Peppermint shrimp NOT reef safe!

[Every1jockzjay]

If you new to thy hobby like i am dont go and buy a pep shrimp unless you meed it for aptasia...almost everyome will say they are reef safe and most are...if you happen to get a feisty one like i did they WILL attack feather dusters...the day before i saw a pep shrimp cleaning out my ricordea ok i figured there was buildup around it or something... Next day it was completely gone.... Then i added a beautiful hawian duster and the shrimp immediately attacked it breaking two feathers and going strait for the worm itslelf....those shrimp are going back today...and it is NOT a camelback shrimp i can tell the difference i do hours of research on forums and im 100% sure my pep is a killer...just hope he leaves my everything else alone till i get them out...my dusters currently hangin where hopefully they wont get it....

[snorvich]

The problem is that many places sell false peppermint shrimp. The most common shrimp that gets confused with a peppermint shrimp is the camel back which is not reef safe. While it has very similar markings unlike the peppermint it wont eat aptasia anemones. The main difference and the way to differentiate is that a camel back has a hump in the center of his back (hence the name) while the peppermint doesn't have one.
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[Every1jockzjay]

Yea i know for sure their peppermint shrimp....i did a ton of research before i purchased them to make sure i got the rite shrimp

[Every1jockzjay]

They ate my aptasia also but im tellin u asssss sooooon as i put that duster in he pounced on it...my peps seem to be aggresive they go after my hand when i put it in, they dont bite or anything but they always touch me...maybe mine haVe rabies because they stay out during the day maybe they dont get sleep or something lollll...as soom as i feed the tank they feed like fish...maybe theres not enouph extra food for them to eat, but then again they grew super fast...loll i guess they dont sound to much like other peoples peps maybe im doin something wrong but 100% they are pep shrimp and 100% they eat anything they can...maybe if i cut it down to 1 shrimp he will have more food...

[Joe0813]

i have 5 of them in my 180 when i had a aptasia issue... they finished the aptasia in 2 days and then they eat the left over food i put in for the fish. they never bothered my corals. they dont even pick the food out of the nems mouth like my old cleaner shrimp used to. im going to guess that yours do have rabies like you said. can you see them foaming at the mouth hahah?

[SM6]

I have two peppermint shrimp and they are friendly. They do come out when I feed the fish but usually they are cleaning the bottom side of the rocks. I put 2 freeze dried shrimp in and the larger peppermint shrimp actually swims up to the top to grab one as it floats.

I can understand what you mean about peppermint with a more agressive personality because I saw a sickly fish at petco trying to get the peppermint shrimp to clean it but the shrimp seemed to pick at it once then attack the fish.

[Every1jockzjay]

I littterally have to fight this guys off with the turkey baster in order to let my acan eat...he steals all of its food...loll u would think the shrimp would b scared of me when i hit it but nope rite back for the food...i cant tell if its this one shrimp causing all the trouble, but most of the time its only 1 of them being bad at a time...maybe if i can take out my rabies pep i can leave the other two...the way he attacked the feather dusters when i put it in really ticked me off lol....im going to put the duster back in and catch the one that goes for it...maybe i just got 1 bad *** shrimp...after doing research i was suprised how many people had trouble with these shrimp when the mass majority else has no problems

[Every1jockzjay]

Also i have 2 clowns a mandarin and a six line...the six line being only a week in tank....maybe its possible that bc my tank doesnt have a "boss" to put these shrimp im place they are acting out?

[reeferstace]

Did all your research tell you that the six-line will out compete the mandarin for food?

[Every1jockzjay]

My research told me that my 55lbs of live rock wont b enough and i would have to train my mandarin regardless ....allthough the brine shrimp is annoying hopefully hell start taking cyclopeeze soon ...i wish my mandarin knew how to eat like my rabies shrimp...ill take a pic n video later for everybody saying in their head I'm wrong and its a camel

[tmz]

Rhynchocinetes spp.
(camel back shrimp) are not reef safe .They prey on corals and polyps of all types. Probably featherdusters too.

Lystmata wundermani (peeprmint shrimp) is generally reef safe and will usually eat smller aiptasia. However, I've seen them tear into zoantids and acanastrea. I don't keep them anymore in my mixed reef tanks.

[dwculp]

Peppermint shrimp are the cockroaches of the ocean, they will eat ANYTHING. Ive had peppermint shrimp munch on nearly everything in my tank. I wont keep them in a reef anymore.

[degibson84]

My Lystmata only eat leftover food scrapes and aiptasia. They have never touched a coral

[Every1jockzjay]

Im trying to say its not true for every individual shrimp....everyone says there reef safe and nobody tells ya theres a chance it will try to rip your new worm out of its tube...theres many reports of bad peps..its not just stupid people who dont know the difference...people buying them should deff b warned of the chance...i wasnt loll

[Every1jockzjay]

Can i ask u guys who dont keep em anymore is there any shrimp you will keep?

[Morganfbs]

I have two peppermints in my nano tank, with a feather duster. At first, one of the shrimp climbed up on the feather duster and started messing with it, pulling out a couple of its feathers, but eventually realized it wasn't food and left it alone, now they are both fine.

[Every1jockzjay]

Thats good info thanks....i wanna see wat happens but im scared to leave it in there i guess ill give it a try and stay and watch it for a while

[Silvergryphon]

I had a pair of homicidal peps tear a hermit apart right infront of him. They tag teamed him and pulled his legs off one at a time.

[robotman]

i have a pepermint, 2 cleaners, and a fire shrimp with no problems

[FTDelta]

Originally Posted by Every1jockzjay

Yea i know for sure their peppermint shrimp....i did a ton of research before i purchased them to make sure i got the rite shrimp

Most likely you ended up with FALSE peppermint shrimp (aka: Camelback Shrimp). I am in 100% agreement with snorvich. I, too researched far more than you regarding peepermint shrimps. Yes there are peppermint shrimps that look very SIMILAR but not exactly like the real peppermint shrimp.

Peppermint shrimp:

http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=738368


Camelback shrimp:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88551382@N00/2118622145/

[Every1jockzjay]

They looook nothingggg alike

[Every1jockzjay]

Camel backs have camel backs...like morgan said his peps also broke a few feathers and then stopped maybe that could be the case but i wasnt guna let the pep attack my feather and see if he keeps killing it.... But its a dam pep

[FTDelta]

Originally Posted by Every1jockzjay

They looook nothingggg alike

According to your pic, that doesn't look like a peppermint shrimp. Post a better pic with markings and pincers.

[tmz]

Looks like a lystmata wundermani to me.

I'v kept pacific/skunk cleaner shrimp(lysmaat amoininsis) without issue. None right now. I keep some peppermints in my breeding setups for the larval food they produce for seahorse fry.

[devimik]

If a Peppermint Shrimp will decimate an Aiptasia, especially a large one, why would it not also go after a torch coral or frogspawn, or any fleshy coral with tentacles?

I've seen mine go after Xenia and a Torch Coral as well as attacking my feather dusters at first, but leaves them alone now. I know mine are Peppermints because they ate all my Aiptasia.

I think it is like the crab situation, some have Emerald Crabs and they are model citizens, others have them and they eat corals.

I would never say Peppermint Shrimp are 100% reef safe, but mine are still in my tank because I didn't feel like catching them. They haven't gone after a large Hammer Coral I have, but they do leave the rest of my non-tentacle based corals alone and eat leftover food.