Peppermint Shrimp still a viable method for aiptasia control?

[Tx Medic]

Just wondering how many people out there us peppermint shrimp to control aiptasia and how many people do not trust them. I Know this is an ongoing argument between a lot of reefers.

 

[Tahoe61]

I used peppermint shrimp successfully for aiptasia. Feed then twice daily and they still picked at my LPS. One day they decided they liked the taste of Mini-maxi anemones and ate everyone of mine.

 

[rock_lobster]

they have always been model citizens for me and eaten every aiptasia in my tank for the past 10 years in many many different tanks.

 

[Ryan2428]

Love my pepermint shrimp eat all the aiptasia plus my kids love watching them sway back and forth as they move lol

 

[Dr_Steve]

The confusion arises because there are many diff types of peppermint shrimp sold. Some LFS unfortunately buy the wrong kind. The Pepps you want to avoid are Lysmata Bogessi. They look like the others except they have a black/dark tail fin. I lost a lot of coral before I learned this. See pic.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

The confusion arises because there are many diff types of peppermint shrimp sold. Some LFS unfortunately buy the wrong kind. The Pepps you want to avoid are Lysmata Bogessi. They look like the others except they have a black/dark tail fin. I lost a lot of coral before I learned this. See pic.

Can you expound a little more on the differences? Thank you.

 

[tamy C]

Love mine as well, I do not have them in a reef tank. I keep them in a seahorse tank. . they love to eat the babies as well.

 

[Oliver94]

That's true! I got a peppermint shrimp that had that black fading tail.. In the beginning it was perfect it ate all the aiptasia! Problem solved!

But once I introduced corals,surprise!! it is eating them..One night I was checking my coral I found her on my plate coral eating it proudly lol

I lost my plate coral because of it.. I tried to catch it to put it in the sump,but didn't work,anyway I didn't see it from a while(more than a month).I hope it is dead!

 

[amoore311]

I don't think LFS have a choice on what species they bring in, unless they are dealing with specific regional distributors (especially if Live Aquaria doesn't). I am surprised that they lump all of these peppermint shrimp into one category, if in fact one species is more prone to picking at coral than others....

The Western Atlantic Peppermint Shrimp complex Lysmata wurdemanni has been reclassified in 2006 by Andrew L. Rhyne and Junda Lin based on their morphology and color pattern. See the article here. In general, peppermint shrimp from different regions can easily be identified to species level by their color patterns. Our peppermint shrimp are from either the Florida Keys or the Gulf of Mexico and are most often Lysmata boggessi, a species proven to consume Aiptaisa (Rhyne et al. 2004). We occasionally receive other species from the Lysmata wurdemannicomplex. We have consulted with Dr. Rhyne and he has confirmed that all species of peppermint shrimp he has tested in the laboratory consume Aiptasia. Differences in exact collection location often dictates what species we have in stock. The exact species that will be shipped to your door is one of the following listed below. The exact species you receive will vary based on the time of year, weather conditions, freight space, and inventory levels. All of the following species make ideal scavengers and prey on the pest anemone Aiptasia pallida.

Florida Bay and Atlantic - L. wurdemanni
Caribbean - L. ankeri
Florida Bay and Gulf of Mexico - L. boggessi
South Western Florida Keys - L. rafa

 

[SAWDUSTINTANK]

I had a few in my reef tank sometime ago. Until one day I purchased an open brain coral. The next morning I woke up to see all peppermint shrimp eating the open brain coral. They had eaten so much of it that it could not recover. Needless to say, I will not purchase this type of shrimp again.

 

[FL_Reefer]

I had a few on some frags and my peppermint shrimp ate them like nobody's business. I feel they are a great, natural way of dealing with this pest nem. Now every frag I buy after dipping I place it by their home in the rocks just in case there are any.

 

[Sully]

Mine took care of the aiptasia. Unfortunately, at feeding time, he now steals from everything else that gets a piece. I've seen him steal a Mysis shrimp right out of my yumas mouth several times.

 

[Dr_Steve]

I sent photos of the Pepps I was able to catch(soda bottle trap) to Dr Rhyne and he was extremely helpful and identified them as L. Bogessi and advised that they are not as reef safe the other types. (This is after watching half my LPS and soft coral mysteriously disappear over a few weeks) Unless you are a marine biologist, which I am not, the easiest way to tell IMO is by the color of the tail.

 

[hllywd]

If I could find some with an appetite for mushrooms, I'd buy them in a heartbeat!

That said, I had super luck with the a few years ago in a 120 that was an aiptasia farm, wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

 

[birdmandan]

That's true! I got a peppermint shrimp that had that black fading tail.. In the beginning it was perfect it ate all the aiptasia! Problem solved!

But once I introduced corals,surprise!! it is eating them..One night I was checking my coral I found her on my plate coral eating it proudly lol

I lost my plate coral because of it.. I tried to catch it to put it in the sump,but didn't work,anyway I didn't see it from a while(more than a month).I hope it is dead!

I didn't see mine for nearly 2 months, did a tank transfer earlier this year, and POOF. He was back.