help...peppermint shrimp eating my frag

[jfeva0049]

so i just picked up a hammer frag and last night i saw my peppermint shrimp picking at it, also saw flesh floating around. this makes sense cause i had bought a frogspawn about a month ago and that never opened up also...then finally died. i had thought it was my water quality but now im thinking that its my peppermint shrimp that is killing them.

anyone experience this ???? or have any input?

[sponger0]

It could be. Be sure it isnt a camel. They look very much a like

But people have made claims of peppermint eating corals

[reefer999]

I once had a peppermint that ate my duncan coral took it out and duncan recovered, never picked at my frogspawn or hammer though.

[jfeva0049]

yeah i think the shrimp might have to go soon.

[sqwat]

those shrimp can be terrors i will never put another one in my tank again.they attack polyps especially euphelia if they are stressed oe week i have seen them just rip tentacle after tentacle off and not even eat a bt of it.set a tgrap up if you cant net him.i use a small plastic water bottle the 4 oz tiny ones empty it and put lots off small holes in ittie a piece of shrimp with yarn or fishing linethrew one of the holes you made so it hangs in the middle take the cap of and tie a line threw another hole near the top and out the mouth so you have a line to pull it out of the tank.submerge in tank and wait till shrimp goes in and starts to eat and get comfertable.pull out steadly do not stop or you will give him time to escape he cant get out if you do it fast.gl

[sponger0]

Get a hawkfish....problem solved lol

[jfeva0049]

those shrimp can be terrors i will never put another one in my tank again.they attack polyps especially euphelia if they are stressed oe week i have seen them just rip tentacle after tentacle off and not even eat a bt of it.set a tgrap up if you cant net him.i use a small plastic water bottle the 4 oz tiny ones empty it and put lots off small holes in ittie a piece of shrimp with yarn or fishing linethrew one of the holes you made so it hangs in the middle take the cap of and tie a line threw another hole near the top and out the mouth so you have a line to pull it out of the tank.submerge in tank and wait till shrimp goes in and starts to eat and get comfertable.pull out steadly do not stop or you will give him time to escape he cant get out if you do it fast.gl

yeah that is exactly what he is doing... ripping it and not even eating it. i think he is def gotta go. did you have any issues with cleaner or fire shrimp???

[sponger0]

Cleaners and fire shrimp should be fine unless you get a bad apple

[reefer999]

You should take it out asap, and maybe the hammer will recover

[jfeva0049]

You should take it out asap, and maybe the hammer will recover

im gonna set a trap tonight, hope to have him out soon. should i move him to my fuge?? would the shrimp effect my pod population in my fuge?

[nanoreef heaven]

Mine hasn't eaten any of my corals yet but I make sure he is fed at least once a day.

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[jrsydevi1]

I have never had any luck with shrimp in my reefs... I always wind up catching them picking on something they shouldn't...

[nanoreef heaven]

That sucks. I just read if u hand feed them once a day they usually don't get hungry enough to turn on ur corals. But there r those rogues. I had a sexy shrimp clean off my sps. Talk about upset. Lol

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[jrsydevi1]

That sucks. I just read if u hand feed them once a day they usually don't get hungry enough to turn on ur corals. But there r those rogues.


I've heard the same... and when I did have shrimp.. I did my best to keep them satisfied... BUT... I'd really just rather not have anything in my tank whose menu includes my corals... I kinda picture them.. eating a shrimp pellet... while eye-balling my ricordia.. and muttering.. 'this could be you, pal.. '

[nanoreef heaven]

Lol. Well everyone has a preference. And if it saves corals then you can't go wrong.

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[ingtar_shinowa]

I had a couple peppermint shrimp destroy a frogspawn and a blasto colony.

[Reeferz412]

My peppermint is fine and I have had it for almost a year with my frogspawn. Like someone said, bad apple I guess... he just sits in this cave waiting for food or a sandbed stir.

[nanoreef heaven]

Just got two more pepps for my other tank and no problems yet.

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[baldbean]

I had a pep attack a frogspawn as soon as i took my hand out of the tank. Tore it up pretty bad too. I was also on the "feed it and its OK" bandwagon. I fed it every day and the thing would eat like it may never see food again. It eventually left the frogspawn alone though, but it did the same thing to to some pulsing xenia I added, and then soon after an rbta. It harassed the crap out of my rbta from day one so I decided to banish it to the fuge. Now the tank feels a lot less stressful. In fact I saw the hermits holding hands and singing the other day...

[nanoreef heaven]

I had a pep attack a frogspawn as soon as i took my hand out of the tank. Tore it up pretty bad too. I was also on the "feed it and its OK" bandwagon. I fed it every day and the thing would eat like it may never see food again. It eventually left the frogspawn alone though, but it did the same thing to to some pulsing xenia I added, and then soon after an rbta. It harassed the crap out of my rbta from day one so I decided to banish it to the fuge. Now the tank feels a lot less stressful. In fact I saw the hermits holding hands and singing the other day...

Wow that's crazy. Lmao on the singing hermits.

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[Biocubehqi]

I had a peppermint shrimp eat one of my nassarius snails... The snail tried to get away when I shined a light out... But it pulled it into a cave and ripped it outta the shell and ate it... Saw with my owe eyes... And it was a pep not a camel...

[sponger0]

Yes...shrimp will eat snails. This is normal

[NewbyReefer]

My pepshrimp don't kill anything but they do harass the crap out of my LPS when I direct feed. They instantly climb on my brain, slipper and ducan and start pulling the little pellets out.

[coralsnaked]

Peppermint shrimp are not beneficial shrimp for a reef system. They do no cleaning, but they will prune your corals for you and hence are not considered reef safe. Get a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and he will constantly clean your rocks and other fish if needed. I have two in my bullnose that have set up a little cleaning station where the fish come to them. Reminds me of the guys "Working at the carwash, yeah yeah." I call them Stinky and Smelly with a spanish accent Really I think they are beautiful and are totally reef safe.

[nanoreef heaven]

Skunk cleaner shrimp are cool. They do a lot of cleaning.

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[dailykos]

I was so proud of my hammer and frogspawn when I got home. My two peps (and yes, they were peps and not camels) immediately tore into them, viciously tearing out the polyps ans not even bothering to eat them, just shredding the things like Edwards Scissorhands.

It took me days to catch them and banish them to the sump, but the corals were long decimated by then. Those peps still hang out in the sump, and I have a skunk and blood red fire shrimp that don't harm anything.

[nanoreef heaven]

Sorry to hear. It's crazy to hear such horror stories. Guess I got lucky so far. (Knock on wood)

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[souperman]

I had to remove my confirmed peppermints when one of them went nuts on my hammer. I'm almost positive it also ate the eye out of my chalice frag that later died. I also fed mine regularly. I added a Flame Hawk to the tank now that I'm shrimpless and don't worry about my LPS anymore. The hammer frag has recovered after being picked down to almost nothing. Give your LPS a chance to recover before you pluck them out of the tank and toss them.

[mos90]

my peppermints have killed at least 3 different lps,sps corals. they constantly pick at my brain and they are killing it. im moving next month and converting my 125 to a 300g reef tank. no more peppermints allowed.

[nanoreef heaven]

I haven't had problems yet with my pepps but emerald crabs on the other hand. :mad:

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[mos90]

ohh i forgot. my peppermints also killed all of my conches. they would attack them at night. i will remove them. maybe feed them to my mantis. ):

[Osteoicthyes]

Mine never seemed to bother anything. They eventually died of old age after a couple of years.