Table of Contents
Introduction to Sexy Shrimp
Sexy shrimp are ideal pets if you have a small tank as they don’t need much space. It’s easy to take care of them. Their scientific name is Thor amboinensis. It’s known by many other names like Anemone Shrimp, Dancing Shrimp, High-tailed Shrimp, Pikmin Shrimp, Squat Shrimp, etc. You can call them by any of these names.
Sexy shrimp have a symbiotic relationship with the anemone. These Anemones basically protect Sexy Shrimp and in return, Sexy Shrimps help keep the anemone clean.
Sexy shrimps are tiny shrimps and are only 8 inches in length. They are found all over the world starting from the Eastern and Western Atlantic to the Indo-West Pacific.
But whatever their location is, you will find sexy shrimps in anemone tentacles, dead coral, and cracks in rocks.
But sexy shrimps that are home pets like coral, anemones, and rocks are present in their aquascape. A 5-gallon tank is sufficient for Adult sexy shrimps that are less than an inch.
Fun Facts about Sexy Shrimp
- Sexy shrimp are protandric hermaphrodites which means they are born males but can transform into females if they want.
- They have large white spots on their body which look 3D because these spots have blue outlines that make the spots look like 3D.
- They go through the molting process
- They fight with clownfish when it comes to anemones
- They shake their booties and dance when they are in a group of 3-4
- They can eat the coral slime caused by anemones
Origin
They are indigenous to the Indo-Pacific region which ranges from the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of America. You can find them in coral reefs, shallow lagoons, or rocky outcroppings. Sexy shrimps usually hide in the rocks.
Appearance
Sexy shrimps have an orange-coloured body with white large spots on them. These large spots have blue outlines on them which makes the spots more visible. The abdomen and tail of a sexy shrimp point up in the direction of its head. They have bulging eyes. They are tiny in size. They are only about 2cm long so they don’t take much space in the tank.
Molting process
Sexy shrimps often go through the molting process and there is nothing to worry about. They go through this process every 3 to 4 weeks. They might look dead when they are molting but don’t worry they are perfectly fine and there is nothing to worry about.
Are sexy shrimps reef safe?
Yes, they are always reef safe if you feed them properly. Even though they prefer sea anemones but they can also adapt to Duncan’s coral, clove, or mushroom corals, etc.
if you don’t feed sexy shrimps for longer periods then they will start chewing on your corals which might cause them to retract their polyps.
Care requirements
The most important thing you must know is that sexy shrimps don’t like temperature fluctuations. They can’t tolerate changes in pH levels, temperatures, or salinity levels. Acclimation is a tough time for sexy shrimps so the best thing you can do as a pet owner is that be patient while acclimating sexy shrimps to their new tanks. Don’t be too fast and don’t add them immediately to their new tank. Give them some time. What you can do is slowly try to remove some water from the new acclimation tank and add it to your sexy shrimp’s tank water after every 11-12 minutes.
Also, another factor you need to consider is that smaller tanks like pico or nano tank, doesn’t have much water, and nitrate levels are more high in fewer gallons so this means you have to regularly do water changes to keep the tank clean and safe for your sexy shrimps.
Tank setup for sexy shrimps
Sexy shrimps are small in size so a 5-gallon tank is sufficient for them. You can also choose a reef nano tank as it’s very beautiful. You can only keep Smaller invertebrates in these small tanks. But if you are keeping your sexy shrimps in a smaller tank, then don’t overcrowd the tank. Because a smaller tank provides less space so you should never overcrowd the tank in order to provide more space for each sexy shrimp.
Also, be very careful while choosing tank mates for them. Don’t add any territorial fishes with them as aggressive fishes might attack these tiny sexy shrimps.
When it comes to tank size, pico or nano tanks are sufficient for sexy shrimps. If you will keep them in a large community tank with aggressive or large fishes, then chances are that those fishes will attack your tiny sexy shrimps. Also, sexy shrimps are so small that you even won’t be able to find them in a large tank. So if you want to keep an eye on these fascinating sexy shrimps then keep them in a nano or pico tank. You can keep 3-5 sexy shrimps in a 5-gallon tank.
Decorations
You can also decorate their tank with aquatic plants. You can also add fake plants. Also, make sure to provide your sexy shrimps with plenty of hiding spots. You can add corals as corals will provide them with many places to hide in the nooks of rocks.
Ideal water conditions
There are some factors that you need to consider!! As sexy shrimps live in pico tanks and even though these tanks are of high quality but temperature changes in these tanks can affect them more rapidly than larger tanks.
Ideal water parameters for sexy shrimp are
| Temperature | 72 to 82 F |
| Calcium concentration | 400 to 450 ppm |
| pH levels | 8.1 to 8.4 |
| Alkalinity | 7 to 12 dKH |
| Salinity | 1.023 – 1.025 |
If you take care of these water parameters then you are good to go
Ideal tank mates
While choosing tank mates, be careful don’t add any large fish with them. As large fishes might attack these tiny sexy shrimps.
Another important factor is don’t add clown fish with sexy shrimps as they both might fight for anemones and definitely your sexy shrimps will lose as they are tiny and clown fishes are more aggressive.
The best tank mates for sexy shrimps are
- Emerald crabs
- Nassarius snails
- Peppermint shrimp
- Bumble Bee Snails
- Cerith Snails
- Conch snails
- Anemones
- Boxer crabs
- Porcelain crabs
- Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Avoid these tank mates at all cost
- Clownfish
- Angelfish
- Groupers
- Hawkfish
- Triggerfish
- Dottybacks
- Wrasses
- Coral banded shrimp
Can you keep sexy shrimps together?
Yes, they do quite well in groups. You can add them in groups of 3 or more. When they are in a group you will see them shaking their booties because they feel happy in a group. If you add a large number of sexy shrimps together then shift them to a nano tank so they have enough space to live.
What do sexy shrimps eat
Sexy shrimps are carnivorous so you can feed them with flakes, gels, or pellets. If you observe that the food is sinking down and your sexy shrimps are not eating it then you can also feed them with forceps or tweezers.
They do eat leftovers but you must know that sexy shrimps are not cleaner shrimp and they won’t eat leftovers all the time.
Other than pellets and flakes you can feed your sexy shrimp with protein-rich food like live and frozen meaty food.
If you are keeping anemones with sexy shrimps then there is nothing to worry about. You don’t have to feed sexy shrimps as they will feed on the coral slime in your tank. Also, they will eat the organisms that stick to the coral.
Otherwise, if you are not having anemones so your sexy shrimps are wont be able to feed on corals so in that situation you can directly feed them.
Breeding of sexy shrimps
When it comes to breeding, it’s not that difficult. Only the difficult part of the breeding process is to raise the baby fry.
For encouraging the breeding process you should feed your sexy shrimps with meaty foods as these are high in proteins.
Sexy shrimps can produce from 100-300 eggs in a single spawning session. The larvae will hatch in 2-3 weeks. The complete transformation is going to take another 10-12 days.
Once you observe that the shrimplets are hatching, then the real tough part comes. Because it gets difficult to raise them. If you are not having a species-specific tank then the baby fry can become a source of food!!
Even if you have a specific tank for sexy shrimps, their chances of living are very less. They can starve and will die.
Disease and parasites
Sexy shrimps are not susceptible to any specific disease. But yeah they are still prone to some saltwater aquarium problems.
Their immunity can decrease due to several reasons like If you don’t take care of them, if their diet is not balanced and healthy, if they are in poor water conditions. This will give them stress and their immunity will decrease. This stress can make them sick. If they are under stress they can become lethargic or they will lose appetite or unfortunately, they can even die.
If you observe any symptoms then immediately test the quality of your water and provide them with a protein-rich diet.
How to avoid these diseases
- Keep the tank clean at all times
- You should have a good-quality water
- Don’t keep them with territorial fishes
- Provide them with a protein-rich and healthy diet
- Take care of the pH levels
How to distinguish between a male and female sexy shrimp
This is quite fun, Sexy Shrimp is a protandric hermaphrodite which basically means sexy shrimps are born male, but they can entirely become females if the need arises.
The interesting part is clownfish which is the biggest competitor for sexy shrimps when it comes to anemones are also protandric hermaphrodites.
Are sexy shrimps easily available?
Yes, you can easily find them. Their prices range from $20-60. You can also get them from online retailers. You can also get discounts from some online retailers.
Conclusion
Sexy shrimps are quite fun to watch and they can be very good pets. Also, it’s easy to keep them as they only require pico or nano tanks, and pico and nano tanks are also cheap. So you can easily keep sexy shrimps as your pet.
The only hard work you have to do is to keep the tank clean at all times as the tank is smaller and it might get dirty easily
