Shrimp appreciation thread ~

[Dolphins18]

Hello,

 

Shrimp are not only a vital part of any aquarium (assuming conditions are right) but they also can be incredibly beautiful and fascinating pet's if taken care of correctly. 

This thread is simply for people to spread knowledge about all the wonderful species of shrimp; but also to inform others on your successes and failures when it comes to keeping different species of shrimp.

 

I am no expert but ill start with talking about the coral banded I have had for about 4 and a half years. The first time he molted (essentially getting rid of dry skin, but it appears as an entire "shell") I thought he was dead, becoming one with the mp40. Though I have seen shrimp molt before, I have never a shell look so lifelike. 

 

All it took was a feeding and he was happy as ever, though they will not survive in a tank with predator fish, or inverts. They are very vulnerable after molting and should not be with predator's, and should be given plenty of spots to hide and feel safe, as we do in our homes. 

 

I will share my experience with several different shrimp species - I have had dozens of peppermints throughout the years, never seeing one last longer than 2 years, Great shrimp for aiptasia, yet only two of many species actually eat aiptasia. The main one being  Lysmata Wurdemanni. Attached you can find a picture of many different peppermint species (Species A. is the Lysmata Wurdemanni). Please, if you are looking for aiptasia eating shrimp, use this guide, if not for the animals sake, do it for your wallet. 

 

 

I do believe one other very unpopular species eats aiptasia as well, if someone could chime if they know which one it is, that would be awesome. 

 

 

I suggest a mixture of food for these animals as well as any other inhabitants, a mixture of brine shrimp, scallops, tang food (algae) as well as mysis, and a steady supply of pods is important for long term health and happiness. 

 

I have also had blood red shrimp, however the longest I had one live is just over 2 years, I believe the coral banded may have been the previous blood reds demise. 

Most shrimp are incredible scavengers and will eat most of the "leftovers" in the tank, but some - like this big coral banded can prey on other inverts. If you keep a coral banded and want other shrimp to survive long term, I suggest you keep it alone in any tank under 150 gallons total volume. 

 

Here is a pic of the guy I have had for the past few years. To scale, each one of the Ricordeas (red mushrooms on the right) is about 3" in diameter. From tail to claw the shrimp is about 4-5in.  Ill get a much better picture tomorrow when the lights are on full, but this is him about 6 months ago. I have never seen a shrimp live close to this long in my experience and this post is to learn about your experiences and share knowledge as every animal introduced to the aquarium is indeed a living animal and I find it important to give them the best possible chance at survival and happiness. 

The following post will show a picture of the coral banded, as I feel the peppermint shrimp info should be seen by everyone. 

 

Thank you:) I have not been on the forums for many years but knowledge is key in this hobby, and I love learning new things every day. 

 

Happy reef keeping!

 

 

Thx for the pic @ 

Authors: Rhyne, Andrew L.; Lin, Junda

Source: Bulletin of Marine Science, Volume 79, Number 1, July 2006, pp. 165-204(40)

Publisher: University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science

 

Read the full study if you are interested, it is full of great info!

 

[mndfreeze]

2 years sounds about right for a fire shrimp.  Mine just died the other day and he was about 2.5ish and was mid-size when I purchased him.  He just sort of stopped eating for like 2 weeks then died.

 

[Tired]

Camel shrimp will eat aiptasia, and also your other corals and related inverts. They look a bit like a slightly bumpier peppermint shrimp, and they're very pretty, but they're no good for reefs. Good if you wanted a fowlr cleaned of aiptasia, though. 

[NanoBob]

Just introduced a peppermint shrimp into my tank and I found him eating my richordia. I am sure he was eating it as I watched it pulled several polyps off.  Is this unusual behavior?

 

Cheers!

Bob.

[RoyalGramma001]

Don't forget the pistol shrimp!

[Simulated Fish]

2 hours ago, NanoBob said:

Just introduced a peppermint shrimp into my tank and I found him eating my richordia. I am sure he was eating it as I watched it pulled several polyps off.  Is this unusual behavior?

 

Cheers!

Bob.

You sure he was eating it and not damaged flesh and/or algae on it?

[Ryan noble]

Has anyone experienced cleaner shrimp eating zoas I got 4 new  Species of zoa the other day and the little bugger has eaten 4 polyps of pink incinerator zoa but thankfully left the others alone is this a common thing or a sign I'm not feeding him enough 

[thecoralbeauty]

15 hours ago, Simulated Fish said:

You sure he was eating it and not damaged flesh and/or algae on it?

 

 

18 hours ago, NanoBob said:

Just introduced a peppermint shrimp into my tank and I found him eating my richordia. I am sure he was eating it as I watched it pulled several polyps off.  Is this unusual behavior?

 

Cheers!

Bob.

I recently stuck about 6 peppermints in my tank to deal with an aptasia outbreak that i've never really controlled over the last several years. They cleaned it up in about a week and then started eating my RFA's and Tube anemones. That was the bridge too far- My tube nems have been with me about a decade now. 

Get a bottle trap in there. I got 4 of the six with frozen food/pellet bait (put the trap in after lights go out so you dont catch your fish instead) and the last two i coaxed into the trap by putting a sacrificial brown RFA in the trap. 

 

it's rare that this happens, but it DOES happen, and yea it looks like that poor ric got nibbled on. It should recover if the shrimp is removed. It took 3 days for my nems to perk back up from being picked at.

 

edit to add: I also had scraped my hand in the tank re-arranging some rocks a few weeks ago before this all happened.... a peppermint shrimp immediately came out of the shadows and went for the drop of blood on my knuckle and started picking away at the skin around the scrape. I was horrified! 😱 I still have a cleaner shrimp in the tank and have had no issues with it yet.

[Simulated Fish]

2 hours ago, thecoralbeauty said:

 

edit to add: I also had scraped my hand in the tank re-arranging some rocks a few weeks ago before this all happened.... a peppermint shrimp immediately came out of the shadows and went for the drop of blood on my knuckle and started picking away at the skin around the scrape. I was horrified! 😱 I still have a cleaner shrimp in the tank and have had no issues with it yet.

your telling me you never get the spa treatment with nibbler fish and shrimp! 😆 stick a foot in and let em go crazy LOL

[NanoBob]

On 3/26/2021 at 5:59 PM, Simulated Fish said:

You sure he was eating it and not damaged flesh and/or algae on it?

Yes very sure, I caught it in the act.  Several days later one of my scarlet legged hermits ended up losing a couple legs that the shrimp was munching on.  It has since been removed.

 

Cheers!