Peppermint Shrimp and feather dusters

[Megan]

I ordered some live-rock from Gulf-View that I am very satisfied with. The only problem is I think it has aiptasia or something that looks very close to it. I was thinking about getting peppermint shrimp, but I am worried because I have heard of them eating feather dusters and I have lots of little itty bitty ones. Do you think the reports of Peppermint shrimp eating things you don't want them to eat is just a case of people mistaking them for the camel-back shrimp?

Megan

[Jeremy1973]

Well, I have a peppermint shrimp, and he never bothered my first feather duster. (until it died..and then he was pulling it out of its tube) But, I went and bought a new feather duster, and I have watched him go right by it and not bother it. It would pick a little off it's tube, but other than that, it left it alone. I have heard of a few peppermints going for a feather, but it hasn't happened to me. Just my small 2 cents worth.

[m3rma1d]

peppermints sure will attack feather dusters, here's a shoddy pic to prove it
(but please note: the feather duster *did* grow a new crown)

[Alice]

I have heard of peppermint shrimp shreading the "feathers" of dusters but never seen it in person. What both my cleaners and my pepp shrimp like to do is "clean" the feathers, for food possibly, although dusters eat such small particles, it could just be because the shrimp are bored LOL

I'd say go for the peppermints, they might eat a duster to two but getting rid of the aiptasia is the primary concern. FWIW, the "mini-duster" population in my tank kind of runs in cycles anyway. I'll have a bunch, some will die back and then in a few weeks, I'll have a large population again.

Alice

[Jimbo]

Hi my peppermint ate most of my small tubeworms, you know the little ones about 1-5mm in size. It also ate all the aptasia I still have small tubworms in the sump and refugium though. Seems that there are tradeoffs for everything in a captive reef.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

As Alice has said, losing a few tube worms is far better than having alot of aiptasia in your reef! I have been battling aiptasia for some time now and my copperband butterfly is taking care of quite a few and still eating them! Johnny

[foobuddha]

It's not just camelbacks vs peppermints that are a problem, there are two species of peppermints that are almost indestiguishable (sp?) they are Lymata Wunderman (good ones) and Lysmata Rathbunae (bad ones)