Peppermint Shrimp And Companions

[guidedbyechoes]

researching while I get my tank back in shape are there any other inverts besides mantis shrimp that should be avoided. I know that cleaners don't like certain shrimp as cohabitants at least.

 

[Chad]

researching while I get my tank back in shape are there any other inverts besides mantis shrimp that should be avoided. I know that cleaners don't like certain shrimp as cohabitants at least.

It depends on what else you have in the tank. For example skunk cleaner shrimp and scarlet shrimp don't get along well with each other. Coral banded shrimp hate everyone and pick on corals. Camel shrimp pick on corals. I have 2 skunk cleaners, a tiger pistol, 10 sexy shrimp and 8 peppermint shrimp in my tank. They all get along nicely.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

researching while I get my tank back in shape are there any other inverts besides mantis shrimp that should be avoided. I know that cleaners don't like certain shrimp as cohabitants at least.

It depends on what else you have in the tank. For example skunk cleaner shrimp and scarlet shrimp don't get along well with each other. Coral banded shrimp hate everyone and pick on corals. Camel shrimp pick on corals. I have 2 skunk cleaners, a tiger pistol, 10 sexy shrimp and 8 peppermint shrimp in my tank. They all get along nicely.

55 gallon reef with softies just he peppermint shrimp, emerald crab and the rest of the inverts are snails and for fish I have a melanurus wrasse and a firefish. I used to have a cleaner but they don't live that long for what you pay for them. I'd like a pistol but they can be temperamental depending on what you keep with them I hear.

 

[Chad]

I would avoid arrow crabs, camel shrimp, coral banded shrimp as far as shrimp go.
I recommend skunk cleaners, peppermint.
Though I do love and recommend sexy shrimp I do not recommend them with many wrasse since the wrasse you have is known to eat shrimp.
Emerald crabs are fine. They are algae eaters and will die if they don't get enough of the stuff.
Of the hermits the scarlet hermit is probably the best one to get. They don't mess with corals, eat algae and detritus and are generally all around good crabs.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I would avoid arrow crabs, camel shrimp, coral banded shrimp as far as shrimp go.
I recommend skunk cleaners, peppermint.
Though I do love and recommend sexy shrimp I do not recommend them with many wrasse since the wrasse you have is known to eat shrimp.
Emerald crabs are fine. They are algae eaters and will die if they don't get enough of the stuff.
Of the hermits the scarlet hermit is probably the best one to get. They don't mess with corals, eat algae and detritus and are generally all around good crabs.

I'd really like to get some harlequin shrimp but they only eat starfish and no one makes I can't believe its not starfish food so I' S.O.L there.

 

[Donya]

Coral banded shrimp hate everyone and pick on corals.

Coral banded shrimp are an invert that is often kept in conditions that stress them (too cramped, stresful tankmates, etc.). They get an unnecessarily bad rep as a result. When kept in the right environment, they are completely peaceful. The right environment means a lightly stocked one without fish that harass the feelers, plenty of open space, and preferably lots of overhangs with plenty of space beneath them. The last two, the very last one in particular, are things that you don't tend to find in the average reef tank. A stressed CBS will go on a rampage, but a happy CBS will sit like a lump during the day, avoiding feeler contact with other animals, and slowly cruise at night looking for food on the rocks and sand. You can even keep them with some other shrimp like peppermints as long as the environment is right and big enough. Picking at corals is a common Crustacean response to insufficient/improper diet, usually seeking food that things like LPS have ingested.

However, it is a definite no-no with a wrasse in the tank.

 

[Chad]

Coral banded shrimp hate everyone and pick on corals.

Coral banded shrimp are an invert that is often kept in conditions that stress them (too cramped, stresful tankmates, etc.). They get an unnecessarily bad rep as a result. When kept in the right environment, they are completely peaceful. The right environment means a lightly stocked one without fish that harass the feelers, plenty of open space, and preferably lots of overhangs with plenty of space beneath them. The last two, the very last one in particular, are things that you don't tend to find in the average reef tank. A stressed CBS will go on a rampage, but a happy CBS will sit like a lump during the day, avoiding feeler contact with other animals, and slowly cruise at night looking for food on the rocks and sand. You can even keep them with some other shrimp like peppermints as long as the environment is right and big enough. Picking at corals is a common Crustacean response to insufficient/improper diet, usually seeking food that things like LPS have ingested.

However, it is a definite no-no with a wrasse in the tank.

Lucky! I love this shrimp's looks but it seems like you've had a different experience with the CBS than I have.

This is one of the more attractive species but I've not had good experiences with them. I have a 210 gallon reef with peaceful fish so I feel the environment certainly fits your criteria above. My first attempt to keep them was in a smaller tank and I thought perhaps that was the issue, but in my larger tanks I had the same experience.

I trust the golden coral banded shrimp (Stenopus zanzibaricusa) but not the standard fellow (Stenopus hispidus).

 

[Donya]

Lucky! I love this shrimp's looks but it seems like you've had a different experience with the CBS than I have.

This is one of the more attractive species but I've not had good experiences with them. I have a 210 gallon reef with peaceful fish so I feel the environment certainly fits your criteria above. My first attempt to keep them was in a smaller tank and I thought perhaps that was the issue, but in my larger tanks I had the same experience.

I trust the golden coral banded shrimp (Stenopus zanzibaricusa) but not the standard fellow (Stenopus hispidus).

I would still bet on the environment even though I haven't seen the tank in question. I have had a lot of these shrimp, and nothing I've seen of them suggests that the problematic behavior is down to individual variation. Rather, the problematic behaviors are responses to stress that can be triggered in any individual. The smaller species have seemed pretty behaviorally identical to S. hispidus to me, but the fact that they are smaller makes them more timid in with the same animals and, more importantly, makes it much more likely that they will find a suitable territory and remain stationary and calm (a mobile CBS day in and day out is not a happy CBS). Peaceful fish as far as the usual set of constraints isn't enough; the shrimp's feelers have to be left alone. It may sound silly, but if those feelers get bumped regularly, the shrimp will first become mobile to try to find a new space and then will rapidly become aggressive if the perceived harassment continues. Many fish are guilty of smacking the feelers if the shrimp doesn't have a large enough space to retreat into. For a full-size S. hispidus, that space may need to be as much as a cubuic foot of calm space, whereas it is more like the size of a coffee mug for smaller species. A fast-moving fish may totally ignore the shrimp itself, but can drive it mad by blowing past every few minutes and bopping the tips of feelers without concern (tangs are probably the worst for this).

Another sign of a happy shrimp is that it engages in the behaviors that people see so regularly that most people thing it's bogus: cleaning fish and commensal relationships with some cave/burrow-dwelling fish. I would be very surprised if a CBS that did either of these things was ever found guilt of ripping on corals or chasing animals about the tank.

 

[Chad]

What seems odd about that is that most cleaner shrimp don't mind getting their feelers bumped as it's normally a trigger for cleaning behavior.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

No cbs for me. My wrasse doesnt like to stay still longer than a minute unless its sleeping.

 

[Chad]

No cbs for me. My wrasse doesnt like to stay still longer than a minute unless its sleeping.

I keep fairy and flasher wrasse because they don't go after the shrimp but the guy you have is sort of like a bulldog...they are known to shake the shrimp and pound it against a rock until it's dead...Yike!

 

[Donya]

What seems odd about that is that most cleaner shrimp don't mind getting their feelers bumped as it's normally a trigger for cleaning behavior.

Well, they are not Lysmata shrimp; different family entirely, so only cleaners by one moderate overlap in behavior. In all cases I've seen firsthand of CBS cleaning behavior, the shrimp is the one to actually "propose" the interaction by approaching and doing a dance (although very different again to the excited bopping around that Lysmata species will do). Fish making a fast approach and/or contact without that step triggers a defensive response.

 

[Chad]

What seems odd about that is that most cleaner shrimp don't mind getting their feelers bumped as it's normally a trigger for cleaning behavior.

Well, they are not Lysmata shrimp; different family entirely, so only cleaners by one moderate overlap in behavior. In all cases I've seen firsthand of CBS cleaning behavior, the shrimp is the one to actually "propose" the interaction by approaching and doing a dance (although very different again to the excited bopping around that Lysmata species will do). Fish making a fast approach and/or contact without that step triggers a defensive response.

Right. I think of cleaners as the behavior rather than the group though I know the skunk cleaner is commonly the only one called that in the hobby.
Here's a video I found http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdfvuNbV570 of the cleaning behavior. Pretty nice shrimp.

I went to my LFS today and actually found myself wanting to buy one...I had to shake it off.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

No cbs for me. My wrasse doesnt like to stay still longer than a minute unless its sleeping.

I keep fairy and flasher wrasse because they don't go after the shrimp but the guy you have is sort of like a bulldog...they are known to shake the shrimp and pound it against a rock until it's dead...Yike!

I don't know if thats something they do when the get older or mine doesn't do that. He used to move at light speed to get away from the cleaner shrimp I had. I've never seen him bother any of my peppermint's either. I do want to add more wrasse as I do have more room. I was looking at a flasher wrasse before I saw this guy. I wanted a mandrin but he fills the blue/green/orange color pattern quite well and is a lot more interesting. He reminds me of a puppy so besides being aggressive bulldog sounds about right.

 

[Chad]

It's a beautiful fish. I can see why you like it.