Thor Amboinensis - A Article On The Small Sexy Shrimp

One of the tiniest ornamental shrimps, the sex shrimp is a mainstay of the saltwater aquarium hobby. It is dubbed the sexy shrimp due to the way it is continuously twirling its body even when at a standstill. In their usual habitats they are typically found hosting an anemone.

Very small, they are well matched to nano and even pico tanks. They will grow no longer than half an inch. Sexy shrimp are commonly found all through the Indo-Pacific where they are caught in large numbers for the trade. They are low-priced when compared to other ornamental shrimp.

The fishes you pick as tank mates is critical. Due to their diminutive size, they can be consumed or harassed. Keeping sexy shrimp with huge groupers, larger dottybacks, triggerfish and the like is a recipe for disaster. They do well with pygmy angels. Larger angelfish that can easily consume them are to be watched for.

They are cheap to feed because they are so small. A suitable food for sexy shrimp are sinking pellets. The quality of said pellet is completely up to your discretion. High quality pellets include New Life Spectrum sinking pellets. As usual, selection is critical so go ahead a feed them some frozen mysis shrimp once in a while.

Sexy Shrimp are not wholly reef safe. Zoanthid corals are to be observed cautiously as these shrimp can consume them. In the wild, sexy shrimp have also been seen eating their own anemone host. Feeding them at least once a day will decrease the chances of them becoming coralivores.

The sexy shrimp has been bred in captivity successfully by hobbyists. There does not seem to be much attention from huge scale breeders due to the low sale value of the sexy shrimp. Males are usually smaller and thinner. There is evidence to suggest that males also have only solitary stripe towards the back. As well as being bigger than the male, females also appear rounder in the vicinity of the abdomen area. The white stripe on females are typically two broken stripes.

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