Peppermint Shrimp

[stumpdog]

How many should I have in a 55 gallon? I am getting some to help with small aptasia. Are they harmful to any snails that you know of?
Tanks-
Jeremy

 

[aarone]

Go with 2 or 3. They dont hurt snails, well at least mine did not touh my snails when they were in my 55 gallon.

 

[huckleberry]

yeah, i have two in my 55 gallon tank...
they don't hurt or bother my snails at all.. as a matter of fact they are prettty laid back shrimp...
they just kick back and eat...

 

[shanev]

Odds are if you dont look at the tank at night you will not see them very often. I see mine at night and occasionally at feeding time.

 

[jp0379]

They are no prob..........as I posted on another string, mine are fairly active during the day as well as night. They dont' mess with nobody!

 

[ekclark]

I would get three, then maybe a few other kinds of shrimp--scarlet cleaner. The peppermint are cool, but they will eat sand critters and I have seen mine munching bits of coral in the past. They will spawn once a month for you, which is cool, but none of the young will make it. All and all, I like these guys and I would grab some if I were you.

 

[stumpdog]

I thought peppermint shrimp where totally reef safe. Has anyone else had any problems like this?
Tanks-
Jeremy

 

[marvida]

There are several types of Pepps out there. For aptasia the best ones I have found are a little brighter with no black smudges on their tails. In Sprungs Invertebrate book he shows pics of both, the brighter one having the caption uder the pic saying they maybe helpful with aptasia. The one with the black smudges don't have this notation. It appears to depend where the shrimp is from (is aptasia on the menu where the shrimp originates) I currently am running tests on both types trying to verify. I have never had any problems with either type bothering tankmates or corals. For aptasia control they seem to do a better job initially in groups of 3+. For maintainence I have had good luck with only one.

 

[ekclark]

My peps are from swf.com and I would consider them to be pretty reef safe. The coral they went after was my flower pot, that I guess could sort of look like an anemone. That is the other thing, they will eat anemones. They don't bother any of my other corals, other than to steal their food of course.