peppermint shrimp.....AAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!

[dreamer44]

Im not happy....today I got my hammer coral in the mail, and zoa's, well those two peppermints are tearing the zoa's apart..and eating them polyp by polyp, when they got tired of doing that.....they went after my hammer coral, there "WERE" two nickle sized heads and one small one....they were opening up very nice, not fully but getting there....well those peppermints put a stop to that,,,,they not only have torn most of the tentacles out of the hammer, they have somehow torn off pieces of the skeloten....I caught them "red clawed" with the tips in their claws, ripping them up and shoving them into their mouths! by morning there wont be anything left of the hammer.

I dont care if I have to completely EMPTY that tank, those #@$@#

$#@ are OUT of my tank, Im flushing them...they just cost me money, more money than it cost me to buy the damn things!, and my hammer coral, more than the money, that hammer was really cool looking!,,,
this sucks, I wish I had never bought the darn things, I would have been better off buying "joe's juice" to have on hand in the event that the aiptasia were to ever show up.
funny, I bought them as a "just incase" and nothing ever showed up, and now their tearing up my zoa's and corals!
I cant stay up all night and baby sit the shrimp and hammer,,,I have to get up at 6:30a...
deep breath....venting....deep breath.
all I know is their "evicted" and going swimming with the fishes...literally!
thats all there is to it!
thanks for reading....listening
Lori

 

[pakora]

Dont flush them... send them to me, i'll keep them.

 

[lesleybird]

Are you feeding them? Try feeding them some some little sinking pellets a couple of times a day. If you want to get rid of them then give them back to a fish store. Don't flush them for eating. Lesley

 

[dreamer44]

yea, I know....was just really tired and really ticked off last night....
Im going to catch them and take them back to the LFS, hopefully today...but their quick, I hope I can catch them...

Lori

 

[renogaw]

bottle trap. take a 1 liter bottle, cut the top off, and invert it in itself. put a nice piece of shrimp or some other seafood inside it. they cannot resist going in.

 

[jerthunter]

Thats awful! Maybe the corals were weakened from having been shipped and once the shrimp got a taste they generally won't stop eatting.
I'll hold one for you until after you get this resolved, just let me know when you're ready to try again.
As far as catching, I don't know how friendly yours are but you could try putting some food in a net and they might just crawl into it for you.

 

[m0nk]

Are you sure they're peppermint shrimp? Some LFS mis-label other similar shrimp that aren't reef-safe, like camel-back, as peppermint.
This is a camelback:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=4
They are NOT reef safe and will eat coral polyps. This is a peppermint:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=4
These are reef safe. I have owned several and they have never gone after coral, even dead and/or dying ones. My cleaner shrimp, however, will eat decaying dead coral. Hope that helps.

 

[yogoshio]

Yeah, I bet they're camelback. I have peppermints in my reef tank with zoas and a few others that he never touches.

 

[reefer545]

Sounds like camelback. Never thought otherwise. I would send them back adn ask for a rep[lacement zoa and fspawn as well as true peppermints.

 

[dreamer44]

Originally Posted by Jerthunter
Thats awful! Maybe the corals were weakened from having been shipped and once the shrimp got a taste they generally won't stop eatting.
I'll hold one for you until after you get this resolved, just let me know when you're ready to try again.
As far as catching, I don't know how friendly yours are but you could try putting some food in a net and they might just crawl into it for you.
whats left of the hammer looks awsome, right now I have it hanging in a bag of water in the tank and it has opened up nicely, you can see where the pepp's pinched the heads off but they still look pretty good, I have no doubt it will recover eventually, but in the meantime I still want to get another from you, as soon as I get the buggers out of my tank, thanks for holding it for me.
I'll keep you posted, im going to try to catch them tonight...waiting for my husband to help me when he gets off work...not looking forward to this!
thanks Jer,
Lori

 

[dreamer44]

Originally Posted by m0nk
This is a peppermint:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=4
These are reef safe. I have owned several and they have never gone after coral, even dead and/or dying ones. My cleaner shrimp, however, will eat decaying dead coral. Hope that helps.

this is the ones that I have....I feed them 3x's a day...and they eat like pigs, and yet they still tore the stuff up!

Idk....im taking them out of there...asap could be that their just not "true" pepp's like the lfs told me they were.....I guess they look the same but some are true and some are not...idk??
thanks for the id help though...
Lori

 

[dreamer44]

Originally Posted by renogaw
bottle trap. take a 1 liter bottle, cut the top off, and invert it in itself. put a nice piece of shrimp or some other seafood inside it. they cannot resist going in.
what if my cleaner shrimp goes in the bottle....I know I can just dump him back out...but the pepp's run from the cleaner, you should see him when he feels like gaurding the polyps....its funny to see,

I think I may have to take the rock out and put it in a bucket, and put the fish in another bucket and just scoop the pepp's out when they have no where to hide.
there is also the fact of one bubble of green algae on a larger rock pretty low in the tank that I need to deal with....the lfs does not carry emerald crabs either....
anyway, will let you know what happens,,,after it happens...
thanks for all the suggestions, you guys are great
Lori

 

[shrimpi]

they arent true pepps.
Look on this site they say thiers are TRUE pepp. shrimp.
Most local fish stores sell shrimp that are bred to god knows what and sell them as pepp's.
Get a real pepp. and you will be fine.
Mine is a true pepp. and he is the cutest little ninja shrimp ever. Never touches anything but scraps.
Good Luck
Jessica

 

[dreamer44]

well, we finally caught those buggers....spent 5 1/2 hours with a net....and finally 5 mins with the bottle trap... man that bottle worked fast!
I caught the smaller one with the net, but the big fat one was too slick for that...so I told my husband about the bottle trap, he made one out of a 16oz water bottle, at first we caught the cleaner shrimp,,,he wouldn't let the peppermint near that bottle....i mean...it had FOOOOOOD in it... I then put the cleaner in a bag and hung him in the tank, set the bottle up again and within a couple of minutes the 2nd peppermint was in the bottle....DONE DEAL! I have them haning in bags in the tank for the night, not the cleaner, he's back in the tank and king of the hill again! the lfs was closed by the time we caught them. Im going to call them in the morning and see if I can get a credit for them.
Thanks for the help everyone! Im so glad their not in my tank anymore!!

Lori

 

[shogun323]

Lori,
I am curous, how much do peppermints cost up your way? I ask because you mentioned credit. Down here it would cost me more in gas then I would recieve for credit. I only pay between $1.50 and $3.00. ~wade

 

[florida joe]

Make sure it’s not the pacific like peppermint shrimp Rhynchocinetes spp. which have large eyes and a long upward pointing beaklike rostrum. They will feed on soft corals

 

[dreamer44]

Originally Posted by shogun323
Lori,
I am curous, how much do peppermints cost up your way? I ask because you mentioned credit. Down here it would cost me more in gas then I would recieve for credit. I only pay between $1.50 and $3.00. ~wade
they were 10.00 each, and I bought two of them...
Lori

 

[dreamer44]

Originally Posted by florida joe
Make sure it’s not the pacific like peppermint shrimp Rhynchocinetes spp. which have large eyes and a long upward pointing beaklike rostrum. They will feed on soft corals
sounds like them, must have been what I had...all I know is they did enough damage, took them to the LFS today and just gave them back. I didn't even ask for credit.
Lori

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by Dreamer44
sounds like them, must have been what I had...all I know is they did enough damage, took them to the LFS today and just gave them back. I didn't even ask for credit.
Lori
we live and we learn hang in there