Peppermint Shrimps

[Outatime]

Hi James

Good idea with the forum (and 10% discount ;) , I will be ordering from you shortly, also looking to add some peppermint shrimp to my tank to try stop Apstaisa (spelling), I often work away for weeks and came back last time to half the tank being covered in them and hoping that Peppermint Shrimp will kill/eat them!

Anyone had any luck with Peppermint Shrimp in there tank?

Thanks

Stu

[marcoz]

Hey Stu,

I have the same problem with my tank- aiptaisa here, aiptaisa there, aiptaisa bloody everywhere! I too am going to try the peppermint shrimp to rid my tank of these nuisances. I don't have any advice as such but thought we could keep each other informed as to how effective they are/aren't. I should have them in the tank by next weekend.
I've heard they can nip at corals too so be on the look out for any destructive behaviour- another option if you're looking for a natural remedy would be to get in a berghia as they only eat aiptaisa.

Good luck!
Marco

Ps. hi james, great site- will you be stocking berghia?

[liquidlogic]

agreed 10% very good idea ;) i also will be buying from u in the future

[Electric Monk]

I have three Peppermints, the closest they ever got to an Aptasia was walking over one to get to the fish food!!!

My copperband cleared the tank in about 36 hours from popping him in, worth seeing if you can have one on loan from your lfs and get a credit if/when you take him back. I'm lucky, mine eats most things I feed the tank, most copperbands won't and don't live long.

[Macca]

Our peppermints are guaranteed to eat aptasia. Or I will credit you Monies spent on them with a credit note. I personally fed them glass nems and they devour them. A few things to remember, are pepps eat these naturally but will not tackle large aptasia. Also they will not feed on Aptasia if you are over feeding as they would become scavangers to fish food. Overfeeding may even cause more aptasia to grow with pepperrmints in the tank! Also the biggest mistake people make, Their LFS sells them peppermint shrimps that are in fact Rhynchocinetes sp, or durbanensis. We only import the true peppermint Lysmata wurdemanni.

Many thanks

James

[Electric Monk]

Hope I didn't step on your toes in any way there James :oops: . You are correct, upon reflection the Aptasia were probably too large for the Peppermints to handle.

[Macca]

No not at all. :D I have never tried a copperband but if you could keep one happy in your setup then that is great. I have never had the bergia (sp) slugs either but have heard glowing reports. I know they were a few reefers that were trying to farm these. Unfortunately I have not heard any updates so dont know if they have been successful in their bredding programme.

James

[tonyponty]

hi everyone well i had some peppers off james a few months ago and i had a lot of them aptasias thingys and i can honestly say they have started doing there job ony a few of them left now and just like to say what a good idea setting this site up is and a discount to well done to all

[Outatime]

Hi guys

Thanks for the info, sounds good, will let you all know how I get on!

[Coral Cultivations]

I have tried both the Copperband and Peppermint options with successful results.

However, in the longer term Peppermint Shrimps are a better option as sadly Copperbands don't tend to be long lived in captivity - even in supposedly perfect conditions, until we fully understand and can replicate their natural diet this is always going to be the problem sadly.

Steve

[tonyponty]

do you know the life span of the shrimps and hermit crabs thanks

[marcoz]

Well, I commend you on your 'aiptaisa eating' guarantee. I'm looking forward to trying the 'true' peppermints out when they become available. In the meantime please keep us informed of any updates on the progress of the berghia slugs. They sound like fascinating creatures, I've also heard they're easy to breed. :mrgreen:

[Macca]

The aiptasia eater slugs were being bred at a university in the USA, They were quite expensive. A few UK reefers decided to start to bred them, unfortunately I have not heard any feedback.

We have managed to secure a deal for the chestnut turbo snail and the same supplier doesnt realise that these slugs inhabit the same area :twisted: I have sent photos and told him I would be intrested at the right price. :wink:

On a slight different note. We will be the sole importer (I believe) for the amazing coloured chestnut turbo (orange). We bring in the browns but have now managed with great difficulty to find an area in the keys that actually has the oranges :lol:
http://www.jaxshells.org/castan.htm
The oranges are more expensive so get posting and receive discount :lol:

[Buster]

http://www.jaxshells.org/0108a.jpg

[Macca]

I am embarassed to say this but I actually have a Bsc Hons in App Computing. How did you get the image online?

James

[Buster]

:lol: selected the image and clicked image properties andd inserted using the Img. tags. 8)

[Macca]

Ye I have done this and it worked a few times but then it didnt? I will try again

http://www.reefcorals.co.uk/phpBB2/templates/subSilver/images/logo_phpBB.gif

[Macca]

Yep worked that time ?? Stange works sometimes and not others.

http://www.reefcorals.co.uk/phpBB2/templates/subSilver/images/logo_phpBB.gif

worked out what was going wrong! You cant have a space after the address.

[Wilfy]

Sorry, can't see the picture!! :(

[Dons1903]

Aiptasia are the bane of my life! I can never get rid of them. Over the last few years I have tried 2 Copperband Butterflies but neither showed any interest in them.

I get the big ones by injecting them with lemon juice which works, but I can't get the little ones that are in holes in the rock! Perhaps Peppermint Shrimp are the way to go for them.

Is there a recommended stocking level for them?

[marcoz]

good point, I have a jewel 260 (260l) which is full of aiptaisa on the live rock. how many shrimps would you recommend stocking up with? :?

[Buster]

good point, I have a jewel 260 (260l) which is full of aiptaisa on the live rock. how many shrimps would you recommend stocking up with? :?

I have a couple in my 4' x 2' x 2' and they munched there way through dozons at first and now touch wood don't seem to suffer from any. :)

[CORALS4YOU]

no none sponsor business advertising please. Buster

[subz88]

I've also got a couple of peps in my 4x2x2 and would recommend people start with at least 2. They can be secretive at first, but I've managed to coax mine out a few times to eat a piece of mussel from my hand.

The other thing to mention is ensure you take a good long time (4hours plus) to acclimatise these delicate creatures to your aquarium.

Dependent on how big the shrimps are, and the size of the aiptasias, they can take their time locating and munching on them, but touch wood I no longer suffer from these pests after introducing peps about three months ago.

For the larger aips you can inject kalk or lemon juice, or for the die hards you can burn them by shoving a red hot poker/screwdriver or soldering iron down the crevice they inhabit. Bear in mind aips are a resilient foe! I've found one growing in the groove between my heaterstat and it's mounting bracket before! :o

[liquidlogic]

while we on shrimps does any body know much about blood shrimps? good and bad points please!

Photobucket i use to upload pics

[marcoz]

thanks for the advice, I'll see how I get on with 2 :wink: