How reef safe are shrimp?

[Kirschy17]

hey guys,

Im currently on the fence of giving away my 3 lysmata wurdemanni peppermint shrimp. They are looking really healthy and they have grown quite a bit since ive gotten them snd they are actually spawning frequently but they go after coral. For me they only went after acans and a discosoma but thats plenty allready. I actually managed to grow a healthy acan by pulling it in a fry net every time it got attacked untill it was healthy enough to idk not be attacked? They only go for weak, freshly added ones which is bad enough.

Now im wondering what species of shrimp would be the reefsafest? Cleanershrimp or maybe the red fire ones? Or am i just unlucky and maybe trade for different wurdemannis?

 

[reef lover]

Imo all shrimp will pick at and steal food from corals.

 

[ThunderGoose]

I've had good luck with shrimp in my tank. Yes, they steal food from corals but they haven't noticeably harmed any corals. I have skunk cleaner, peppermint (from Florida - I think some that are sold as peppermint from other areas might be a different species and are reputed to be trouble makers), sexy, Pederson's anemone shrimp and mantis shrimp.

One reason I got into reefing was the invertebrates and I really enjoy watching my shrimp. Especially the sexy and Pederson's in my nano tank. So I may be more tolerant of stealing food from corals than a lot of folks.

 

[Kirschy17]

Same for me, i like inverts and i also like peppermints since they are beneficial in the means of controling aptasia which i had on my lr initially. Never seen abit of it since then. Sadly mine do go ham on acans and most recently a hammer coral. They may or may not be attracted by food but they pick on the coral mouths to the point where the flesh is gone. I really like acans tough so i dont wanna cut on the corals eighter.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Peppermints are notorious for attacking certain LPS corals. They can be hit it miss, but once they start attacking they won't stop. Years ago I had a frog spawn that was being damaged, couldn't figure out why until I caught the peppermints eating it. It was a healthy specimen until they got a hold of it.

It's best to capture the peppermints and rehome them. Camelback shrimp don't seem to have this problem, peppermints do. Camelback's are sometimes sold as peppermints. Knowing the difference is key.

 

[Kirschy17]

Ive heard camelbacks are the worst haha. Im from europe and mine are actually lysmata wurdemanni shrimp. Where i bought them u didnt hear about them having a potential risk. Also i chose them since i wsnted them as aptaisia prevention. (Even brstv recommended them and used them in their brs 160 show tank)

Since i have issues i read about them taking on corals occasionally. Ill try swaping them at a lfs then maybe.

Which species would u recommend to get . Ill propably take 1 cleaner at least since they seem beneficial against pests.