Shrimp

Reverend Reefer · 01/18/2011, 07:09 PM

i'm now starting to realize that my LPS and zoas are "retracting" due to being constantly bothered by my shrimp. i've spent a horrible couple months trying to figure out why my LPS corals seemed to be "receeding" by now believe they are more like "retracting" than receeding. they're not really bleaching or looking too unhealthy, they just don't expand very much like they used to.

i systematically tried the usual things, cut down on light, increase light, cut down flow, increase flow, change flow, obsessively checked water parameters, increase temp, lower temp, run carbon, don't run carbon, change salt mix, i even bought a new skimmer!

none of it made sense since everything was fine before, before, before, the shrimp! i bought a peppermint shrimp and a skunk cleaner shrimp, maybe 8-10 months ago now. they've recently gotten bolder and bigger. i used to never see the peppermint, except at night, and now he's out all the time. they constantly walk over and pick at my frogspawns, zoas, and pretty much everything. i didn't think much of then but after reading some old thread on RC, i read about how they steal food from corals. i used to just fend them off while feeding, but noticed how even after feeding, they pick inside the closed mouths trying to pry food out.

anyways, just thought i'd post it here for others to learn from my mistakes.

i now have to trap them, which is gonna be quite hard with all my live rock and corals. i'm trying the food in a bottle method for now but these guys are pretty fast. i think i'll be able to catch the skunk cleaner but the peppermint stays pretty close to the rock work.

~RuSh~ · 01/18/2011, 08:38 PM

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the lps and zoas!

Dustin1300 · 01/19/2011, 12:26 AM

While trying to catch a fish a few months ago my cleaner shrimp was the first in each time. I just took a 2 liter and cut off the top and made opening a little larger and inverted it back into a jug. I'm not sure that made sense but below is a picture. Throw some food in the 2 liter/jug and you'll catch them

Reverend Reefer · 01/20/2011, 03:54 PM

haha! thanks dustin! i made one of these yesterday except i only had read some instructions on how to make one of these traps with no diagrams. thanks for the diagram it makes a huge difference, i actually had the pop bottle the wrong way with the opening coming out of the glass. i was looking into buying an aquamedic critter trap because my home made one wasn't working but now i see that i have to invert the top.

natedogwv1 · 01/20/2011, 08:20 PM

i had the same problem with peppermint shrimp constanly picking at my corals, i finally bought a trap and removed them all but even with the trap it still took along time to catch them.

Dustin1300 · 01/20/2011, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by natedogwv1

i had the same problem with peppermint shrimp constanly picking at my corals, i finally bought a trap and removed them all but even with the trap it still took along time to catch them.

Yeah...This might have taken a while to catch anything..

As far as taking a long time I did not have that experience. Throw part of a mysis cube in and put a couple drops of carlic in the the bottle. Patience as your coral is not dying because of the little guy. My cleaner shrimp is on my arm 90% of the time while I have my hands in my tank so I would not have any problems catching him!

Reverend Reefer · 01/21/2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dustin1300

Yeah...This might have taken a while to catch anything..

As far as taking a long time I did not have that experience. Throw part of a mysis cube in and put a couple drops of carlic in the the bottle. Patience as your coral is not dying because of the little guy. My cleaner shrimp is on my arm 90% of the time while I have my hands in my tank so I would not have any problems catching him!

my 2 shrimp are pretty clever. they both actually do come up to my hand whenever i put it in, in fact, the peppermint was cleaning my other hand while i was trying to the net the cleaner. they're both pretty clever and hide whenever they see the net. trap is sittin there but no bites, caught a clownfish last night though. i think i might just get one of those store bought traps, i dunno. i feel like the problem is either my shrimp have big brains or their super long antennae are preventing them from going to the bottom of the glass.... maybe i need to be more patient.....

Dustin1300 · 01/21/2011, 05:37 PM

Did you chop off the threaded part of the 2-liter before you inverted it back into the bottle? I cut mine up a few inches higher to have a wider opening. You'd be surprised but even though it is still large they still don't figure way back out.

01/18/2011, 07:09 PM	#1
Reverend Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 883	Shrimp i'm now starting to realize that my LPS and zoas are "retracting" due to being constantly bothered by my shrimp. i've spent a horrible couple months trying to figure out why my LPS corals seemed to be "receeding" by now believe they are more like "retracting" than receeding. they're not really bleaching or looking too unhealthy, they just don't expand very much like they used to. i systematically tried the usual things, cut down on light, increase light, cut down flow, increase flow, change flow, obsessively checked water parameters, increase temp, lower temp, run carbon, don't run carbon, change salt mix, i even bought a new skimmer! none of it made sense since everything was fine before, before, before, the shrimp! i bought a peppermint shrimp and a skunk cleaner shrimp, maybe 8-10 months ago now. they've recently gotten bolder and bigger. i used to never see the peppermint, except at night, and now he's out all the time. they constantly walk over and pick at my frogspawns, zoas, and pretty much everything. i didn't think much of then but after reading some old thread on RC, i read about how they steal food from corals. i used to just fend them off while feeding, but noticed how even after feeding, they pick inside the closed mouths trying to pry food out. anyways, just thought i'd post it here for others to learn from my mistakes. i now have to trap them, which is gonna be quite hard with all my live rock and corals. i'm trying the food in a bottle method for now but these guys are pretty fast. i think i'll be able to catch the skunk cleaner but the peppermint stays pretty close to the rock work. __________________ - Rev. Tank: 65G glass 48" long tank; Sump/Fuge: 30G. Lighting: LEDs+single T5 strip. Maintenance: ATO Kalkwasser + 10% weekly WC, daily feedings LPS+Softies dominated.

01/19/2011, 12:26 AM	#3
Dustin1300 Reefaholic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Carmel, IN Posts: 5,135	While trying to catch a fish a few months ago my cleaner shrimp was the first in each time. I just took a 2 liter and cut off the top and made opening a little larger and inverted it back into a jug. I'm not sure that made sense but below is a picture. Throw some food in the 2 liter/jug and you'll catch them __________________ INDMAS President Check out my tank in the Large Tank Forums, "A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build"! Current Tank Info: 600 Gallon DT, 140 Gallon Grow Out Tank, 125 Gallon Sump, 90 Gallon Fuge, 200 Gallon Fish QT, 15 Gallon Frag QT

01/20/2011, 03:54 PM	#4
Reverend Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 883	haha! thanks dustin! i made one of these yesterday except i only had read some instructions on how to make one of these traps with no diagrams. thanks for the diagram it makes a huge difference, i actually had the pop bottle the wrong way with the opening coming out of the glass. i was looking into buying an aquamedic critter trap because my home made one wasn't working but now i see that i have to invert the top. __________________ - Rev. Tank: 65G glass 48" long tank; Sump/Fuge: 30G. Lighting: LEDs+single T5 strip. Maintenance: ATO Kalkwasser + 10% weekly WC, daily feedings LPS+Softies dominated.

01/20/2011, 08:20 PM	#5
natedogwv1 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: charleston sc Posts: 51	i had the same problem with peppermint shrimp constanly picking at my corals, i finally bought a trap and removed them all but even with the trap it still took along time to catch them. __________________ nathan carter Current Tank Info: 210g work in progress

01/21/2011, 05:37 PM	#8
Dustin1300 Reefaholic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Carmel, IN Posts: 5,135	Did you chop off the threaded part of the 2-liter before you inverted it back into the bottle? I cut mine up a few inches higher to have a wider opening. You'd be surprised but even though it is still large they still don't figure way back out. __________________ INDMAS President Check out my tank in the Large Tank Forums, "A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build"! Current Tank Info: 600 Gallon DT, 140 Gallon Grow Out Tank, 125 Gallon Sump, 90 Gallon Fuge, 200 Gallon Fish QT, 15 Gallon Frag QT

01/18/2011, 08:38 PM	#2
~RuSh~ Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: North Dakota Posts: 778	Very interesting. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the lps and zoas!

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