I am dying to know who ate my peppermint shrimp...

saltypatti

saltypatti

Member
This happened awhile back. I do not have fish right now, but when I did, I had a yellow tang, pj cardinal, two clownfish, a royal gramma, a blue hippo tang and a blue koran.
One day, I saw the peppermint shrimp half eaten. He had been in the tank for like two weeks and was cleaning several of the fish. I did see the yellow tang take a nip at his tail, but nothing happened. Then one day I found him. The next couple of days, I saw a hermit crab out of it's shell and eaten. I saw the yellow tang picking at it.
The LFS said that the tang will pick at things that are dead, but he suspected the blue koran. He also thought the blue koran might be intimidating the blue hippo. I took him out and gave it to the fish store.
somehow, it stressed and died at the fish store.
So the two inverts being eaten is a little bit of a mystery. And what happened to the blue koran??? It was doing great the whole time I had it and then died at the lfs.
Any ideas???
Patti
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Well, I can't help you on the Koran....could have been the water quality at the LFS, acclimation stress, a lot of things.
But the pepp...I would guess the clowns. I had one and it vanished one day...no shell, no nothing...I was pretty convinced my tomato had a snack, and then dumped the evidence in my anemone.
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
OK, OK, don't get mad...just offering my opinion based on my own experiences....
Well, the gramma is a carnivore, so it could have been that, and yes, it could have been the Koran as well. Given that you have/had a few species that COULD have done it, it is difficult to say which it was definitely.
 
saltypatti

saltypatti

Member
it, I was just used too many!!!!
I do not get mad here, because most pople know more than I do and can offer a lot of advice.
My question is that if the royal gramma is a meat eater, why do they consider it reef safe???? I would think that if it would eat a crab, it would not be safe.
Do you think that I was not feeding them enough. I wonder if I put in the forzen brine, shrimp and the other items people suggested, they would not have any reason to attack the shrimp or the crabs.
Have you heard of hermit crabs eating each other, or at least pulling one another out of their shells????
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Actually, hermits do that all the time. They steal each others shells, and kill each other, snails, etc., for them. The best way to avoid this is to have some empty shells in the tank for them to change off with.
The gramma is a carnivore because it will eat mysis shrimp, etc. But just because it is a carnivore doesn't mean it will harm corals, etc. That is what really makes it reef safe.
I don't know exactly how much you fed, but that could have made a difference. If a fish is hungry, it will find food where it can. Keeping the appetites down and the bellies full makes for content fish.
 
saltypatti

saltypatti

Member
garlic too. I agree that an empty belly will search out any food. I usually feed them two times a day. Flake and pellet. I am going to give alot more variety when the time comes.
Thanks for letting me know about the empty shells, I should have thought of that.
 
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