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Peppermint shrimp.

post #1 of 27
1/29/12 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 

 Hello all, How long do Peppermint shrimp live in captivity? Normal life span in a 40 gallon tank. They are already one year old and 1-1/2 inches long. Very healthy little buggers.

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post #2 of 27
1/29/12 at 12:08pm

Normal lifespan is 2 - 3 years.  Keep in mind that they may be a year or so old if they were over an inch when you purchased them.

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post #3 of 27
1/29/12 at 12:20pm

WOW....only 2-3 years.....hmmmm.....I am glad when I order from Swf they are small....so I know they are young......most of the time they will hide and you won't see them until they are bigger anyway (and at night)

 

for example.....I had added 5 to my 54G while it was remaining fallow ....never saw them again....figured they died  :(   this was a couple of months ago

 

LO AND BEHOLD.....last night I was checking out things after dark....and saw a peppermint shrimp   haha...so there MAY be more......who knows...

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post #4 of 27
1/30/12 at 11:32am
Thread Starter 

I got them from SWF and they were really tiny. I got them to eat Aptasia on the live rock and they did a good job of it too! Never saw another Aptasia. Now I have 7 of them and they are very aggressive and attack anything I put in the tank. I have to feed them silver sides to distract them if I put a new animal in my tank. They will even steal food from my bubble tip. They try to dig up cleaner clams even.

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post #5 of 27
1/30/12 at 11:46am

wow... should have grabbed smaller ones,..

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post #6 of 27
1/30/12 at 7:46pm

Oh wow....I had no idea that Peppermint shrimp only lived 2-3 years. Do Skunk Cleaner Shrimp have the same lifespan? 

 

 

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post #7 of 27
1/31/12 at 5:30am

In my experience Skunk Cleaners live longer than that but I've never kept one past 4 years.  Perhaps someone else here has.

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post #8 of 27
1/31/12 at 4:18pm
Thread Starter 

I got a skunk cleaner with a few Hermits about 5years ago. He is still hanging in with the rest. It shows no sign of slowing down .

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post #9 of 27
1/31/12 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevewieters View Post

I got a skunk cleaner with a few Hermits about 5years ago. He is still hanging in with the rest. It shows no sign of slowing down .



party.gif

 

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post #10 of 27
1/31/12 at 8:00pm

hmmm....I wonder how old mine is? He's already full grown. I'd love to add some more shrimp, but I'm afraid that unless they are the same size as him then he'd kill them. He's pretty aggressive and doesn't seem afraid of anything!

 

Do you think I should risk it and add a couple of full grown Peppermints or let him remain king shrimp of his little kingdom?  

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post #11 of 27
2/1/12 at 8:02pm
Nope, I wouldn't add anything smaller then him. From what I have heard and read, it will attack what's smaller then himself usually.
Correct me if I'm wrong as always. :)
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post #12 of 27
2/2/12 at 5:37am

Usually the problem is when they are a lot smaller.  Slightly smaller is probably safe.

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post #13 of 27
2/2/12 at 6:47am

I had some baby shrimp hatch...they were everywhere and they were eaten in one night, it was a peppermint shrimp feast...none of little ones survived

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post #14 of 27
2/2/12 at 12:42pm

 

 

Quote:
I had some baby shrimp hatch...they were everywhere and they were eaten in one night, it was a peppermint shrimp feast...none of little ones survived

Yikes, it's certainly survival of the fittest in our aquariums! I'm glad that the baby shrimp hatched in your aquarium, and that it wasn't a situation where you spent money on them at the LFS only to be an expensive feast :) 

 

 

 

Quote:
I got a skunk cleaner with a few Hermits about 5years ago.

How big was the skunk cleaner when you got him? 

 

Quote:
Slightly smaller is probably safe.

Thanks Bang Guy! I guess the only thing that concerns me is if I find some slightly smaller Peppermint shrimp, they'd still have to be full grown....then I wouldn't really know how old they were and if they'd croak in the near future. I guess I'll just have to weigh my options and if I happen to find a good deal on some full grown (but hopefully not to old) Peppermints. 

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post #15 of 27
2/2/12 at 8:33pm



 

Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza View Post

 

 

Yikes, it's certainly survival of the fittest in our aquariums! I'm glad that the baby shrimp hatched in your aquarium, and that it wasn't a situation where you spent money on them at the LFS only to be an expensive feast :) 

 

 

 


LOL...I noticed little somethings swimming all over and the shrimp catching them. I knew I saw eggs in the abdoman of one of the shrimps and figured that must be what it was. I don't do baby anything, they always become part of the food chain. Baby seahorses really bother me to see die...but no way can I save them.
 

 

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post #16 of 27
2/3/12 at 5:28am

Each of your shrimp will probably release fry every 4 weeks now for as long as they have enough food. 

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post #17 of 27
2/3/12 at 2:06pm

 

 

Quote:
Baby seahorses really bother me to see die...but no way can I save them.

Oh no, really!? How come they can't be saved?

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post #18 of 27
2/4/12 at 6:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza View Post

 

 

Oh no, really!? How come they can't be saved?

Well for one they get sucked into a normal filter, so you would need a special designed tank or tub to put them in...for two they require round the clock care to feed them newly hatched baby brine shrimp, and for three they have to be weaned onto frozen and you lose them by the hundreds. TeresaQ managed to keep some of her babies alive, I think 6 made it in the end. They are so teeny, tiny when they are born.

 

I really admire anyone who can keep baby seahorses alive.  

 

 

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post #19 of 27
2/5/12 at 10:25pm

oh wow....that sounds like a LOT of obstacles! It's amazing that any significant number are bred in captivity. I totally agree with you, it must take an enormous amount of experience and dedication to keep any babies alive. 

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post #20 of 27
2/7/12 at 9:54am

IMO there is no answer for a normal life span of anything we keep in our home closed systems. There are just too many variables from tank to tank to have any reliable guide lines

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