Experience with peppermint shrimp for aiptasia?

[Ckane2]

I have some aiptasia popping up around my tank and irritating some of my corals. I have heard both good and bad things about using peppermint shrimp for aiptasia eradication, the only reason I have not already done it is because I’ve heard they like to pick at corals as well. Just trying to get an idea of people’s experience with this both good and bad, please share your opinion.

 

[Highgrade]

Back when I did have Aiptasia I used peppermint shrimp and majano wand to eradicate them.

 

[lapin]

They can work but will not eat the large ones. My peppermints eat Ricordea like its candy.

 

[theMeat]

Haven’t experienced them bothering other coral, but have experienced them not bothering aptasia too. If you get tank raised you’v got a better chance of them eating them

 

[Dana Riddle]

Worked for me. I added two to a 120-gallon reef that had a few Aiptasia, although it took several weeks for the shrimp to eat them all.

 

[Ckane2]

Are they compatible with cleaner shrimp?

 

[Leadfooted]

they said peppermints are okay

and there went my LPS one by one

 

[VB313]

Worked for me the shrimp didn’t last long free the apt aptasia was gone my cleaner shrimp started beating it up during feedings

 

[Conor_K]

Worked for me. I added two to a 120-gallon reef that had a few Aiptasia, although it took several weeks for the shrimp to eat them all.

My exact experience recently. So far so good.

 

[Ckane2]

they said peppermints are okay

and there went my LPS one by one

Only your LPS? I don’t have any LPS so

 

[Redleg]

I had a pair that ate aptasia then went rogue and ate my acans and zoas

 

[X-37B]

I have a fire shrimp and cleaner shrimo and 3 peppeemint shrimps in my 120. All aptasia go e except 1 large one. I will nuke it with f-aptasia this weekend.
All shrimps get along well.
Have had the fire and cleaner for 1.5 years in my nano now 7 months in my 120.
I feed them pellets at nite a couple times a week.

 

[Leadfooted]

Only your LPS? I don’t have any LPS so

They are the stomachs of Blasto’s and acans. No issues with my SPS at all.

 

[Duncan Tse]

Bought 2 for my 40 gallon tank and they ate all the aiptasia. Took a couple weeks but I haven't seen one since.

 

[ScottR]

Peppermints ate my acans but I’m cool because they ate all the aiptaisa. Peppermints will eat almost anything except algae and SPS.

 

[Greg Goby]

I bought a peppermint shrimp from my LFS a few months ago for this exact purpose. The very first thing he did when I put him in was find a hole to hide in. The very next thing he did was make a snack of the tips of my green torch polyps. The next morning I saw this.

 

[jda]

There are about seven different kinds of peppermint shrimp from different places in the Gulf. The Florida Keys variety are the best at eating Aips and also leaving coral alone. I have never found them to want to eat coral, but if you do not feed them, they are not going to starve - they cannot live on detritus alone. In this same case, your or I would eat coral too.

If you cannot be sure where your peppermints are from, order direct from a Florida Keys diver like Reeftopia - there are others too.

 

[Mical]

As @jda mentioned there are many types of them and many that resemble peppermint shrimp (that's a majority of the problem) most LFS don't know what they're selling. I tried peppermint shrimp and they barely came out from under rocks for months. I ended up successfully ridding myself of aiptasia w/ORA aiptasia eating filefish. They're shy and eat only at night & mine took almost two weeks before they devoured an infested tank - big or small the thrashed through it. I have a pair in both tanks the easily eat pellets, mysis and are model citizens.

 

[Dana Riddle]

The Peppermints I mentioned were coming out of the Keys.

 

[jda]

Like the rest of this hobby, details matter... When in doubt, get your peppermint shrimp, pincushion urchins and emerald crabs from the FLORIDA KEYS. They are the most hardy and most reef safe. Stuff up the Atlantic coast is OK at times, but not as good as the key's varieties of most stuff. The peppermints from Texas and Louisiana are often coral eaters - they don't live on the reef, so it makes sense that they are not reef safe.

If you find a solution, keep it around. Don't sell your copperband, filefish, peppermints, etc... or the aiptasia will repopulate because there is always one or two in a crevice or small hole that the predator cannot get to.

Keep in mind that they will only live a few years, so you have to be restocking. I grow the fresh/small ones in my fuge until they are dark red and good size - a few weeks on pellets or flakes will grow them quite well.

Find a good supplier and stick with them - I gave you all mine.