THIS aiptasia killer got MOST VOTES but be careful, you might not have the REAL thing!

[ol.lo]

The "real" peppermint shrimp is a TEMPERATE waters shrimp ... which will not survive long in a tropical environment ...

 

[Yolo Thorn]

1 Copperband Butterfly + 2 pep shrimp totally annihilated my previous Apstasia display tank I had going on in about a week. Now I can actually put coral in it, once i tackle my Green hair Algae problem. I swear no Apstasia anywhere. The copperband cost me $55 and the peps $9 bucks each, but they look cool, they are on their autopilot (like Tesla), and that to me is worth a heck of a lot more than a couple of bottles of Joe's Juice (or whatever carbonate based toxin you are trying to put on those jerks) and then having to stick my hands in my reef all the time.

This guy in the pic may look harmless and friendly at first sight, but he is a murderer and is 100% guilty of the war crime Apstasia Genocide, for which he gets full pardon by me and extra rations just for the heck of it.

 

[Mjl714]

1 Copperband Butterfly + 2 pep shrimp totally annihilated my previous Apstasia display tank I had going on in about a week. Now I can actually put coral in it, once i tackle my Green hair Algae problem. I swear no Apstasia anywhere. The copperband cost me $55 and the peps $9 bucks each, but they look cool, they are on their autopilot (like Tesla), and that to me is worth a heck of a lot more than a couple of bottles of Joe's Juice (or whatever carbonate based toxin you are trying to put on those jerks) and then having to stick my hands in my reef all the time.

This guy in the pic may look harmless and friendly at first sight, but he is a murderer and is 100% guilty of the war crime Apstasia Genocide, for which he gets full pardon by me and extra rations just for the heck of it.

He’s a beauty.

 

[MariusK]

Peppermint shrimps (possibly I had variant C) did not do the Aiptasia job, but they died in a few month's time..
I guess my Chelmon rostratus finally did the job, as he used the anemones as a snack occasionally and not (!) as his main diet...
I also introduced Berghia snails, but have not seen them since then... Maybe they also helped?!
Also introduced Lysmata kuekenthali, but they also didn't really help but died after a few month time...
Greetings from Austria!

 

[OlderManSea]

I got my peppermints from Biota online as aquacultured. They arrived tiny but quickly cleared out a 65 gallon tank. They were so small I thought the aiptasia might eat them. For a while they molted every other day and grew tremendously. They have in 6 or so months not touched coralsincluding a couple of hammers, 3 torches, 2 frogspawns, and several acans and blasto’s, but they did eat a small colony of zoas. I only feed the tank and not them specifically. There were probably over 50 aiptasia, some embarrassingly large. The last visible one was gone in less than 2 weeks. I am still amazed recalling how much they ate. I was worried they might go after coral but not a nibble so far Other than the zoos. They have not touched the Duncan. They come out to beg for food when I am around.

 

[Proteus Meep]

Never have and have no intention of doing so...it seems it's more a matter of when than if they begin to tear into your corals, I consider them to be not reef safe

Berghia all the way

 

[Pescador]

In my 10 gallon that used to be my invert QT, Aiptasia ended up Everywhere! I added 2 peppermints and, after hiding for a couple of weeks, they ate all but ONE. That one Aiptasia is now as big as a Duncan head and has had about 7 successful offspring, none of which the peppermints will touch. I feel like my tank has become an experiment in natural selection for shrimp resistant glass anemones.

The peppermints do harass my Duncan if I don't feed them at the same time. Otherwise they leave everything alone.

 

[Mark Gray]

All peppermint shrimp or particular peppermint shrimp?

Well it was a pair I learned my lesson, I do keep shrimp just not peppermint shrimp.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Mine ate aiptasia and if I didnt keep them fed, ate my branching hammer. Off to the sump they went never to be seen. I will pay the extra $$ for berghia nudibranch

went from Hammer Garden to Hammer Weeds thanks to peppermint shrimp

Our peppermint shrimp also ate branching and wall hammers. Tricky to catch, but they'll do anything for smelly pellets, so that was lure that finally got them into our trap... but by that time our "hammer garden" was down two just 2...

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

My peppermint shrimp ate the aptasia then started digging in the mouths of my Acan's and favias.

Yes mine did too and started ony purple Stylo I just made a trap from a plastic coke bottle and put them in my sump just in case I need them again!

 

[legionofdoon]

That is not what mine looked like lol. What is C? That looked more like mine and it loved Xenia.
I probably won’t try again with peppermint, I don’t have any aptasia and prefer skunks. I actually have a hard time keeping shrimp alive as is due to likely low iodide level.
My psycho emerald does a good job at removing bad hitchhikers anyway.

Type C is the only peppermint shrimp I've ever seen IRL.

 

[legionofdoon]

I also voted no because my tiger pistol shrimp is a very jealous invertebrate. Him and his yellow side kick wait till nightfall and assassinate everything but corals and maybe the larger fish(couple of bangais are MIA) they literally destroyed my emeralds, most of my hermits a sand sifter star and while I know brittle stars are secretive I haven't seen him poking his arms out in a bit.

 

[Streetcred]

Wow! I never knew. Thanks for sharing. And I just purchased a so called peppermint two weeks ago, and I'm not sure which one I have. After acclimating and adding to the DT, I haven't seen him at all.

The ones that I have put into my display over the years have been quickly knocked off by the fish !

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

Earlier this week we had a poll here where you voted on the best eradicator or aiptasia anemones! To my surprise the peppermint shrimp edged out the berghia nudibranch by over 4%. Needless to say both of these natural aiptasia predators will do the job. But since the peppermint shrimp won the total votes let's talk about making sure that when you purchase a peppermint shrimp that you're actually not just getting a cheap knock off of the real thing!

According this this study the real peppermint shrimp is a Lysmata wurdemanni.

1. Have you ever gotten a "peppermint shrimp" and now believe it wasn't a true peppermint shrimp?

2. Are you willing to give peppermint shrimp another try at eradicating aiptasia now that you know what the real one looks like?

THE REAL PEPPERMINT SHRIMP IS THE LETTER..........A

Screenshot via the study A WESTERN ATLANTIC PEPPERMINT SHRIMP COMPLEX

After purchasing two from Algae barnfor cleanup for some aiptasia on a order of kp live rock they both disappeared.... Not sure why, send to have ample good but they gone and so is the aiptasia (f-aiptasia). Feel like there is something eating them on the live rock? Who knows?

 

[kcinnick]

You can catch the real deal in Galveston on the rocks. I wish I knew where to catch them closer.

 

[nmo0ory]

dose all the 6 on the photo will do the job ? or only "Lysmata wurdemanni" ?

 

[elysics]

dose all the 6 on the photo will do the job ? or only "Lysmata wurdemanni" ?

Don't know about the others, but bogessi and kuekenthali will work too

 

[nmo0ory]

i am getting
Lysmata Rathbunae
dose it work?

 

[fishboy1]

1. Have you ever gotten a "peppermint shrimp" and now believe it wasn't a true peppermint shrimp?
Yes a few before.

2. Are you willing to give peppermint shrimp another try at eradicating aiptasia now that you know what the real one looks like?
They are good but the ones I kept I never saw and they kept dying after a couple of months. No I am not willing to give them another go.

 

[Freenow54]

Earlier this week we had a poll here where you voted on the best eradicator or aiptasia anemones! To my surprise the peppermint shrimp edged out the berghia nudibranch by over 4%. Needless to say both of these natural aiptasia predators will do the job. But since the peppermint shrimp won the total votes let's talk about making sure that when you purchase a peppermint shrimp that you're actually not just getting a cheap knock off of the real thing!

According this this study the real peppermint shrimp is a Lysmata wurdemanni.

1. Have you ever gotten a "peppermint shrimp" and now believe it wasn't a true peppermint shrimp?

2. Are you willing to give peppermint shrimp another try at eradicating aiptasia now that you know what the real one looks like?

THE REAL PEPPERMINT SHRIMP IS THE LETTER..........A

Screenshot via the study A WESTERN ATLANTIC PEPPERMINT SHRIMP COMPLEX

I like eating antipasto myself