Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm and Tours | Kona Hawaii › Forums › Seahorse Life and Care › Stocking first Seahorse tank… › Re:Stocking first Seahorse tank…
Dear Reverend:
In my experience, peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) do a nice job of controlling small specimens of Aiptasia. They are less apt to chow down on the largest of the rock anemones, however. An effective means of controlling Aiptasia rock anemones in the aquarium is for the hobbyist to eliminate the largest specimens by injecting them with Kalkwasser or boiling water or lemon juice, while relying on the peppermint shrimp to take care of any of the smaller Aiptasia.
Like most all shrimp, peppermints do have a great liking for frozen Mysis but they are not nearly as pesky at feeding time as the larger skunk cleaner shrimp, a.k.a. scarlet cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis). The peppermint shrimp are a bit smaller and tend to be more leery of large seahorses. Once your Mustangs and Sunbursts are accustomed to eating from the feeding station, they will have no trouble getting their share of the goodies at feeding time. You shouldn’t have to worry that your peppermint shrimp will outcompete the seahorses for food.
Best of luck keeping your population of Aiptasia rock anemones at manageable levels, Reverend!
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna