Peppermint harassing Hammer?

[Socals14]

So my hammer was doing awesome, and then my wife noticed that it was not fully extending. I checked all of my parameters, other corals, and everything was good.

She had noticed that a particular peppermint in my tank was "hanging around" the hammer. Today I noticed that same pep poking at the hammer...of course it was fully withdrawn.

Any suggestions here? Was this an oversight on my part when adding these two to my tank?

[dailykos]

So my hammer was doing awesome, and then my wife noticed that it was not fully extending. I checked all of my parameters, other corals, and everything was good.

She had noticed that a particular peppermint in my tank was "hanging around" the hammer. Today I noticed that same pep poking at the hammer...of course it was fully withdrawn.

Any suggestions here? Was this an oversight on my part when adding these two to my tank?

I just had two peppermints utterly decimate a newly introduced Hammer to my tank. Googling around, in myriad thread, people insist that it can't happen, that peppermints are reef safe, and that perhaps those offending shrimp are actually camels.

Well, I can say that yes, definitively, some peppermint will destroy hammers. (And yes, mine were fed regularly.)

After several days of trying to get them out (traps and chasing them around with a net), I finally caught one while it was distracted feasting on the hammer. I hoped and prayed that this one was the only offender. But I just had my second pep polish off the second head on that hammer. So now I have to try and catch him/her before I can try another hammer.

Pretty bummed about it. I like those shrimp. The one I caught was thrown into my mantis shrimp tank. I considered the sump, but was afraid it would get sliced up by the return or skimmer pumps. And while my mantis doesn't appear even remotely interested in its new tankmate (or any of the gorilla crabs I throw in there when I catch them in my main tank), I do wonder if its days are numbered.

On the other hand, it's giving me extra motivation to put a refugium together.

[RokleM]

^ that.

Somehow people can't comprehend that a shrimp known for liking to eat fleshy tasty aptasia would also eat LPS if it decided to do so... ;)

Many creatures are opportunistic feeders in our systems, plenty of shrimp and crabs fall into that category. "Reef safe with caution" IMO.