Aqua cabaret crustacean: Have you ever kept sexy shrimp?

[Peace River]

Aqua cabaret crustacean: Have you ever kept sexy shrimp?

One of the most entertaining tank inhabitants that is only about an inch long when fully grown is the sexy shrimp (Thor amboinensis). The attraction for this shrimp comes from both the interesting color patterns as well as its rhythmic dance-like movements. The size and community nature of this invert makes this a great option for nano tanks. They are peaceful and do well with other peaceful creatures. They have also been referred to as the anemone squat shrimp because of their sometimes-symbiotic relationship that they form with certain anemones. Their frequent interactions with anemones does have at least one downside because they have been known to promote the spread of Aiptasia that are present in a tank. Have you ever kept sexy shrimp? If so, please tell us about your experience and let us know if you have any tips or recommendations.

Photo by @Tigahboy


This QOTD is sponsored by Nutramar: https://www.qualitymarine.com/nutramar/

“Nutramar’s 100% natural food products are used by public aquaria and breeders around the world. They offer superior nutrition to your most finicky and delicate fish and invertebrates.

 

[peterhos]

I have often looked at them. They are beautiful but would look lost in a medium to large tank maybe. In my 50g tank the fire shrimp and the 2 cleaner shrimps are visible and seem a good size for the tank.

 

[Azael]

I never had one and probably never will. But I do admire them in other tanks.

 

[Aaron75]

I currently have 3 in my 15g. Cool little shrimp that mostly stick to my rfa's but sometimes venture to twerk elsewhere.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I've always liked them, but currently do not have any

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I have kept them in tanks from 1 to 200 gallons with success, but I can't keep them in my tank with the current stock list. They make themselves known in any size tank, and I loved the treasure hunt of looking for them in the 200g.

 

[JoeReefer81]

I had a few but my Royal Gramma ate them.

 

[CRABDADDY]

I had a few in my 40g, but they disappeared pretty quickly. They're beautiful, but not something I'd try again. They'd be pretty nice in a very small tank, imo.

 

[kevgib67]

I had a few for a couple days hanging out on or around my RFAs and then they were gone. I think I had purchased some expensive fish food.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Harlequin tusk food - cant do it

 

[Narideth]

I have a pico with their name on it once it matures a bit! I love shrimp of all kinds. I bred freshwater neocaridina for years and still keep a tank of fire reds.
They'll have some RFAs to dance around on, should be great.

 

[JasonVH]

Had them. Despite their size, they're surprisingly visible(29 gal but still). Learned to take spot feeding quickly.

However as cute as they are, will never keep them- nor will I try ANY shrimps after these- again. They are simply too busy. Their idea of keeping busy is to constantly go over corals 'nitpicking' at them. Plus they have 'favorite' corals they bother again and again.

Then again after the corals have been fed- except they deliberately annoy the polyps to throw up food or actually push *inside* the polyp mouth to pull out the food. They do this even after being spot fed right before feeding the corals. They. just.won't.STOP. Perpetual grazers.

I don't have anemones or certain softies such as mushrooms. Perhaps having those might have kept them off the corals better. Not having any interest in these means I will never find out if that's a solution to their coral bothering ways or not.

 

[shakacuz]

what exactly is their relationship with anemones? do they host certain kinds, or just help feed them (hence promoting aiptasia growth)

i don’t plan on keeping them in the future but they do look interesting

 

[Arkardios]

I keep a pair and am currently raising 12 of their offspring. Thankfully never had any trouble with them bothering corals.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I have a couple in a 10 gallon with RFAs and pulsing Xenia.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I had an IM 20g dropoff peninsula with rock flowers a royal gramma, porcelain crabs and sexy shrimp. The shrimp didnt last long. After a few weeks they started disappearing one after another. Never ordered any more, seemed they dodnt last ling for how expensive they were. Neat idea tho. The porcelain crabs hung around much longer.

 

[Lahey]

"Yes, I have kept sexy shrimp in the past?"​

Not sure why this response has a question mark at the end.

 

[Kmst80]

what exactly is their relationship with anemones? do they host certain kinds, or just help feed them (hence promoting aiptasia growth)

i don’t plan on keeping them in the future but they do look interesting

So they do host mini maxi anemones. I made a huge mistake though one time by putting 2 new sexies straight on the mini maxi.....they didn't last long, dinner for the mini maxi. They must play a game of trying with the anemone to be able to live on it. I had some living on one before.

 

[Idech]

I bought three about a month ago when I was also buying RFA for my 75 gallons. They immediately went on the RFA and spend all of their time there. They also discovered my BTA and love just chilling on its feet.

I really like them.

 

[Colton Yuchnewicz]

if i can ever find some for sale, im going to buy a heard of them. they were my fav shrimp over the years