pepermint shrimp/aiptasia question

[clowdy]

i've got a 20g which i just added a zoanthid colony to that i now see has some aiptasia on it. i am hesitant to add certain aiptasia eaters to the tank as they sometimes develop a taste for zoos as well. i added a pep a few days ago but he hasn't shown much interest in the pests. should i add a couple more or just give him time? how long does it usually take before they start munching?

[griss]

IME, you have a 50-50 chance the Peps will eat Aiptasia. In this case it sounds like the one you have will not eat them. Curiously, every Pep I have ordered from Premium Aquatics has eaten Aiptasia. I can't explain why this is, but assume it has something to do with where their supplier collects them from.

George

[loui]

There are 2 different types of peppermint shrimp commonly available 1 eats Aptasia and the other does not. Of course this does not mean you will be successful at finding one that does. I have gone though quit a few Peppermint shrimp and have been lucky only a couple of times.
Here is a good article on the subject. HTH
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aippepshrpfaqs.htm

[Mako]

Yeah, it a roll of the dice with these buggers. 50/50 has been my luck.

[arcab4]

loui,

wow. cool. i didn't know there was two types of peppermints. thanks for sharing.

i have 3 aptasia in my tank right now. my peppermints ate the rest but left these 3 behind. i think the reason they don't touch them is b/c they're too big for them. could that be the case for you also?

i also have a bunch of zoos in my tank but i haven't seen any peppermints munching on them. ofcourse they tend to eat everything and anything but that was a small price to pay to get rid of aptasia.

hth,

johnny
<a href="http://www.aquaprop.com" target="_new">www.aquaprop.com</a>

[boobookitty]

Honestly, although I've tried peppermint shrimp and various nudibranchs, the best and quickest way I've found to get rid of them is to mix up a small batch of heavy kalkwasser, and inject them. Use the thin syringe that comes with most Salifert kits - works very nicely. And once I inject them, they never come back.

bbk