Peppermint shrimp eating LPS

[Rodolfo Garcia]

How's it going guys, i've had my green tip hammer coral for about 3 weeks now, everything was going smoothly. It's the only coral in my tank but it was doing good since the first few days that i added it it started to split, so there are two heads. Yesterday i noticed one of the heads skeleton was showing and i got concerned , wondering if my parameters were ideal. But this morning i woke up to this . I love my coral but i also love the fact that my peppermint ate up all the aptasia in the tank. Should i remove the peppermint ? Im planning to add more coral since that's why i set it up to be a reef tank.
Sorry for bad quality photos, and can the half eaten head regrow back?

 

[LetItReef]

Yes, remove the Peppermint shrimp.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

I guess thats my only option. I hope i can get store credit for him

 

[cgdcinc]

I had one within minutes of being in my tank started ripping torch arms off. He wasn't even eating them. They were floating around my tank. Unnerving. Torch was fine after he was out.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Good to know man. I was loving my coral , but as well my shrimp. Are there any shrimp that are truly reef safe? I heard mixed stories about peppermints.

 

[cnseekatz]

Peppermints, like all shrimp (and most other crustaceans) are opportunistic, and will eat whatever is available to them. Some have preferences, but none are a sure thing. Peppermints are no exception. Some have a great appetite for aiptasia and will really help keep your tank clear of them. The problem is that when they run out of them, they still need to eat, and they'll turn to your LPS. Some, like the one(s) cgdcinc bought, don't even bother with the pretense of eating aiptasia, and just go straight for your torches, acans, hammers, etc.

They're still probably the single best weapon against aiptasia I've ever seen, but you need to be sure that there is something else in the tank for them to focus on when they're done. If you must, you can hand feed them. I hand feed mine (guilty smirk) freeze dried shrimp... and they tend to leave my LPS alone. But in all practicality, it might just be easier to introduce some when you have an aiptasia problem, and remove them when the job is done.