Naughty Peppermint shrimp?

[mermaidgrrl13]

Okay I dont even know if this is possible..thats why I am seeking your knowledge. I had a pretty bad aptasia problem. Before I added to much valuable livestock I added some large (6) Peppermint shrimp. My husband brought home a small RTBA friday and as soon as he attached to the rock the biggest shrimp went to him and started "jackhammering" him. You know how the shirmp like punch the aptasia? I called my LFS guy right away and he said hed never heard of it and said to keep his eye on it. Its sunday and ive chased that shinkin Pepermint shrimp away a dozen times! Everyday. The Nem looks great and is eating i might add..It also has not moved a ton like alot of people have described..it found its spot attached and has been there ever since. Has anyone else heard of this? The shrimp is much bigger then the Nem. I will try to get pics of it later (i have to work today..blah) I would have thought the RTBA would have stung him, and the shrimp would have learned his lesson? weird. Thanks guys.

 

[flower]

To start with I never heard of a peppermint shrimp being bigger then the anemone, it must be a tiny thing. Peppermint shrimp eat anemones, little baby ones. There really is no difference between one that is a pest and one you pay for. I think Aiptasia are also called glass anemones.
So if your anemone is that small it is doomed. You can’t guard it 24/7. So either remove it and put it in another tank or take it back to the LFS or remove the shrimp.

 

[nycbob]

anything is possible when it comes to livestocks. i had a cleaner shrimp once that would pick on any clams i put into the tank. if its just one shrimpdoing it, then u should really take that shrimp out. as to why the sting doesnt bother the shrimp, my guess would be if it is not afraid of the aptasia sting, then rbta wouldnt bother it either.

 

[halamaya]

i've seen giant peppermint shrimp at the LFS and they were bigger than a large fire shrimp.

 

[ophiura]

I would personally remove the shrimp. I do consider it a possibility that it will eat it, and it is not unheard of for it to happen. If you have shrimp that are natural predators of anemones, there is no reason for them to necessarily "know" that they are only supposed to eat certain kinds of pest anemones.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Halamaya
http:///forum/post/3179853
i've seen giant peppermint shrimp at the LFS and they were bigger than a large fire shrimp.

Even a large fire shrimp is a very small anemone. Most anemones I see are about the size of a baseball, fully inflated. I know they can shrink up to the size of a grape.
Still a peppermint shrimp can’t tell the difference from a pest anemone and one you want to keep. If you bought it to do a job…it is doing its duty with all its heart.

 

[sdch1000]

I had the same issue with 4 small peppermints when I added a pink sebae anemone. They kept picking at it and I could the anemone cringe when they got it. I tore down every rock to get the four trouble makers out and sent them down the toilet. And no, I didn't feel guilty about it.

 

[mermaidgrrl13]

Thanks for the replys all. To answer some of your questions..the nem is about the size of a golf ball. the naughty peppy is about 4 inches long. I guess its kind of hard to say a shrimp and an RTBA are the same size as they arent really something that can be compared..but when that shrimp is on top of It he sure looks like a monster. Ill try to get some pics..i have to figure out the whole photobucket thing..after i get off work at ten tonite..so well see. I do have another question. If the anemone was stressed, would it show signs? He has eatn every day since i got him (PE mysis) and hasnt moved. he doesnt have any sort of damage. (like the aptasia does when my pepys go after it) Regardless I feel like the safest thing maybe finding a new place for the large peppy. which kinda makes me sad because he does such a good job with the aptasia. last night he was going at my RTBA agian and I tried to chase him off (he actually tried to chase ME off) Never seen that before, usually he retreats right away. Then I fed him a hearty meal and he ate ALOT and crawled under an overhang with the rest of the peppys (4 of them). I got these guys to fix a pretty bad aptasia issue, and they did an amazing job..id have a pretty hard time sending them back to the ocean if you know what i mean. (or any fish/invert for that matter) I havent been feeding them on a regular basis, so that they would take care of my aptasia issue, so im going to do that now and see if it makes the problem better. If not I will take him down to my LFS as Im sure anyone with an aptasia problem would LOVE to have him. Thanks agian guys.

 

[reefaholic33]

I have a peppermint right now that has attacked my nem, mushrooms and rics. And this is not speculation, I have stayed up late at night and watched it happen after the lights are out.