I did a bit more reading as well and found several instances about the feces. While lots of critters do this without hosts just because it's available. For this shrimp I am wondering if A it does this to speed up any resistances to any chemicals/defences the host has, or there is a diet benefit that it needs from this. If it's for a diet need then definitely don't want to keep without. If it's a similar relationship to a hermit crab rather than a clown fish, this would also be a no go for me as well. To much unknown and risk at the moment from what your saying and I have read to try at the moment. Thanks for the info.I can go digging through the papers I've found on these guys again tomorrow and double check, but, yeah, they likely do have similar diets to other shrimp while also feeding on their host's feces (similar to pistol shrimp with gobies, which show increased weight gain when offered the feces of one of their partner goby species; are the feces necessary? Probably not, but it might be needed for some reason or another).
Anyway, my point with the hermit crab and shell example was that the hermit's need for the shell is as much or more psychological than it is physical - that is to say, even if the crab is kept alone in a little crab paradise tank, it will still be stressed (likely to death) unless it has a shell. So, these sorts of relationships aren't always (just) about the actual, physical protection and nutrition provided by them - it seems they're also frequently about the mental protection they provide, if that makes sense.
From what I've read, that seems to be the case with these - the article below discusses it a bit:
So, while some symbionts (such as clownfish and anemones) may not literally need each other to survive/thrive long-term, others might (regardless of if they literally physically need each other or not, they may still mentally need each other).The Emperor’s Shrimp (Periclimenes Imperator)
Periclimenes imperator (Emperor shrimp) on Bohadschia argus (Sea cucumber) via http://en.wikipedia.org One of the coolest thing about this hobby is its diversity in tank inhabitants. This is sadly its biggest problem as well. Due the the immense...www.reef2reef.com