Do peppermint shrimps really eat aiptasia?

nick9one1

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The 'True Peppermint' is a Lysmata wurdemanni
http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/27306/27306.pdf

A is a true peppermint, the rest are imposters.

Capture.PNG


(A) Lysmata wurdemanni
(B) Lysmata rathbunae
(C) Lysmata ankeri
(D) Lysmata boggessi
(E) Lysmata pederseni
(F) Lysmata bahia
 

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Vahanyos

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Like others have mentioned, it's a hit and miss. But don't let that discourage you... I do recall picking up a peppermint shrimp one day (without the intention of it eating my aptasia), and when I put him in my tank he immediately went for the aptasia... ripping it up and demolishing it lol. However, I do know individuals who have put multiple shrimps in their tank for that purpose and they didn't do anything...

Just make sure it's an actual peppermint shrimp... it can be easily confused with another species. IF you do come across one that eats it, you can pimp him out to other reefers haha
 

34gallonSolana

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has anyone ever had success on dealing with an aiptasia problem using peppermint shrimp? I am on my last nerve right now and thinking about getting a couple to kill them. I know you have to get a specific kind of peppermint shrimp in order for it to work but even then, it is still a hit or miss.

I have been using aiptasia away for months now and it only slows them down and not kill them. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.
It definitely worked for me. I had a problem with Aiptasia bought 2 peppermint shrimps. I was amazed on how quickly they eat the aiptasia. The only downside if you want to call it a downside is that the shrimp eventually died, don't know why. It's been probably a year since and now I'm starting to see aiptasia growing again. This time around I think I'm only going to buy 1 since my tank size is only 34 gallons. Hopefully this time around it lives longer. You definitely want to make sure you get the right one. AlgaeBarn.com is where I bought mine.
 

vick52

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has anyone ever had success on dealing with an aiptasia problem using peppermint shrimp? I am on my last nerve right now and thinking about getting a couple to kill them. I know you have to get a specific kind of peppermint shrimp in order for it to work but even then, it is still a hit or miss.

I have been using aiptasia away for months now and it only slows them down and not kill them. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.
Yes! And they will proceed to eat your living rock flower anemones when there are no more aiptasia!
 

vick52

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has anyone ever had success on dealing with an aiptasia problem using peppermint shrimp? I am on my last nerve right now and thinking about getting a couple to kill them. I know you have to get a specific kind of peppermint shrimp in order for it to work but even then, it is still a hit or miss.

I have been using aiptasia away for months now and it only slows them down and not kill them. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.
Yes! And then they will eat your rock flower anemones when the aiptasia are gone!
 

VanCityReef

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The 'True Peppermint' is a Lysmata wurdemanni
http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/27306/27306.pdf

A is a true peppermint, the rest are imposters.

Capture.PNG


(A) Lysmata wurdemanni
(B) Lysmata rathbunae
(C) Lysmata ankeri
(D) Lysmata boggessi
(E) Lysmata pederseni
(F) Lysmata bahia
According to the following article, A is the imposter and D is the true Aiptasia eating peppermint shrimp.

 

TheDallasCollector

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According to the following article, A is the imposter and D is the true Aiptasia eating peppermint shrimp.

I feel like if @AlgaeBarn chimed in here, they’d probably wind up selling more shrimp then BubbaGump
 

mike550

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As others have said getting actual pepper shrimp is key. I bought a few locally and they did a great job on my aiptasia.
 

Robert Binz

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Just don't mess with them and they typically wont spread. I took a toothbrush to a bunch in my overflow and in 2 weeks I had thousands...
I had to try to mess with one because it was killing my candy cane colony and it turned into 30
 

TerraFerma

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I'd say maybe one in 20 times that I've tried them the aiptasia went away. However - for that one time - I can't be certain the peppermint shrimp had anything to do with it. This includes adding shrimp from places that "have the right ones."

Filefish has been the most effective for me. Copperbands are 50/50. Red Sea Golden Butterfly is a fantastic aiptasia killer but they move on to corals the moment the aiptasia are gone.
 

elysics

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According to the following article, A is the imposter and D is the true Aiptasia eating peppermint shrimp.

Can confirm the latter part, I have L bogessi, they have a voracious appetite for aiptasia. Don't know whether wurdemanni and the others do too, maybe, maybe not.

Have left funghia acans and hammers alone despite being hungry at times, may or may not have been responsible for a brown jelly torch a year back, might also have been coincidence though.
 

SuncrestReef

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I picked up a pair from a fellow reefer where they completely eradicated all of his aiptasia, and since he had no pest anemonies left, he was selling the shrimp. Within 2 - 3 weeks, they got rid of all of my aiptasia. So yes, they can and do eat aiptasia, but it's best if you can get a proven predator.
 

adsf430

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They def do , nudis do too. The trick is patience. You won’t notice them doing anything and then notice a month later your aptasia is gone. At least in my case trying either. The chemical remedies just make it worse and are dangerous
 

FIN&BONEZ

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Worked great for me all aptasia gone. Then he moved to the gsp no biggie not even he could kill that. Pretty sure he's now broadened his horizons and moved to a splatter hammer colony.:mad: Hoping for a bad malt maybe he'll choke himself out.
 

jerrymarino

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has anyone ever had success on dealing with an aiptasia problem using peppermint shrimp? I am on my last nerve right now and thinking about getting a couple to kill them. I know you have to get a specific kind of peppermint shrimp in order for it to work but even then, it is still a hit or miss.

I have been using aiptasia away for months now and it only slows them down and not kill them. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.
I bought two and they quickly found the aptasia overnight. sadly, one had an appetite for coral, so I had to banish him to the sump realm
 
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