MYSTERY!!! Shrimp disappearing.....

[Larah]

I'm assuming my red/brown brittle star is eating them?
I have had 2 peppermints and one fire shrimp (expensive little sucker) go missing.... :(
The cleaner is like old faithful.. He's still there.... Cleaning away...
He's watched his shrimp compadres come... and then mysteriously...go...... :confused:
Anyone have any ideas? :hmm1:

[bertoni]

They might be dying due to acclimation or other stress issues. The brittle star might be doing cleanup, although it might be going for live food. Hard to say.

[Larah]

Hmmmmm..... Wellt hat's food for thought...
I don't think it's acclimation though. The peps were in there for quite a while....
The flame was in about a week...
I suppose they could just be REALLy crafty and be hiding?

[bertoni]

They might be hiding, especially the fire shrimp. Fire shrimp are from fairly deep water. How long were they in the system?

[BLKTANG]

I have seen brittle stars attack,& eat perfectly healthy fish before.I dont keep them for this reason.Sorry about your shrimps Larah.

[down and outman]

My bet is they are hiding. I added 3 peppermints and didn't see them for 2 weeks.

[Aquarist007]

sorry about your loss--I blame the damsel--you can blame them for just about anything

[Larah]

The peps were/are in there for about 2 and a half months
The Fire shrimp about 1 week......


Any thoughts on how to catch the brittle star?

[Larah]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12170816#post12170816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
sorry about your loss--I blame the damsel--you can blame them for just about anything

Yeah yeah, that's it...it's the damn damsel! LOL!

[jreefer113]

my cleaner shrimp up and disappeared one day.........i dont know what happened either

[Larah]

Hmmmmmmm..... Not happy about this!

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12170831#post12170831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Larah
The peps were/are in there for about 2 and a half months
The Fire shrimp about 1 week......


Any thoughts on how to catch the brittle star?

I don't share the same opionion on the brittle star--I had mine for two years only with two pairs of copper banded and cleaner shrimp with no problems---mind you I keep it fed at the same time I feed my elegance and anenome.

[Larah]

I do try to throw him a bone when I feed, but it's hard for him to get cause the cleaner shrimp steals everyones' yummies...
You'd think the brittle would eat the cleaner....

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12171234#post12171234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Larah
I do try to throw him a bone when I feed, but it's hard for him to get cause the cleaner shrimp steals everyones' yummies...
You'd think the brittle would eat the cleaner....

that's my point--I don't think the brittle ate anything in your tank;)

[Larah]

Yeah I gotcha...
I'm just looking for someone to blame...
and the brittle is handy............ ;)

[Tylt33]

Brittle star is a broad term. A few species are known fish eaters, a few are known to be safe. What color/species is yours? If it's green... you've caught your suspect.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12172056#post12172056 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tylt33
Brittle star is a broad term. A few species are known fish eaters, a few are known to be safe. What color/species is yours? If it's green... you've caught your suspect.

she stated it was red/brown in her first post

larah is it like this one:

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4125.jpg

[Bremmon]

We used to see our fire shrimp all of the time until I added more rock. Then she found a better place to hide. I can't see her if I try. . . that is until feeding time, then she is all over the tank:)

[willper]

I had the same problem. My Peppermint Shrimp lasted for about a month before they disappeared. I was told that they liked to hide. I found out what I think really happened.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/170133IMG_5286.jpg

Good Luck with your mystery.

[Norward]

I don't have any good ideas either Larah, but I have to add my observation that nassarius snails can be pretty voracious: I saw one consume my peppermint shrimp after I found it already dead in the tank. I lost the tug-of-war that ensued when I got to it at about the same time the snail did. Seems to me that the shrimps move too quickly for a nassarius to get them, but the picture above sure is spooky.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12173881#post12173881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Norward
I don't have any good ideas either Larah, but I have to add my observation that nassarius snails can be pretty voracious: I saw one consume my peppermint shrimp after I found it already dead in the tank. I lost the tug-of-war that ensued when I got to it at about the same time the snail did. Seems to me that the shrimps move too quickly for a nassarius to get them, but the picture above sure is spooky.
Norward, you probably just caught them doing their job---as you stated the shrimp was dead already

[cdangel0]

Is the tank drilled? I found a pep shrimp in my over-flow after about 6 months of assuming it was something's dinner.

Of course I also have a 2" (at least that's what it was when I put him in) purple lobster that I hadn't seen since 5 minutes after putting him in 6 months ago that I just found living under a rock.

[Talis]

I can't keep shrimp either... my purple psuedo takes em out!!

[Norward]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12174145#post12174145 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
Norward, you probably just caught them doing their job---as you stated the shrimp was dead already

I realize this Cap'n, just wondering if sometimes they do their job a little too well: Like going after ALIVE critters!

[willper]

The picture of the Peppermint Shrimp being eaten was very alive and had just been taken out of my QT a few minutes earlier. It danced around looking for a quiet place when one of the Nasarrius snails came up from the sand bed and crawled up on the Shrimps back. It was held down while the others came to the feeding frenzy. Here is another picture.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/170133IMG_5288.jpg

[Larah]

Oh god! The horror!!!!!!

I hope mine went peacefully......Here's a picture of my brittle star..... I'm pretty sure he's a brown brittle anyway.....

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii130/larah86/brittleseastar1.jpg

[Larah]

I don't have the pseduochromis anymore .... He was too much of a bully......

[super stooge]

shrimp can disapear for periods of time to shed their skin and they remain hidden until their new shell hardens properly. my cleaners have gone MIA twice on me and i even found an antanae floating around which made me sure they had disapeared for good. but lo and behold they popped up again a few weeks later looking fine

[Larah]

Yeah I see my cleaner do that.. He shseds and hangs behind the rock work.. But you can always find him, his "whiskers" are REALLY long....LOL!
I hope that the fire shrimp and peps are alive and just hiding out...