I hate it when this happen

[Silas]

A month ago, I found one tiny little bad bad aiptasia on one of the rock. After removing it, I figure that I mind as well get some Peppermint in the tank just incase it let out a bunch of little one before I got to it. Found someone on e-bay selling six of them so I bid on it even all I need is one. Well, I got the bid and the price was right too. Six for six bucks, LFS wants $10.00 per. Placed three of them in the main tank and three in the sump/ref. Everything was fine until yesterday where I caught sight of one digging into the mouth and pulling chunks out of my ricordea yuma. Does that ever happen to any of you folks out there?

I stick a rod inside the tank to see if I can spook the shrimp but to find out he just keep coming back for more. Even I make contact with the little guy's head. Shorty after, all three are ganging up on this single rock. I tried to use a big tube thinking I can suck these guys out but there is not enough suction to do so. Since they keep going after just one rock, I place this rock (soft ball size) inside a 10" net and wait. Sure enough, they come back. Finally got two of the three out of the main tank and into the sump/ref. The last one is very smart and keep missing it.

Has anyone have bad experience with Peppermint?

s

[Big Dave]

Silas-
Make sure you didn't get camel shrimp. AThey look just like peps, but the camels have a big hump on their back - definitely noticable. Besides that, I have 'heard' peps may sometimes go after button polyps but rarely. Have have not had any problems with my peps though, and the cleaned up my aptasia pretty quick! HTH

-Big Dave

[Silas]

Dave, big hump?? I will take some picture of the shrimp tonight and perhaps you can tell me what I have.. thanks

s

[foobuddha]

Silas,

I ditched my peppermint shrimp after watching them tear apart two hawaiian feather dusters. These shrimp were target fed every 2-3 days, so it wasn't as though they were starving, they just saw the opportunity and took it.

IMO crustaceans are only good for one thing...and I hate sea food.

[Silas]

I took a look at some picture of a camel. Mine is for sure a Peppermint. Looks like I will watch for the one in 2 to 3 days. With six of them, I think I can bar-b-que half a dozen for lunch unless someone wants it. I was more surprise to see that they only target one thing and kept at it even I poke them in the head with a stick. I hope I don't have to take the tank apart to get the last one out.

s

[Jeremy1973]

I have seen mine go after a coral, but it was only to steal the food they had caught. Are you feeding your tank any?

[Silas]

I feed the tank every other day with DTs, every three days with newly hatched brine shrimp and once a week with frozen brine shrimp. The tank is only a 55 with three little fish; Dee, Jay are clownfish and Hawk is a Hawkfish. Do you think I should add some other food to the system?

s

[Mrs Smith]

Brine shrimp isn't very nutritious - I'd be feeding flake as well at minimum. There are lots of other, much more nutritious alternatives. We feed a mix of Mysis, Omega-one, spirulina, and random other things. Variety is good, and just about anything is better than brine shrimp.

I'd definitely feed some other stuff - your fish will appreciate it, and your pepps will probably back off.

Danielle

[Silas]

OK, I will get some Mysis later today. What is Omega-one?

Thank you all for your input. This drive me nuts and I don't even know if I can catch the last one either.

s

[grazzit]

Omega one is just some flake food =) Your LFS should have some.

[Mrs Smith]

Yep - just plain ol' marine flake. There's all sorts of different brands. I don't think it really matters which.

[binylee]

Because of these stories of perpermint shrimps went crazy. So I am still debating to get one. Even though I don't have alot aptasia (5 total), but it's really bug me that I can't get them out. I tried suck them out while I was changing water or pick them out. They seem pretty fast. I heard the pickling lime method, but I heard it will polute my tank.... Man... man... man... it makes me mad

[Doug1]

With a Hawkfish , that last shrimp shouldn't be problematic for long

[Silas]

Mrs Smith, For a while, I been feeding them flakes. The two clowns are not a problem to feed as they eat it off my fingers. The hawk on the other hand is very very slow. Kind of like my kids when they are young.. look at it for a long time before making a move. Off course inside the tank, the hawk always missed out.

Doug, I did noticed that the Hawk does pick on the shrimp from time to time. Do you think the Hawk will kill the Peppermint?

Last night, I notice that one of my new coral has a bunch of tiny aiptasis. These must not been more than an eight of an inch in length. I recall someone say a quick dip into RO/DI water may do the trick. Since the affected area is not near the coral, I did just that. Will take a close look tonight to see if they are still there or not. If not, I guess I can place that piece in the sump/ref where there are five Peppermint in the tank for treatment...

May be that is what I should do, have a treatment tank full of un safe reef stuff to take care of problems. Too bad that I can not see the stuff really close and good before buying the problem.

s

[Casey]

Originally posted by Doug1
With a Hawkfish , that last shrimp shouldn't be problematic for long

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!