Dead peppermint shrimp....homeless hermit..

[heed]

My tank finished cycling early last week and I ordered JP's small cleanup crew setup + 1 emerald crab. On Saturday I went to the LFS and picked up a Coral banded shrimp and a peppermint shrimp.

 

All critters were acclimated according to the guidelines on JustPhish's website (including the shrimps). When I turned the lights on yesterday I couldn't find my peppermint shrimp.

 

Eventually I located his carcass in a cavern under some live rock, he was being picked apart by the hermits. I thought maybe he had just molted, but the shell was very red and I haven't seen him at all for 24 hours now.

 

As I was looking for him I noticed that one of the scarlet hermits had abandoned his shell, I haven't seen the crab but the shell has remained unoccupied.

 

Immediately I checked the water (Ammonia - 0, nitrIte - 0, NitrAte - 0, pH - 8.2 Specific gravity 1.023). I took a sample of the water and the LFS concurred with my readings. I did a 2 gallon water change and all seems well.

 

My questions:

 

1. Is there anything that may have killed my peppermint shrimp that I can check for (predatory or water quality-wise)?

 

2. The homeless hermit, should I search for him (or his body) or just let things be?

 

Thanks

[duckhuntboy]

Dont lose sleep over the hermit.... any hermit that's died in my tank, died in his shell, so either he found a shell in your live rock, another hermit that came with your clean-up crew died or was killed so the other one could have its shell. Rarely do hermits just die, unless they're old or they're killed.

 

The peppermint shrimp on the other hand may have died because you didnt acclimate correctly (although it sounds like you did). Take the carcass out of your tank, and check it really well to make sure its not just his molt. Just because you havent seen him for 24 hours doesnt mean he's not there. when an invert molts, usually it stays hidden for a long time, waiting for it's shell to harden, and probably because it's stressed out. Otherwise it may have just been a freak deal.... What species all came with the clean-up crew? Some crabs are not so good for the tank, and will kill other animals when hungry.

[chufa]

Shrimp tend to fight amongst themselves in a small space especially, and it is possible your coral banded shrimp killed the peppermint. Another possibility is copper in the water. Do you use tap or distilled water?

[heed]

Cleanup crew is 5 red hermits, 8 blue hermits and 8 astrea snails.

 

I also have an emerald crab. The body, or molt is completely gone except for the legs...so I can't check, hopefully he will pop out one day.

 

I thought about copper because I am using a few things that I got used (ac 300 HOB and AC 101 PH). The LFS tested for copper and said they got nothing. Wouldn't copper have killed everything in the tank?

 

Finally, I forgot to mention that it appears the hitchiker pistol shrimp I hadn't seen for a few weeks is still around, I found his molt very near to the dead peppermint. Any chance he killed him?

[tinyreef]

i'd lean toward chufa's opinion. shrimp tend to molt when introduced into new systems. it could have been attacked during molt or before its shell had a chance to harden.

 

unfortunately, the scarlet may be gone as well imo. hermits don't tend to last very long w/o their shell (predators or competitors).

 

hermits are like q-tips imo. there will always be some level of natural predation upon each other and from other animals. for example, i've got an orchid dottyback with a penchant for scarlets but not blues fsr. ??? (i'm thinking size but i'm not sure, i.e. big yummy crab legs vs. small skinny crab legs)

 

edit: just saw the pistol shrimp comment. pistol shrimp/unidentified crustacean = dead soft shell crustaceans

[chufa]

Wouldn't copper have killed everything in the tank?

 

At high concentrations, yes. But at trace levels, which is the most likely situation with tap or a bad source of distilled water, invertebrates are particularly more sensitive.