Will sexy shrimp eat zoas?

[Sipec]

I'm thinking of getting some sexy anenome shrimp eventually, but I've heard they can eat zoas. Is this something I should be worried about?

 

[Sipec]

#reefsquad

 

[Ron Reefman]

I found this:
Sexy shrimps will host with most anemones in the aquarium, but they are not tolerated by clownfish that have chosen the anemone as a host—the fish may kill and consume a sexy shrimp looking for a host. If an anemone is not present in the aquarium, the shrimps may try to host on larger corals. I’ve had them spend time within the polyps of Duncan’s coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga), and they are known to adopt green star polyps (Pachyclavularia sp.), clove polyps (Clavularia sp.), and even mushrooms (Discosoma sp.). Normally this will not be an issue, but if the shrimps aren’t well fed, they may decide to predate on their hosts, which will cause a lack of polyp extension or even death of individual polyps or the entire colony. Sexy shrimps have also been witnessed eating zoanthids, so they are reef-safe only if well fed.

In this article:
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/keeping-sexy-shrimp-full-article.htm

I hope that helps.

 

[Sipec]

I found this:
Sexy shrimps will host with most anemones in the aquarium, but they are not tolerated by clownfish that have chosen the anemone as a host—the fish may kill and consume a sexy shrimp looking for a host. If an anemone is not present in the aquarium, the shrimps may try to host on larger corals. I’ve had them spend time within the polyps of Duncan’s coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga), and they are known to adopt green star polyps (Pachyclavularia sp.), clove polyps (Clavularia sp.), and even mushrooms (Discosoma sp.). Normally this will not be an issue, but if the shrimps aren’t well fed, they may decide to predate on their hosts, which will cause a lack of polyp extension or even death of individual polyps or the entire colony. Sexy shrimps have also been witnessed eating zoanthids, so they are reef-safe only if well fed.

In this article:
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/keeping-sexy-shrimp-full-article.htm

I hope that helps.

Thanks

 

[saltyhog]

Not a threat to zoas. Mine hang out in my Duncan and completely ignore my zoas.