Peppermint shrimp do work

trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
Sooner or later I believe everyone in this hobby will have to deal with Apstasia. Ive tried everything from Joes juice to lemon juice and even peppermint shrimp. None of them worked, until now. My tank was over run with 100 plus apstasias, they were also in my sump/refugium. About 3 months ago I thought I would try peppermints again. I bought 5 of them but this time I only put 3 in the tank and the other 2 in the refugium. After a couple weeks I noticed that the apstasias in the refugium were all gone.(The only other things in the refugium are macroalgae, bristleworms, pods and snails.) So this got me to thinking that maybe the shrimp in the tank never ate the apstasias because I was always feeding the tank and I wasnt feeding the refugium. So I cut back on feeding the tank to every other day and sometimes only once a week. I then started noticing that the apstasias in the tank were disappearing. I then captured the shrimp in the refugium and put them in the tank with the others. Now I am down to only 5 apstasias.
So my advise is, if possible, starve the shrimp for a week or two before putting them in your tank and cut back on feeding your tank. It worked for me and it just may work for you.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Ah the thing we learn as we go, priceless. This is also why algae eaters don’t clean up algae like they should. People get them and then feed them algae sheets. You don’t have to starve your shrimp, I believe you are overfeeding the tank and the shrimp being part of your CUC, are cleaning up the uneaten food.
People with saltwater tanks, especially when they have a refugium don’t need to feed their tank like it’s a freshwater one. The fish spend the day hunting and eating the wee critters that live in the rocks. Unlike a freshwater tank our fish have food besides what you feed them.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3269016
People with saltwater tanks, especially when they have a refugium don’t need to feed their tank like it’s a freshwater one. The fish spend the day hunting and eating the wee critters that live in the rocks. Unlike a freshwater tank our fish have food besides what you feed them.
When I flip my lights on, my clown comes to the front of the glass and plucks each little copepod off the glass and then swims to the back of the tank. It's his breakfast buffet :)
 
S

surfjnkie9

Guest
I had a bad aptasia problem for a while. I researched all the ways to get rid of them and finally someone told me about pepperiment shrimp. I bought one and within two days the little guy had eaten them all.
Easiest solution ever!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Surfjnkie9
http:///forum/post/3276959
I had a bad aptasia problem for a while. I researched all the ways to get rid of them and finally someone told me about pepperiment shrimp. I bought one and within two days the little guy had eaten them all.
Easiest solution ever!

 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Surfjnkie9
http:///forum/post/3276959
I had a bad aptasia problem for a while. I researched all the ways to get rid of them and finally someone told me about pepperiment shrimp. I bought one and within two days the little guy had eaten them all.
Easiest solution ever!
YEAH....Until you get a flame hawk and your peppermint shrimp disappear
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3269016
The fish spend the day hunting and eating the wee critters that live in the rocks. Unlike a freshwater tank our fish have food besides what you feed them.
My freshwater tank has lots of Copepods, Amphipods, and baby Shrimp that the fish hunt all day.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/3277008
My freshwater tank has lots of Copepods, Amphipods, and baby Shrimp that the fish hunt all day.


Oh so true on a nice mature and properly done freshwater tank, and only if we use live plants and rock. Unfortunately most folks never reach that perfect balance because they use plastic décor and fake plants, then spend all their time scrubbing the algae off of everything and vacuuming the gravel. I’m surprised the fish live let alone critters for them to eat...
LOL... such was my fathers two 55g tanks, his stayed cloudy with ammonia. My Mothers back went out tying to help him keep it up.
 
kc19

kc19

New Member
opps, maybe thats where all my pepermint shrimp went?? I bought a falco's hawk and noticed most of my peppermint have dissapeared.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by KC19
http:///forum/post/3277623
opps, maybe thats where all my pepermint shrimp went?? I bought a falco's hawk and noticed most of my peppermint have dissapeared.
Could be.....I had 3 BIG pepps....got the flame hawk and now have none :( I love the flame hawk though
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
make sure and keep at least one peppermint shrimp in there for future clean up duty as there will likley be some new sprouts after the initial kill off. you'll never see the new sprouts if you keep a peppermint around.
 
scrapman

scrapman

Member
Originally Posted by trainfever
http:///forum/post/3269003
Sooner or later I believe everyone in this hobby will have to deal with Apstasia. Ive tried everything from Joes juice to lemon juice and even peppermint shrimp. None of them worked, until now. My tank was over run with 100 plus apstasias, they were also in my sump/refugium. About 3 months ago I thought I would try peppermints again. I bought 5 of them but this time I only put 3 in the tank and the other 2 in the refugium. After a couple weeks I noticed that the apstasias in the refugium were all gone.(The only other things in the refugium are macroalgae, bristleworms, pods and snails.) So this got me to thinking that maybe the shrimp in the tank never ate the apstasias because I was always feeding the tank and I wasnt feeding the refugium. So I cut back on feeding the tank to every other day and sometimes only once a week. I then started noticing that the apstasias in the tank were disappearing. I then captured the shrimp in the refugium and put them in the tank with the others. Now I am down to only 5 apstasias.
So my advise is, if possible, starve the shrimp for a week or two before putting them in your tank and cut back on feeding your tank. It worked for me and it just may work for you.

Thanks trainfever..... exactly the info I was looking for
 
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