Why do my clean up crew keep eating my softies?

[Deadlocked]

Hello all. Since ive started my tank ive has a reoccurring issue with hermits eating my clove polyps. Now my sexy shrimp are eating my plate coral. It seems the only CUC not giving me an issue are snails. Should i get rid of hermits and shrimp all together? Am i doing something wrong? From what i understand once your CUC has a taste for coral they don't stop. Any advice would help. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rickybobby]

What do you feed the tank? I feed the selcon recipe of salmon scallops shrimp and clams mixed in selcon. Those that don’t get eaten take of the cleanup crew. What im
Getting at is if the clean up crew doesn’t have much to eat. Maybe they are doing this

 

[ColoredRock]

Hello all. Since ive started my tank ive has a reoccurring issue with hermits eating my clove polyps. Now my sexy shrimp are eating my plate coral. It seems the only CUC not giving me an issue are snails. Should i get rid of hermits and shrimp all together? Am i doing something wrong? From what i understand once your CUC has a taste for coral they don't stop. Any advice would help. Thanks in advance.

Are they eating it or just cleaning around the edges?

At first glance you would think that this urchin is eating the clam...right?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hermits mainly scarlet red and Green Emerald are not to be trusted around softies/LPS. Its the slime they have which attracts food particles that grab their interest

 

[Deadlocked]

Are they eating it or just cleaning around the edges?

At first glance you would think that this urchin is eating the clam...right?

No my plate coral is slowly bleaching. You can tell flesh is missing. And ive seen hermits eating my cloves. A lot of my cloves are gone now.

 

[Deadlocked]

What do you feed the tank? I feed the selcon recipe of salmon scallops shrimp and clams mixed in selcon. Those that don’t get eaten take of the cleanup crew. What im
Getting at is if the clean up crew doesn’t have much to eat. Maybe they are doing this

Ill def try this out. But since they already began eating the coral will they ever stop eating coral?

 

[Quietman]

My blue leg hermits have never touched my softies. Got nervous once when I watched them eat the algae from around the polyps and stalks but they did it without touching the corals. I also broadcast feed frozen so the crabs also get quite a bit of food direct from feeding. Maybe adjust feeding so more hits the bottom for them.

 

[Deadlocked]

My blue leg hermits have never touched my softies. Got nervous once when I watched them eat the algae from around the polyps and stalks but they did it without touching the corals. I also broadcast feed frozen so the crabs also get quite a bit of food direct from feeding. Maybe adjust feeding so more hits the bottom for them.

When you say broadcast feed what do you mean? And what food do you use?

 

[IKD]

Ill def try this out. But since they already began eating the coral will they ever stop eating coral?

Is there a chance your corals are dying for another reason and the CUC is just there eating dead/decaying matter? How long have you had the plate coral? Any parameters to share?

 

[NanoSteam]

Is there a chance your corals are dying for another reason and the CUC is just there eating dead/decaying matter? How long have you had the plate coral? Any parameters to share?

This.... in most of these cases it's because the coral is already losing tissue from another reason and CUC is eating dying flesh.

 

[Deadlocked]

Is there a chance your corals are dying for another reason and the CUC is just there eating dead/decaying matter? How long have you had the plate coral? Any parameters to share?

Im 100% certain it's not my parameters. I have a ton of lps that are perfectly fine. Ive seen my hermits eating my corals. Same with my sexy shrimp

 

[IKD]

Im 100% certain it's not my parameters. I have a ton of lps that are perfectly fine. Ive seen my hermits eating my corals. Same with my sexy shrimp

So you’ve had the plate for some time (many months)? They tend to be more sensitive on parameters than other LPS (in my experience). You could remove the shrimp and hermits and see if the plate recovers. Otherwise, I would still confirm alk, calcium, pH, salinity, nitrate, phosphate) are what you expect.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Im 100% certain it's not my parameters. I have a ton of lps that are perfectly fine. Ive seen my hermits eating my corals. Same with my sexy shrimp

You said that your plate coral was bleaching. Sounds to me like maybe the plate coral is in some state of decay, and the shrimp is being opportunistic, enjoying the meal.

A lot of people say there parameters are fine, only to find out that they aren't. Not saying it is the case with you, but if you would post the standard round of parameters and the test kits you use to measure them, such as a refractometer that was calibrated with a known saltwater concentration, then we can help more. Otherwise, my guess is that the plate coral is slowly dying and the shrimp is picking off the dead flesh. Not sure about the clove polyps.

 

[attiland]

I don’t have sexy shrimp but none of my red or blue hermit eve touched my lps or zoa that includes plate coral.
I am sceptical about they are eating it because they like corals they are eating it because it is dying.