DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Well i have had a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp for about 6 months now. When i first got them they were fairly shy but now they are always out and that is the problem. They crawl all over my coral with no regard and they are getting worse. For the last few weeks i have not spot fed them i have just been letting them find whatever food gets left by the fish (i was still feeding everyother day). So lately i have noticed that they have been irritating my coral. So i figured they were not getting enough food so i have started to spot feed them again and now they aren't walking on my coral but attacking it. After spot feeding them brine i watched on walk onto my hammer coral and start picking at it. So i pushed him away with my hand. The next few days i noticed them bugging it more and more and the coral was starting to not look very good (well at least the one head). So i started to spot feed them eveyday on the other side of the tank. After feeding they would run to the hammer coral and pick at it. Needless to say the one head died and they are going after the others. The whole coral not looks stressed and i am fairly worried. I have not been feeding the coral so i know they are not going after food in it and the hermits and snails aren't bothering it either. So the coral is not dieing but because of them i think it is going to. SO if i can not resolve this problem i am going to get rid of them. I know peppermints go after coral sometimes when there is not alot of food but i have been feeding everyday and it seems to be worse now. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated and if nothing works who wants some shrimp ? lol .... parameters are as follows ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate barely detectable maybe 2-3ppm lighting 130w pc 25 gallon aga All other coral seems to be fine from their harrasment but i did lose a plate coral that they did tissue damage to so i NEED SOME HELP TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM and i know for 100% they a skunk cleaner shrimp Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 BUMP .... they are harrasing it as i type Link to comment
pixierealm Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 geez. I didn't know that skunk cleaners messed with coral. I have no idea how to solve the problem, but I can't tell you what I'd do...and what I did...BOOT UM. I booted my gorgeous and expensive emperor angel because she was picking at my corals. My coral banded shrimp and my fire shrimp don't mess with my corals at all. Maybe you could go with one of those instead. I really like them. oh and yes Peppermints suck. I bought 2 one day, and they were out the next day. Link to comment
idog Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Cleaners will pick at corals if they are hungry. I like to give my cleaner and my pep a chunk of larger food like krill first. Then I feed my corals. They are busy chowing down which gives the corals time to absorb the food and close up. Works for me. Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 update: got back from hockey and since i have been gone the head they were bothering before is on its way out ... and so are they .. i can't belive i have lost 2/3 of a 40$ coral for two 12 dollar shrimp im going to post some pictures of my coral ... can someone let me know if its going to die so i can take it out .... thanks Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 well here is the coral ... Link to comment
nanoty Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Take the shrimp out and put his ass in the garbage disposal. Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 hows the coral look :~ not so great to me Link to comment
idog Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Take the shrimp out and put his ass in the garbage disposal. wow...constructive. Newbs... Anyways, you shrimp may be picking at the coral because it was already on the way out. Hundreds of folks on this site keep cleaners without incident. Not likely that a cleaner could dispense with a large coral like that so quickly. Link to comment
nanoty Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 wow...constructive. Newbs... Nope......destructive Luv U 2 Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 the coral was healthy ... but for some reason they have been doing this with all of my coral just more so with the hammer... but im going to move it tomorrow and hopefully this helps Link to comment
Mrseptember15 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I usually drop an algae wafer in my tank prior to feeding the rest of the fish to somehow 'distract' the shrimp =) Link to comment
reefer4sho Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 if your parameters stay good that coral will make it, just be patient... Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 well the head that was closed yesturday died ... theres one left ... so im moving the coral to a place where they hopefully won't be able to get at it ... the last head was fully open this morning so it IS HEALTHY. However if they kill this one they will be finding a new home... my back deck Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 pics of the least head to follow .. have to find my camera Edit: does anyone have suggestions how to keep the last head alive .. they havent gone after this one so im hoping it makes it ... i was still thinking of moving it just to be on the safe side Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I hate how my cleaner walks all over my zoas.....colonys only have minutes in between assults. He isnt attacking them, or harming them, or even stealing food.....but he loves to perch right on them and is really irritating them. He might be on his way out too. Why cant he just stay in the rocks like the peppermint does.....if you get a good one peps can be awsome, but I have had a couple bad ones who loved to eat pocillipora, finger gorgonian, and xenia. Link to comment
Dr.Fumanchu Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 My damn peppermints ate a brand new Hammer Coral(it was in great health. They are going to be booted, this is the second coral they already ate a Ricordia. And NO they are not Camel shrimp. Link to comment
DudE31 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 the only shrimp i like so far is my fire blood shrimp and all he does is sit there Edit: the sweeper tentacles are out on the remaining head so they haven't touched it yet ... and i hope if they try to they get stung Link to comment
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