Rock Pool Prawns (Palaemon Elegans) as clean up crews?

[luu78]

Hi everyone,
I recently caught what I initially thought were grass shrimps during a walk at the beach. They were in several tidal pools on the rock wall stretching out into the water at low tides. I later found out they greatlt resemble an invasive European specie called palaemon elegans, or rock pool prawns. They have been in my sump for a couple weeks now and seem to color up quite a bit since the introduction. The blues and yellows seem be more pronounced. I have Astaxanthin powder and will start to gut load/soak the fish food with it to see if it will have any effect on the prawns’ colorations or perhaps introduces a reddish tone that is currently not visible. I have corals so there’s a reef light in the sump as well. They’re very responsive to broadcast feedings and dont seem to bother my corals. Anyone else keep them?

 

[elaminator]

I recently went crabbing in Wareham and there are tons of them in the marsh. I too wonder if they would be ok in a reef tank.......

 

[luu78]

I recently went crabbing in Wareham and there are tons of them in the marsh. I too wonder if they would be ok in a reef tank.......

Did you catch any blue crab? We used to go blue crabbing in Wareham right on the side of the train tracks but there are very few in recent years. Used to be a fun
family event with the kids

 

[elaminator]

Yup, that's the place. The blue crabs were tiny, we threw them back in, but it was definitely fun.

 

[jfoahs04]

Did you catch any blue crab? We used to go blue crabbing in Wareham right on the side of the train tracks but there are very few in recent years. Used to be a fun
family event with the kids

My mother lives on the water in Assonet, MA, and my father on the water on the Eastern Shore of VA. In the past few years, my mother has had better luck with the crab pots in Assonet than my father has had near the epicenter of the blue crab world. This year was a bit of a dud in both, but last year was great in Assonet.

The rockpool shrimp are interesting. I'm curious as to how they do long term.

 

[JeanR]

I have a couple in my 40g I caught in some tide pools on the north shore. I've had them for over a year - they are great and super cool. Very smart and curious, don't bother the corals. If you stick your hand in the tank they come over almost immediately to check you out and give you a good cleaning. Also super hardy, I just had a heater break in my tank - it electrocuted the peppermints and snails, but the Rockpool shrimp survived! They seem very happy eating flake food and frozen.

 

[luu78]

Is it me or they seem to color up after awhile in our reef tanks?

 

[this is me]

That's pretty cool Ben.

 

[JeanR]

Do you think they actually do any CUC functions?

 

[luu78]

Do you think they actually do any CUC functions?

They’re carnivores. I haven’t witnessed them munching on algae yet. They’re more or so tank inhabitants and not utilitarians by any means. They adapt to reef parameters really well, I have seen them berried with eggs a month or so ago. However, I think they’re useful in consuming excess food I feed my lazy clownfish pair, if left uneaten since the clownfish pair don’t really chase the food around.

 

[JeanR]

sounds right. I was hoping mine would develop a taste for aptasia, but they don't seem too....

 

[luu78]

One of the rock pool prawns is seen carrying eggs this week…it could be that they’re getting super comfy and well-fed in the frag tank or it’s a seasonal thing for them. Cheers