peppermint shrimp

Mbarnett93 · Sep 2, 2015

Hello! I just bought 3 peppermint shrimp on Sunday, I have since only seen 1 since I put them in my tank that day. Are they EXTREMELY super hiders or could something have eaten them?? I have two clowns, an engineer goby, 2 cleaner shrimp and a horseshoe crab. The lady at the store said they would all be compatible but didn't know if anyone had insight on this. Thanks!

Tahoe61 · Sep 2, 2015

Shrimp often molt right after introduction. Depending on the size of your tank the Cleaner shrimp might be an issue. I can see where if they molted they might still be in hiding.

Rutrag · Sep 2, 2015

They are much more secretive than the cleaners. I only see mine after lights out if I'm looking.

wish · Sep 2, 2015

If you want you could put a little food in the tank after the lights are off for about hour.
All my shrimps jump out of hiding

Mbarnett93 · Sep 2, 2015

I knew they were nocturnal but yeah ya I just never see them. I feed in the morning. Should I start feeding half in the morning and half at night ? I worry they don't get enough to eat even though they scavenge at night

wish · Sep 2, 2015

no just a little every now and then so you could just check them out. You don't want to too much so un eaten food. If you feed in the morning you should see them starting coming out of the rocks looking for food when they start to feel safe.

Mbarnett93 · Sep 2, 2015

Yeah I look for them every morning when I feed. Haven't seen them. Seen one poking his head out when I got home from work.

rogerrgr · Sep 3, 2015

Mine always hid very well in the rockwork when first introduced. I could find them at night with a flashlight. Most of the times that I couldn't find them, they were in my overflow box.

Mbarnett93 · Sep 4, 2015

The only sign that they are there is they are taking care of my tiny aiptasia infestation lol

Mbarnett93 · Sep 9, 2015

Okay I now have not seen any peppermints for a week. I look for them at night with my light and nothing. Could they be dead somewhere ? Not sure what's going on...

kuba · Sep 9, 2015

I have 2 peppermint shrimp that I see once or twice a month... I wouldn't worry there pretty hearty.

Mbarnett93 · Sep 10, 2015

Ok makes me feel a little better. Lol

650-IS350 · Sep 10, 2015

Rutrag said:
They are much more secretive than the cleaners. I only see mine after lights out if I'm looking.

Agree, the minute I put mine in the tank, went straight to hiding, only shows up some time after all lights are off. That's the time I see them hunting and taking out aiptasia.

SBlisters · Jan 19, 2017

I don't know if my Peppermint shrimp is just an insane spaz or what, but she eats out of my hand!
Actually, she runs out when she sees me, then dances. If I feed my clown, she uses the edge of the glass to swim up to the water line, then grabs my fingers and starts pulling food from them, in and around my clown eating. BTW, my clown started eating from my fingers first, so I think he taught the shrimp to do this.

It's so crazy!! She started it just a few days ago, after a progression from just waiting, to wall climbing, to THIS. I'm a little concerned that her next trick will be climbing out of the tank and just raiding the food storage.

I've had this shrimp for a few months. Her timid period didn't last very long. Maybe I've got the world's most extroverted Peppermint shrimp.