Maybe next time.

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Haha, they are funny. Lately, the female has been swinging her tail warningly at me every time I approach the tank.... but she still appreciates the food I give her.

I'm planning on doing a tank change and move. omgomgomg

The minibow is just a PITA to clean and now, if there is any pressure applied to the top rim, it starts leaking in one of the corners. Sooo, I'm going to transfer everything to a 2.5gal. aga.... That'll make 2 tank transfers (3 really) in the last month.

 

Edit: Forgot the moving part. I'm also going to move the tank into the media room. I'm going to install a shelf on the wall just for it and raise it up to around chest level.

Edited by Lalani
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Good luck Lalani. I hope the move goes okay. I loved the pictures!
Eek! I hate moving. Good luck with that! :P

Thanks you guys.... I need all the luck I can get. :scarry:

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I have question. Will I ever see my sexy shrimp again? I put 3 in my RSM 34, now I know that they should be kept in a much smaller tank. But for 2 days they hung together in a little circle and ate like crazy. on the 3rd morning it turned on the lights to see only one in the center of a rocordia and he crawled in a hole im my rock shortly after. I have seen only 1 at a time during moonlight hours since and rarely. Is this normal? I love to watch them but they are hiding all the time now. Any help would be great!

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Well from what I have learned (mostly form this thread) is that they do tend to disappear in larger tanks. Good luck! I hope you at least have a few sightings!

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