is there a...ummm...POINT...to pepperment shrimp?

[king_nothing_]

Like...what do they DO? from what I gather, they just sit around in a little cluster and try to look important. I understand that they technically eat detritus or whatever off the bottom of your tank, but there are other, less expensive things that can do that. And also these small shrimp seem to be what almsot every fish warns you not to keep with them cause they'll get eaten. So...what do pepperment shrimp do? Other than burn through 10 bucks?

 

[warlock_king]

peppermint shrimp are generally around 5 bucks in my area.. but that makes no difference. what they do is clean up at night usually. they are good at taking care of aptasia if you have any and are in general a fun addition to a reef tank. cool to look at in the day if you can find them and fun to watch doing there thing at night running about and cleaning up.

 

[king_nothing_]

oh ok, so they do actualyl run around cleaning stuff up? every time I see them at the LFS they're just in a little group in the corner. doign literally nothing.

 

[reefer545]

Mine have taken care of all Aiptasia I could not remove myself or with Joes Juice. I would reccommend them for anybody with aiptasia. They constantly are cleaning, but at night is definitely the best to see them move around.

 

[alex4286]

They get rid of one of the most annoying problems and thats Aiptasia outbreaks. They eat em up! & at my LFS they're $6 a pop. Definitely worth every cent!

 

[trish&dave]

Mine have been eating my green tip mushroom. I have loads of glass anemonies and they still want my mushrooms.....Any thoughts?

 

[m0nk]

Mine eat leftover food, aiptasia, and sometimes just general cleaning. They're usually a bit more active at night, but also come out at feeding time. I've read that they sometimes eat certain pests that come in on coral frags (not sure if this meant aside from any aiptasia), but just in case, I'll be putting a few in my frag tank when that's finished cycling.

 

[reefmate75]

if you see aiptasia i would get a few just to nip it in the but befor they get out of hand....this is a pic from this site...they are cheap...group of 5 for 17.99 cant beat that!

 

[nano reefer]

mine clean up my nano. When i put in a new coral, they pounce on it and clean it to squeaky clean. They also eat Aiptasia, my rock in my nano was loaded and havent had one since i put them in. And they look good.

 

[bewaretheblond]

mine are a pain. they are great for the aipstasia, but after that's gone you are stuck with them. they make it make it nearly impossible to feed my brittle stars. the shrimp steal the food out of the tongs, and even out of the starfish's arms. i have to throw a bunch of food on the other side of the tank to try to distract them.

 

[fatcat]

WOW!!! Thats cheap for shrimp. I'm from canada and cleaner shrimp here a $18-$25 EACH. (i think i should move to the USA every thing seems cheaper there)

 

[lecithin]

I bought mine for 5$ and it generally stays in its cave (also my gobby's cave) until its feeding time or night time. It does move around during the day but is much less active then at night. It has never been a bother to me, hasn't ever taken food from anything, and does a great job at cleaning/picking at things that are I can't.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by FaTcAt
WOW!!! Thats cheap for shrimp. I'm from canada and cleaner shrimp here a $18-$25 EACH. (i think i should move to the USA every thing seems cheaper there)
Cleaner shrimp around here are that much too, but peppermint aren't the usual cleaner shrimp... cleaner shrimp are technically called that because they clean parasites in the wild, which most peppermint shrimp don't do, so they're a lot cheaper.