Peppermint Shrimp - Best Manicurists Ever?

Ok so this was something that I thought was kind of cool...and a little disturbing...

I was talking with my LFS owner, whom I have known for many years, and we started talking about my two new peppermint shrimp that I added a couple of days ago. We were just talking about how fun it is to watch them and observe all their cool behaviors and odd mannerisms. At the end of the conversation he said, ‘and if you want a free manicure, just let those guys crawl around your hand for a bit. You’ll never get your fingers any cleaner.’ This struck me as very odd. He went on to explain that they love to eat dead tissue and grime and dirt and that if you have a lot of dead tissue around your fingers that they will eat it…and actually clean your nails at the same time. He even said that they love it and that it has not detrimental effects to the shrimp. In fact it is essentially feeding them.

Interesting? Yes.

Odd? Perhaps.

Kinda gross? Oh yeah.

But I’m sure you already guessed….I did have to try it. And it is true…at least for my two little guys. They more or less had a buffet. I don’t have ‘dirty’ fingers by any means, but of course everyone has a little dead tissue that you may not even see…and they totally cleaned my fingers. It didn’t hurt, and they actually seemed to be more than happy to help out. In fact I had to scoot them off with my other hand to get them to stop. It was odd…but in a strange way really cool.

Am I the only weirdo that has done this? Does it make me odd…actually don’t answer that…

But seriously it was cool. They just picked at every nook and cranny and it just sort of tickled a little.

Now of course I did this in a tank that is pretty sparse, and really only has a few very peaceful, and hardy critters in it. I don’t have anything that would be harmed by my bare hands being in the tank for a few seconds. Of course if you have a tank that has anything that might react poorly to that, then don’t try it. But if you can, go try it out. It is kind of surreal to watch them scurry around your hand pulling at the skin looking for stuff that you can’t even see…

On a less weird note – we also discussed hand feeding the little guys. I have not done this yet, but he said that he did on a regular basis with his own tank, and they loved it. He said that in one tank in particular, the little guys come out of the woodwork whenever he places his hand in the tank, as they expect a feeding. He said it’s actually borderline annoying since he can’t do anything in there without his hand getting covered in shrimp. He said what was really cool was to find an aiptasia that can be plucked off, and to hand it to a group and watch then go nuts over it….how cool is that? He said that whenever he has a display tank that gets a few aiptasia in it, he will always pull a few out just to go watch the show.

All this makes me really want to start a nano invert tank…

 

This is too cool!! I'm thinking about adding peppermint shrimp and a skunk cleaner once I know that my cycle is completely done. I can't wait!!

Pics with free hand next time, LOL!!!

 

I have done that actually. When my fish got ich I had to catch them all... and when I had my hands in fish swam like hell away from my hand and my crabs gingerly walked over and jumped on my hand.

We had a cleaner wrasse that cleaned my dads hand. Some people on here have reported that their skunk cleaner shrimp cleans their hands. Jwin I think said that happens every time he puts his hands in the tank.

 

My cleaner shrimp tries to get my hand everytime I put my hand in my tank ...Kinda freaks me out .. Kinda lame I know , just feels bizzare

 

My cleaner does it too! I love it

 

I was a dive instructor in the Cayman Islands for a few years and some of my favorite dives were to check out the cleaning stations on the reefs. Most varieties of cleaner shrimp will clean anything you hold still in their vicinity; if your buoyancy control is good enough you can take the regulator out of your mouth and hold it open they will even swim in your mouth and clean your teeth and tongue! I've seen everything from 70 - 80 lb Nassau Grouper to Morays, even octopus getting cleaned. They will clean teeth, gills, everything. It's pretty amazing to watch the lineup of fish waiting to get cleaned - like a carwash underwater!

 

I also do this, and have joked about them giving manicures with friends. The cleaner was the first to do it, but the peppermint does it as well. Though the cleaner shrimp is a bit bigger, the peppermint seems to do it more forcefully, while not at all inflicting any pain. The cleaner is the obsessive one, though. Sometimes I put my hand in there just because I feel sorry for him that the fish don't stop by his cleaning station much. I can't do anything in the tank without the cleaner crawling around my hand and wrist the whole time, so I just pretend he's not even there and no harm ever comes to him.

While the manicures and crawling-about happened before I ever hand-fed the shrimp, I do hand-feed them both now just to ensure that they are getting enough food. This is primarily because the peppermint isn't the smartest cookie in the jar and I always worry that he'll become under-fed and start eating something he shouldn't.

 

Awww don't I feel special now

Yep. Our skunk cleaner shrimp will jump on any hand any time. "Shrimp, get off" is a common phrase to be heard if someone has a hand in the tank.

In fact...this actually made me go stick my hand in the tank and take a picture of it. :

 

I don't know why but this fascinates me!! I'm enjoying all the cleaner shrimp stories guys!!

 

after careful consideration... inverts are cool. (And neat pictures too!)