Peppermint Shrimp

[theoilartist]

Hi there, could anybody tell me if they have success using peppermint shrimp to control aiptasia. I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject but I would like to hear some real life examples before I commit to buying some. I also have the following questions:
1. Some say that they need to be "trained" to eat the aiptasia.
2. If it is successful then what do they eat when the aiptasia is depleted?
3. Will they clash with the ghost shrimps that are currently in my tank?

Thanks
Duncan

 

[Zante]

1) I had them briefly, and they didn't need any training, they just wiped out the aiptasia.
 
2) They are not obligate feeders, they are cleaner shrimp just like the other Lysmata species, and will scavenge anything they will find
 
3) No idea, sorry, but usually if they have enugh room shrimp will coexist peacefully (with notable exceptions)
 
Let me add that peppermints usually live in numerous colonies and are VERY timid. Unless you have loads you're likely never going to see them.

 

[theoilartist]

Thanks for the quick response, Zante. So how many would you say I should get. They're not exactly cheap in South Africa.
The other shrimp can always be moved to my friend's tank, but I really need to get this pest out my tank.

 

[Zante]

How big is the tank and how much of a pest are the aiptasia?
I have some aiptasia in my reef, but for the moment there's onlya few, and until this changes I'm not going to do anything about it.

 

[Donya]

1. Some say that they need to be "trained" to eat the aiptasia.

 
Not trained so much as placed in the correct conditions for it - and the right species! There are some similar looking ones in the trade that do not eat Aiptasia. 
 
They do best in groups proportional to tank size. 2 shrimp can eradicate everything from, say, 3gal, but 2 in a big tank like 20gal or 50gal may have no impact at all and may not even hunt much - they will hide. Groups of 4-5 become necessary for larger tanks, sometimes two groups. Bear in mind that progress, even when it happens, is SLOW. It took 2 shrimp in a 1.5gal a few months to completely remove all aiptasia for me (of course, there the rocks were literally hairy with aips - a really bad infestation). In bigger tanks, it has still taken a few months to see the change in a noticable way. A lot of people get frustrated because the change can be hard to observe over shorter periods of time even when anemones are disappearing slowly.
 

2. If it is successful then what do they eat when the aiptasia is depleted?

 
Fish food and meaty foods. They MUST have access to this even periodically while eliminating aips if you have corals, otherwise they might get desperate and eat some other thing you don't want them to. However, too much access to yummy other foods and they will not eat aips. It is a careful balancing act.

3. Will they clash with the ghost shrimps that are currently in my tank?

 
Unlikely. Peppermints are pretty safe with other Crustaceans. Exceptions would be something like a group of poorly fed peppermints densely stocked in a small environment where the other shrimp could have trouble hiding when it needs to molt. 

 

[theoilartist]

My tank is 35liter or about 10 gal if my conversions are right. The infestation was very bad but I attacked it with aiptasiaX about a week ago. But I can already see small aiptasia on the rocks again.
A bottle of aiptasiaX costs about the same as two shrimps here, and besides the juice is a pain to administer. I'm thinking that the shrimps are a better route to follow.

 

[Donya]

I've had very little luck with Aiptasia-X. I had some initial success with it, but whether it works or not seems highly dependent on the species of Aiptasia involved, perhaps even particular strains within a species. At least one variety I have just really does't care about the stuff - they get glued closed with it for a week and then open back up as soon as it degrades. Some others were melted by it, but, of course, those were all gotten rid of and replaced by the ones that don't care after a few months lol. I've had better results with Joes Juice but it seems more caustic (bigger risk to use it if the aip is near a coral) and also still often doesn't completely get rid of larger individuals. Kalk paste and lemon juice injection are two other popular strategies.
 
I've found peps to be a much better long-term solution, although they will also struggle with really big pest anemones and work best for small ones. If you have any pest anemones that stretch out longer than the shrimp is, you might have to deal with it manually before the shrimp can clean up what remains if it leaves any pieces or drops any buds.