Peppermint shrimp ate my new Hammer coral...

snorkeler · 12/12/2009, 07:23 PM

I am quite upset right now... just got a hammer coral colony, my first, and one of my peppermint shrimp attacked it and apparently eats it...

see video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv5N-e6YDD4

I scared him away but he gradually came back several times....

Haven't read anywhere that these shrimp would eat hammer corals, my LFS also told me when I called them that this was very strange, and that he was probably just searching the coral for other small creatures. But if you look at the video you can see he is breaking it up and pulling stuff into his mouth...

Anyone else had this terrible experience?

Suggestions in case I decide to try again? Aside from frying the offending shrimp in olive oil and eating it as punishment?

It is now about 4 hours after I added the hammer and there is hardly any of it left...

snorkeler

Theomi · 12/12/2009, 07:35 PM

As far as i know peps dont eat coral, are you sure its a true pep_

Paramecium · 12/12/2009, 07:37 PM

Probably a camel shrimp, I had the same thing happen was eating my hammer. I took a small empty water bottle and sunk it in the tank with some mysis inside. Had him in about 5 minutes.

Shorasp30 · 12/12/2009, 07:39 PM

A few years ago I had a peppermint shrimp eat my hammer coral. I banished him to the fuge.

snorkeler · 12/12/2009, 07:39 PM

Theomi, I have another one just like it in the tank and it didn't touch the hammer coral... well, it looks like all the pictures I've seen until now... transparent with red stripes, a white stripe in the middle of the face, and that's it.... do you think it could be a different but very close species? Any suggestions for me to research? Thanks,
snorkeler

snorkeler · 12/12/2009, 07:42 PM

Paramecium, I don't think it is a camel shrimp because it doesn't have white stripes on its body. It is purely red stripes.

Theomi · 12/12/2009, 07:43 PM

hmm that sounds pretty much like a pep... Strange...
here is some good info from another thread http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=411 ....
Try too look at that...

snorkeler · 12/12/2009, 08:15 PM

Theomi, thanks for the link. Checked them out now, and they both have the belt (the one who ate the hammer and the other that didn't bother it).

Theomi · 12/12/2009, 08:20 PM

Well in the sump it goes then?
And glad i could help

Johnny C · 12/12/2009, 08:31 PM

Lots of people believe that peppermints will not eat [healthy] coral. This is very untrue. Ditch him and buy some aiptasia x! Sorry for the loss.

snorkeler · 12/12/2009, 08:31 PM

Well, if it eats coral it's only staying alive until I decide to go for a hammer again... no use putting it into the sump if I aint't going to use him for anything in the future. If I had a refuge in the sump it would make sense, but my sump is small and no fuge. This pep pair were nice aiptasia erradicators, but the aiptasia's are gone, and hammers cost 3 times what he costs, so.... I guess the other pep is soon going to become solitary. Might try to donate this shrimp to someone with a FOWLR tank...

Subie · 12/12/2009, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliDreaminjC

Lots of people believe that peppermints will not eat [healthy] coral. This is very untrue. Ditch him and buy some aiptasia x! Sorry for the loss.

I wish I had known earlier - my peppermint shrimp (not camelback) were picking on my acans - I lost a mini colony and some heads on a couple other colonies

tmz · 12/12/2009, 11:21 PM

Some lystmata wurdemanni( pepermint shrimp) will attack corals. I've seen them tear up zoanthus, acanastrea and micromussa. Never saw one attack a euphylia. but it wouldn't surprise me.

TTown · 12/13/2009, 01:20 AM

yep, all my pep's went into the sump after attacking a frogspawn...

polos30 · 12/13/2009, 06:39 AM

Last year y buy 3 peppers for get rid of my aptasia but then when the aptasia disappear they start eating my ricordeas.

716mer · 12/13/2009, 06:57 AM

I had virtually the same experience. I've always had good luck with peps and never had a coral eating issue. Bought one for my daughter's biocube, acclimated, and within 60 seconds it literally shredded a complete head off a hammer. Pieces of the hammer were all over. Not sure it was eting it or simply vandalizing the neighborhood. Either way, out he goes and back to the LFS. - Mark

Frogmanx82 · 12/13/2009, 08:35 AM

If something will eat aiptasia, you know they could eat most anything. I am surprised the peppermint shrimp carries the reef safe label.

With my emerald crabs, I know they get more destructive when they aren't getting enough food. I would guess peppermints would be the same. A well fed one would probably be less likely to shred a coral. Its too much of a gamble for me to go for one. At least with the emeralds their first choice when hungry appears to be picking at the feather dusters which I can tolerate a little better and the big ones can retreat into their tubes without too much damage.

Yogre · 12/13/2009, 04:13 PM

I had a pair of peppermints trash a nice torch coral over the space of three weeks. I used a red-lens flashlight and caught 'em in the act.

Before I try again with any fleshy-polyp corals those two jokers are going to the LFS.

Korrine · 12/13/2009, 04:23 PM

hmmm great. I have a trio of peppermints lurking in my tank. I know they are hungry b/c the aiptasia is gone and they occasionally come out in broad daylight...

Yogre · 12/13/2009, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Korrine

hmmm great. I have a trio of peppermints lurking in my tank. I know they are hungry b/c the aiptasia is gone and they occasionally come out in broad daylight...

I see mine in daylight all the time. They're fearless. There's a 2" long wennerae mantis in the tank not too far from where they hang out, I'm surprised there hasn't been any conflict (at least none that I know of).

Fishamatank · 12/13/2009, 04:32 PM

I battled with my peppermints for a week or so before they went back to the LFS. If I way overfed the tank they would leave the corals alone, but if I didn't they like to eat my torch & ricardias. I will never have peppermints again.

snorkeler · 12/17/2009, 07:50 PM

You know, the end of the story is that the rouge peppermint not only ate almost all of the hammer but he also killed and ate the other peppermint.... on Sunday the 13th.... we saw it happening. The other peppermint was looking rather slow (maybe weak from a previous battle?) and the rogue peppermint jumped on him, launched his attack, and in less than 1 minute the other peppermint was dead...

The few remainings of the hammer seem to be OK, but I'm not very confident the rogue peppermint won't attack it soon and finish it....

Maybe I should keep him away from the hammer by target feeding him with shrimp from the fish market or something similar... until I donate him to someone with aiptasia problems and no soft corals.... or no corals at all...

dg3147 · 12/17/2009, 08:49 PM

I have two peps in a pretty new tank (they are not camels) and when i put new corals on, they go ape sh*t on them. After a few bops on the head with the back end of my algae scraper, they usually back off permanetly. my guess is they are attracted to dead tissue the corals aquire during transport and then get a little carried away with earting 'em.

They did the same to my hammer withing seconds of it being added. A few bops, and the situation was fixed.

My advice, bop 'em on the head!

ROCKMAN_1 · 12/17/2009, 08:55 PM

Wow, didn't even know this could happen. Good thread.

NM1975 · 12/17/2009, 08:59 PM

i had a peppermint shrimp that ate all of my mushrooms in my 30g within days.

He also cleared out about 100 aiptasias, so - it was a fair trade i guess.
they are savage eaters

12/12/2009, 07:23 PM	#1
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Peppermint shrimp ate my new Hammer coral... I am quite upset right now... just got a hammer coral colony, my first, and one of my peppermint shrimp attacked it and apparently eats it... see video below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv5N-e6YDD4 I scared him away but he gradually came back several times.... Haven't read anywhere that these shrimp would eat hammer corals, my LFS also told me when I called them that this was very strange, and that he was probably just searching the coral for other small creatures. But if you look at the video you can see he is breaking it up and pulling stuff into his mouth... Anyone else had this terrible experience? Suggestions in case I decide to try again? Aside from frying the offending shrimp in olive oil and eating it as punishment? It is now about 4 hours after I added the hammer and there is hardly any of it left... snorkeler __________________ Tank: 180L (46gal) 60cm cube DT visible from all sides with central overflow column, 10cm crushed coral base, LR, 79L (20gal) sump with skimmer, ATS and refugium. External jerrican DIY ATO. Livestoc Last edited by snorkeler; 12/12/2009 at 07:37 PM. Reason: Typo in the title

12/12/2009, 07:35 PM	#2
Theomi Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 224	As far as i know peps dont eat coral, are you sure its a true pep_ __________________ Now with DSB Retired tank; 150g reef tank, 42g sump, deltec 4040 return pump, Aquaconnect riga 2x250w mh with 2x39w atininic, tunze 6045 & 6080, deltec ap600 skimmer and 4" sandbed Murphys law "Anything that can possibly go wrong, does" applies especially to reefers Current Tank Info: 50 gallon in the making

12/12/2009, 07:39 PM	#5
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Theomi, I have another one just like it in the tank and it didn't touch the hammer coral... well, it looks like all the pictures I've seen until now... transparent with red stripes, a white stripe in the middle of the face, and that's it.... do you think it could be a different but very close species? Any suggestions for me to research? Thanks, snorkeler __________________ Tank: 180L (46gal) 60cm cube DT visible from all sides with central overflow column, 10cm crushed coral base, LR, 79L (20gal) sump with skimmer, ATS and refugium. External jerrican DIY ATO. Livestoc

12/12/2009, 07:42 PM	#6
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Paramecium, I don't think it is a camel shrimp because it doesn't have white stripes on its body. It is purely red stripes. __________________ Tank: 180L (46gal) 60cm cube DT visible from all sides with central overflow column, 10cm crushed coral base, LR, 79L (20gal) sump with skimmer, ATS and refugium. External jerrican DIY ATO. Livestoc

12/12/2009, 07:43 PM	#7
Theomi Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 224	hmm that sounds pretty much like a pep... Strange... here is some good info from another thread http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=411 .... Try too look at that... __________________ Now with DSB Retired tank; 150g reef tank, 42g sump, deltec 4040 return pump, Aquaconnect riga 2x250w mh with 2x39w atininic, tunze 6045 & 6080, deltec ap600 skimmer and 4" sandbed Murphys law "Anything that can possibly go wrong, does" applies especially to reefers Current Tank Info: 50 gallon in the making

12/12/2009, 07:37 PM	#3
Paramecium One man wolf pack Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Long Beach, Ca Posts: 755	Probably a camel shrimp, I had the same thing happen was eating my hammer. I took a small empty water bottle and sunk it in the tank with some mysis inside. Had him in about 5 minutes.

12/12/2009, 07:39 PM	#4
Shorasp30 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 52	A few years ago I had a peppermint shrimp eat my hammer coral. I banished him to the fuge.

12/12/2009, 08:15 PM	#8
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Theomi, thanks for the link. Checked them out now, and they both have the belt (the one who ate the hammer and the other that didn't bother it). __________________ Tank: 180L (46gal) 60cm cube DT visible from all sides with central overflow column, 10cm crushed coral base, LR, 79L (20gal) sump with skimmer, ATS and refugium. External jerrican DIY ATO. Livestoc

12/12/2009, 08:20 PM	#9
Theomi Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 224	Well in the sump it goes then? And glad i could help __________________ Now with DSB Retired tank; 150g reef tank, 42g sump, deltec 4040 return pump, Aquaconnect riga 2x250w mh with 2x39w atininic, tunze 6045 & 6080, deltec ap600 skimmer and 4" sandbed Murphys law "Anything that can possibly go wrong, does" applies especially to reefers Current Tank Info: 50 gallon in the making

12/12/2009, 08:31 PM	#10
Johnny C Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 4,140	Lots of people believe that peppermints will not eat [healthy] coral. This is very untrue. Ditch him and buy some aiptasia x! Sorry for the loss. __________________ "...the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever" -Jacques Cousteau

12/12/2009, 11:21 PM	#13
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	Some lystmata wurdemanni( pepermint shrimp) will attack corals. I've seen them tear up zoanthus, acanastrea and micromussa. Never saw one attack a euphylia. but it wouldn't surprise me. __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.

12/13/2009, 01:20 AM	#14
TTown Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Tornado Alley Posts: 65	yep, all my pep's went into the sump after attacking a frogspawn...

12/13/2009, 06:39 AM	#15
polos30 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 3	Last year y buy 3 peppers for get rid of my aptasia but then when the aptasia disappear they start eating my ricordeas.

12/13/2009, 06:57 AM	#16
716mer Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Western NY Posts: 208	I had virtually the same experience. I've always had good luck with peps and never had a coral eating issue. Bought one for my daughter's biocube, acclimated, and within 60 seconds it literally shredded a complete head off a hammer. Pieces of the hammer were all over. Not sure it was eting it or simply vandalizing the neighborhood. Either way, out he goes and back to the LFS. - Mark

12/13/2009, 08:35 AM	#17
Frogmanx82 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,515	If something will eat aiptasia, you know they could eat most anything. I am surprised the peppermint shrimp carries the reef safe label. With my emerald crabs, I know they get more destructive when they aren't getting enough food. I would guess peppermints would be the same. A well fed one would probably be less likely to shred a coral. Its too much of a gamble for me to go for one. At least with the emeralds their first choice when hungry appears to be picking at the feather dusters which I can tolerate a little better and the big ones can retreat into their tubes without too much damage. __________________ Exodus 8:2 Check my homepage for tank pics and details. Current Tank Info: 90 gallon, 2x maxspect R420R LED, 4 Ocellaris Clowns, Yellow Eye Kole Tang, Flame Angel, Foxface Rabbitfish, Banggai Cardinals, Azure Damsel, rock flower anemone, cleaner shrimp, serpent star

12/13/2009, 04:13 PM	#18
Yogre Cheesehead Reefer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 1,351	I had a pair of peppermints trash a nice torch coral over the space of three weeks. I used a red-lens flashlight and caught 'em in the act. Before I try again with any fleshy-polyp corals those two jokers are going to the LFS. __________________ "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." ~ Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 215 gal TBS Reef

12/13/2009, 04:23 PM	#19
Korrine You could get a ticket!! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Upper midwest Posts: 4,288 Blog Entries: 1	hmmm great. I have a trio of peppermints lurking in my tank. I know they are hungry b/c the aiptasia is gone and they occasionally come out in broad daylight... __________________ Try to keep in mind that we are all human...mistakes do happen! Be kinder than necessary because every one you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Current Tank Info: 40 breeder - started 9/2011 - platinum perc and sanjay's black photon clownfishes; sps and lps, and soft corals; 250w MH, 20 long sump w Bubble Magus Nac 3.5 skimmer 12g nano cube -serpent star, mini carpet anemones, w 6 sexy shrimp, 150w MH, maxi je

12/13/2009, 04:32 PM	#21
Fishamatank Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,017	I battled with my peppermints for a week or so before they went back to the LFS. If I way overfed the tank they would leave the corals alone, but if I didn't they like to eat my torch & ricardias. I will never have peppermints again.

12/17/2009, 07:50 PM	#22
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	You know, the end of the story is that the rouge peppermint not only ate almost all of the hammer but he also killed and ate the other peppermint.... on Sunday the 13th.... we saw it happening. The other peppermint was looking rather slow (maybe weak from a previous battle?) and the rogue peppermint jumped on him, launched his attack, and in less than 1 minute the other peppermint was dead... The few remainings of the hammer seem to be OK, but I'm not very confident the rogue peppermint won't attack it soon and finish it.... Maybe I should keep him away from the hammer by target feeding him with shrimp from the fish market or something similar... until I donate him to someone with aiptasia problems and no soft corals.... or no corals at all... __________________ Tank: 180L (46gal) 60cm cube DT visible from all sides with central overflow column, 10cm crushed coral base, LR, 79L (20gal) sump with skimmer, ATS and refugium. External jerrican DIY ATO. Livestoc

12/17/2009, 08:49 PM	#23
dg3147 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Pasadena, CA Posts: 1,178	I have two peps in a pretty new tank (they are not camels) and when i put new corals on, they go ape sh*t on them. After a few bops on the head with the back end of my algae scraper, they usually back off permanetly. my guess is they are attracted to dead tissue the corals aquire during transport and then get a little carried away with earting 'em. They did the same to my hammer withing seconds of it being added. A few bops, and the situation was fixed. My advice, bop 'em on the head! __________________ Elos 160XL \| Powermodule LED/T5 \| BK Double cone 200 \| Pasadena, CA Home page: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23482778#post23482778

12/17/2009, 08:55 PM	#24
ROCKMAN_1 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Saint Michael, MN Posts: 67	Wow, didn't even know this could happen. Good thread.

12/17/2009, 08:59 PM	#25
NM1975 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 223	i had a peppermint shrimp that ate all of my mushrooms in my 30g within days. He also cleared out about 100 aiptasias, so - it was a fair trade i guess. they are savage eaters