pep shrimp eating corals

tazzy695 · Oct 10, 2007

I was wondering if anyone else had this happen and if you could confirm that it was the pep shrimp I had a small colony of purple coral going that looked like a kenya tree of some sort

but the story is I got 2 pep shrimp abut a week ago to eat off my aiptasia and they have gotten it all and now all of a sudden I see that coral missing with just the base left

and was wondering if the pep is the culprit

residents of the tank are
2 ocy clowns
1 hermit crab has red legs
several ebay snails

other than that just a few corals

fishes2889 · Oct 10, 2007

http://www.club-zoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6311&highlight=peppermint+shrimps

jandlms · Oct 10, 2007

I have had peppermints eat anthelia but that was more of a benefit than a detriment the way that stuff grows.

revhtree · Oct 10, 2007

Hey tazzy695, WELCOME to CZ!!

tazzy695 · Oct 10, 2007

jandlms said:
I have had peppermints eat anthelia but that was more of a benefit than a detriment the way that stuff grows.

dose that look like a long kenya tree polyp attached to a encrusting base and is purple in color ???

thanx for the welcome

tazzy695 · Oct 10, 2007

here is a pic of the coral that has disapeared on me it is the one down to the left of the frogspawn frag

143gadgets · Oct 11, 2007

That sucks. Are you sure the fish store didn't sell u camel shrimps? I know sometimes new employees make that mistake.

tazzy695 · Oct 11, 2007

they didn't come from the lfs since the ones close to be absolutly stink

they were from a fellow reefer wich I trust to know his stuff as he used to own a fish store in the area

143gadgets · Oct 11, 2007

tazzy695 said:
they didn't come from the lfs since the ones close to be absolutly stink

they were from a fellow reefer wich I trust to know his stuff as he used to own a fish store in the area

Man that sucks then. Only thing I can say is take them out and banish them to the sump.

tazzy695 · Oct 11, 2007

if I had a sump setup I probly would but dont have one yet probly going to turn this tank into a sump once I upgrade to a larger tank

BigBadZoaDaddy · Oct 11, 2007

antheliea, I doubt the shrimps would eat it if it was happy. NBD you want more LMK you can come back and get some more.

NIce to see your here Marc, bet you can't get 700 post in month here like you pulled off on MR. LOL, get sick of our local board? This is a great bunch of guys here on CZ and if you can try and become a premo member, lots of perks rev throughs our way!!

:welcome:

jandlms · Oct 11, 2007

I have a happy thriving (sometimes too thriving) colony of anthelia. It ahs been going fine for about 3 years and every now and then one of my peppermint shrimp starts nipping and eating polyps. Don't know why but the anthelia is happy until it gets eaten.
By the way that is anthelia not kenya tree in the pic near the frogspawn.

tazzy695 · Oct 11, 2007

ok well like I said I didn't know what it was but it looked like a branch off a kenya to me and was growing fast till it got wiped out started out with one polyp and had 7 just before it got taken out

thanx for the welcome brent actualy I figured I would come check it out here but still active on mr I think I am over 800 posts there now LOL I am online way to much

makingbubbles · Jan 5, 2010

I hate it when people say "you sure its not a camel shrimp" and "peppermint shrimp are reef safe" (though easily mistaken). Not all species are 100% reef safe. I noticed when i cut down on feeding my peppermint (also no algae in my tank) it seeked food in the form of frogspawn. Shrimp are hungry little boogers that will become opportunistic feeders just like crabs.

rebecca · Jan 5, 2010

We had purchased some about 1.5 months ago, and now are in a sump. As soon as the aptaisia were gone, or under control, they went for coral. One pep munched 1/2 my lil mummy eye chalice, then ate the center right out of a red acan. Had another in a 30 breeder eat our rics. Tore down the tanks, took them out, and now live in a sump. Kalk paste ftw....No coral deaths since