Those annoying anemones

[pghflame]

Hi guys/gals....what is the name of those annoying anemone like thing that no one likes? And I thought I remembered reading on here a while back that there is something that eats them. I'd do a search if I remembered the name.

Thanks :wink:

 

[kparton]

They're called Aiptasia and often Peppermint shrimp will eat them. I had a couple and I got some peppermints and they took care of them. I really liked the shrimp too.

If you do a search on here for Aiptasia, you'll get some other ideas for removing them as well.

 

[pghflame]

Thanks, I remember the name now. I have a question about the peppermint shrimp now. How harmful are they really to other corals. I've seen some threads but it doesn't seem to go into specifics. What are all of your experiences regarding this. thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

Some people seem to occasionally get a "bad apple" peppermint that goes after polyps and desirable corals, but I think this is the exception rather than the rule. I have kept many pepps and never had them eat corals, right now the ones I have are on a anti aptasia diet though. In the past pepps have always eaten aptaisia for me, I don't know what these shrimp's problems are.

Note that just because a store says something is a peppermint does not make it one, so it would be wise to know just what you are looking for.

I went to the LFS awhile ago to buy some pepps. The employee asked if he could help me.

"I am looking for some peppermint shrimp."

He takes me to a tank with about 30 camel shrimp.

"those are camel shrimp."

"They are peppermints, they are reef safe."

"they are camel shrimp and they are not reef safe and besides, I want peppermints specifically to eat aptaisia."

"Yes, they are peppermints and we sell them to eat aptaisia."

"well, I don't want any of those."

I went in later and grabbed the owner and took him over to the tank and asked him what kind of shrimp they were ( I knew but I wanted to see if he did) and he said they were camels.

LOL, moral of the story, know what you are looking for and don't rely on ill informed employees!

 

[kparton]

The only bad thing my peppermints would occassionally do is grab a piece of fresh shrimp out of a coral that had just eaten it. i sometimes directly fed my bubble corals and a few times, I would have to keep the shrimp away from it or they would pull it right out of the coral's mouth.

I can't remember how to tell the difference between Camel and peppermint shrimp, but I do remember there is a subtle difference that makes it pretty clear which is which.

 

[DOGMAI]

If I remember corectly the peppermint shrimp are kinda see through and the camels are not. The camels als have a very pronounced hump on their back.