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View Full Version : Best shrimp to accompany a Peppermint?


joec
12/05/2012, 12:25 PM
Hi all -

I want to get a couple more shrimp for my 35 gal Red Sea Max 130D.

I have one Peppermint Shrimp in there - but he's really shy and almost never comes out when the lights are on (as to be expected).

What are some good options for other shrimp I can add that are more active during the day?

Craig Borowski
12/05/2012, 01:23 PM
If it were my tank I'd add a very large Mantis Shrimp and hope he'd find and eat the Peppermint. Just kidding. :lol2: I still hold a grudge against the Peppermints after they consumed all of my Acans a couple years ago.

Coral Banded Shrimp are really neat to watch and can be active during the day. When they're paired up they're generally more active, but two may be more than you want in 35 gallons.

Cleaner shrimp are probably one of the most active types of shrimp there is. They're quite entertaining, too.

joec
12/05/2012, 01:25 PM
Oh wait - Peppermints eat Acans? My tank is new so there really not much besides my CUC - but definitely will want to add Acans eventually.

Overall I was looking for other shrimp that would be compatible.

(Thanks for the suggestions, though!)

Craig Borowski
12/05/2012, 01:36 PM
Oh wait - Peppermints eat Acans? My tank is new so there really not much besides my CUC - but definitely will want to add Acans eventually.
You will hear different opinions on this. You will hear people say that the true Peppermint shrimp do not and cannot eat corals of any kind. (There are at least 3 different species that are commonly sold as Peppermints.) All I can say is that the ones I had, which were positively identified, did eat my Acans. They're also known to nibble on Blastos and other fleshy, larger polyp corals like Caulastrea. Mine may have turned to the dark side out of necessity as there weren't any aiptasia or other nuisance corals for them to eat. And given that they hide so well, I wasn't going out of my way to target feed them. Nevertheless, when a couple of $5 shrimp eat a few hundred dollars in pretty corals, I think I'm entitled to hold a grudge. There are others who feel the same way.

Have you had a Cleaner Shrimp before? They're very neat to watch, active and aren't known to eat any corals.

ag09g
12/05/2012, 02:15 PM
I have a spotted cleaner shrimp (Periclimenes yucatanicus) in my 28g with a peppermint shrimp and I just love him! He's always in the open and sitting amongst my various corals (ive seen him in frogspawn, torch, various mushrooms, open brains), plus I think he's just awesome looking! Here's a pic of mine sitting in a ric :)

http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a547/ag09g/IMG_0390.jpg

sponger0
12/05/2012, 04:08 PM
Every other shrimp, minus my harlequin I had, would harass peppermints. My cleaner killed a peppermint too. So Ive never had good luck.

My fire shrimp chases my peppermint now too.

Craig Borowski
12/05/2012, 04:26 PM
Great picture ag09g and great suggestion as well. All those Periclimenes sp. shrimp are really interesting; very pretty, too. And most are so small that they're best kept in small tanks.