squintin March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 or at least that's what i think it was. for some background, i had a bit of an aiptasia problem until i introduced some peppermint shrimp into the tank. they quickly rid my tank (14 gallon) of the pest and until now, were seemingly happy with just pick off whatever food i was feeding the tank. unfortunately, i've lately discovered that my hammer coral, which originally had 3 heads, is now down to 1 and a half. at this rate, it means that i will no longer have a hammer coral by either saturday or sunday. has anyone ever had this happen to them?! the only difference i've noticed from before (when they wouldn't eat my coral) to now is that one of the shrimp appears to be carrying eggs. must be the cravings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 or at least that's what i think it was. for some background, i had a bit of an aiptasia problem until i introduced some peppermint shrimp into the tank. they quickly rid my tank (14 gallon) of the pest and until now, were seemingly happy with just pick off whatever food i was feeding the tank. unfortunately, i've lately discovered that my hammer coral, which originally had 3 heads, is now down to 1 and a half. at this rate, it means that i will no longer have a hammer coral by either saturday or sunday. has anyone ever had this happen to them?! the only difference i've noticed from before (when they wouldn't eat my coral) to now is that one of the shrimp appears to be carrying eggs. must be the cravings... I had some peppermints that wreaked havoc on my ricodea and a frogspawn. I had to tear my tank apart to catch them. After that, I swore off the little guys for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin March 26, 2010 Author Share March 26, 2010 well i'm not 100% sure it's them since i haven't exactly caught them in the act, but i really can't think of anything else in my tank that would be the culprit. just seems odd that they'd randomly decide to start going nuts now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luceneck March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 I had some peppermints that wreaked havoc on my ricodea and a frogspawn. I had to tear my tank apart to catch them. After that, I swore off the little guys for good. I've also had issues with peppermints eating my anemone. The shrimp would go up to the anemone, clip a tentacle and run off to the back of the tank. I wasn't feed the tank so there was nothing to entice the shrimp to go after the anemone. Sexy Shrimp are also on my do not buy list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmubeach March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 wow I never knew that! you learn something new every day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 I've had problems with peppermint shrimp crawling over a coral and picking food out of it's mouth. But I've never had a peppermint shrimp actually attack a coral and eat the coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 Could it be that you have the wrong kind of shrimp? To me, the difference is obvious, but without knowing your experience level perhaps you have some camel shrimp instead? Also, it's not outside of the realm of possibility that your shrimp are simply bothering the coral to death by picking it over, but it's also possible that there's another explanation, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterDog March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 Could it be that you have the wrong kind of shrimp? To me, the difference is obvious, but without knowing your experience level perhaps you have some camel shrimp instead? Also, it's not outside of the realm of possibility that your shrimp are simply bothering the coral to death by picking it over, but it's also possible that there's another explanation, too. I have read somewhere that there is a type of peppermint shrimp, from the Pacific(maybe) that is much larger than its smaller relative and has been known to nibble on coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin March 26, 2010 Author Share March 26, 2010 i'd like to say i'm pretty sure it's not a camel shrimp since it doesn't have the obvious hump, and it seems to look a lot more like the pictures i see of peppermints over camels. obviously i could be wrong, but then again, i've read that camels don't touch aiptasia and my tank was filled with those until the shrimp were added. i've seen them dig into coral after i feel the tank with them simply picking out the food and running into their caves, but every morning i wake up now with a little less coral. it really does appear to be because the one shrimp is carrying eggs now though, since that's the only thing that's changed in the last week. i'm just hoping that when i go home tonight, i'll still have the 1.5 heads remaining so i can try and isolate the shrimps into a breeder net or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals March 26, 2010 Share March 26, 2010 i'd like to say i'm pretty sure it's not a camel shrimp since it doesn't have the obvious hump, and it seems to look a lot more like the pictures i see of peppermints over camels. obviously i could be wrong, but then again, i've read that camels don't touch aiptasia and my tank was filled with those until the shrimp were added. i've seen them dig into coral after i feel the tank with them simply picking out the food and running into their caves, but every morning i wake up now with a little less coral. it really does appear to be because the one shrimp is carrying eggs now though, since that's the only thing that's changed in the last week. i'm just hoping that when i go home tonight, i'll still have the 1.5 heads remaining so i can try and isolate the shrimps into a breeder net or something... You can always come drop them into my 55 I am sure my eel would love them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin March 27, 2010 Author Share March 27, 2010 just as i feared. came back to see the remainder of the one head gone. ended up catching them and confining them to a breeder net. going to check the next few days to see if the last head can recover from this entire ordeal, since it looks like it's had a couple heads clipped off. those empty coral skeletons sure do look depressing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin March 27, 2010 Author Share March 27, 2010 well this is kind of odd... after netting the peppermints for a couple hours, i noticed that both of their stripes started to fade. now they appear to be almost clear. is this something i should be worried about? too much stress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin March 28, 2010 Author Share March 28, 2010 somehow when i checked this morning, those little puckers managed to escape the breeding net. they still looked really pale and clear in the morning but now when i check them, they look as though they've regained their color and my hammer coral is still intact (for now). this is just weird.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin April 6, 2010 Author Share April 6, 2010 well...woke up this morning and found the last head half gone. guess overfeeding the tank wasn't enough to save it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 April 6, 2010 Share April 6, 2010 they could go clear with stress or maybe a defense mechanism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie April 6, 2010 Share April 6, 2010 I've also had issues with peppermints eating my anemone. The shrimp would go up to the anemone, clip a tentacle and run off to the back of the tank. I wasn't feed the tank so there was nothing to entice the shrimp to go after the anemone. Sexy Shrimp are also on my do not buy list. I think that one of mine tried while I was out one day that but the anemome won that battle (I came home to fine the anemome tiny, bright purple with a half of a peppermint shrimp sticking out of his mouth). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris- April 14, 2010 Share April 14, 2010 Yes, revenge can be sweet at times. Are the peps still in your tank? What else do they have to go after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squintin April 14, 2010 Author Share April 14, 2010 they're still in the tank. after destroying my hammers, it appears that they've cooled off a bit and have yet to choose their next target. either that or they just really liked hammers for some reason. my frogspawn doesn't look as good as it did before but it doesn't appear that there are chunks ripped from it or anything. just doesn't want to open for some reason i suppose. the hammer actually looks a little as though it's trying to grow back though! guess only time will tell... i have noticed that the shrimps refuse to touch this one aiptasia that i've been eyeing for the last month. must be just too lazy to clean when i end up overfeeding the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris- April 15, 2010 Share April 15, 2010 Suprised you have not pulled them out and stuck them on a shish kabob. Shrimp on the bar-b anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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