Peppermint Shrimp

[greenstarman]

I bought two peppermint shrimp in hopes to rid my tank of Aptasia, well the idea worked. Now since that food supply is gone they are going for my Zoa's. How, without removing my rocks do i get them out. Is there any sort of sneaking trap that can be used?

[Sk8r]

Get a fish trap and bait it with raw shrimp. You can make one out of a liter coke bottle with the top cut off and reversed. Tilt it just a bit, rest the opening on a convenient rock, and be patient.

[greenstarman]

Great idea... thanks. Have one on hand.

[BRISK495]

hello, where did you get your peppermint shrimp? Thanks...

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7365772#post7365772 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Get a fish trap and bait it with raw shrimp. You can make one out of a liter coke bottle with the top cut off and reversed. Tilt it just a bit, rest the opening on a convenient rock, and be patient.

That's what I did. Took me approx. 30-40 SECONDS to catch the first one. The second one got smart. Took a few hours to get him.

Peppermint examining the trap:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/bronx_bombers/Shrimp%20Trap/trapset-pepexploring.jpg

Getting closer:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/bronx_bombers/Shrimp%20Trap/gettingcloser.jpg

Bada Bing:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/bronx_bombers/Shrimp%20Trap/snagged.jpg

Closeup of bada bing! lol :D :

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/bronx_bombers/Shrimp%20Trap/youreminenow.jpg

swimmer

[BRISK495]

do u have plans for him? nice job on the trap...

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7368147#post7368147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BRISK495
do u have plans for him? nice job on the trap...


Thank you BRISK
I built and caught those peps over a year ago. They were banished to my fuge and then given away. No pep will ever see the inside of my tank again! :mad2: IMO they are the devil in disguise.

swimmer

[greenstarman]

I knew of the consequences when I bought mine, the LFS told me that they would eat the aptasia, and they cleared it out in my tank but startet eating my snails and button polyps. I figured they served their purpose. BYE BYE

[keithntracy]

our pepermints never touch our zoas!

[greenstarman]

I wish I could say the same thing i started noticing a white tip where the day before there was a polyp. I have lost a total of 5 tips so far. And when I woke up this morning I caught one of the shrimps. One down, one to go.

[keithntracy]

really, gonna have to keep an eye on ours!

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7368681#post7368681 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by keithntracy
our pepermints never touch our zoas!

Mine never touched my zoos either. I added a beautiful 7 head Blasto. Next day it was reduced to 4 heads due to the two devils.

The problem with peps are that they are opportunistic feeders. They most likely will not bother a healthy coral. However, they will seek and destroy a stressed coral. The Blastos I added were healthy, but as we all know, they were stressed from shipping (newly added).

A stressed coral can and will most likely recover. The peps just don't give them a chance. Same thing with a sick coral. They don't always die. They can be nursed back to health. That task becomes ominous when there are peps in the tank. Hence the term opportunistic feeder.

swimmer

[greenstarman]

Sk8r: Hey thanks for the idea. Here's one of the little devils.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/82835Pep_Shrimp.JPG

[masterswimmer]

greenstar, good job!!! How long did it take to trap the little devil?

swimmer

[greenstarman]

I set this trap last night at 8:30pm and I checked around 1:30am (cookies and milk time) and sure enough there he was.

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7369162#post7369162 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenstarman
I set this trap last night at 8:30pm and I checked around 1:30am (cookies and milk time) and sure enough there he was.

I wouldn't be surprised if you had him there real quick. The first one is the dumb, easy one. The second one is dumb, but just takes a little longer. :D

swimmer :blown: peppermint
muhahahahahahahah

[wheelspin]

I have two in seperate tanks that were great aptasia killers and they never seemed to hurt anything else.

I have heard many times a store might sell camel shrimps as peppermint.

[greenstarman]

I think I found the actual DEVIL. Found this guy hiding behind the frag that was not looking so good. Sundial snail I believe.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/82835Sundial.JPG

[romunov]

Probably, yes.
Neato animal, though.

[rppvt]

I just pulled 3 Sundials off a colony from my LFS. they told me there were snails in the tank and to watch out for them--
But as for the peppermints? I had one come in on a rock and kept it to get rid of apthasia-- he never touches them!
I had no idea they'd eat polyps...
gotta get the trap out.