Sexy Shrimp Problem!

[leahski]

so, i have a trio of sexy shrimp in my 2 month old 8g biocube. they will have been in the system for 2 weeks as of tomorrow.

my problem is, they have been eating my zoas and polyps! i'm not kidding or seeing things, they are devouring them. my paly has a huge gash in the top where they keep picking, my YP colony has shrunk from 4 good looking always happy polyps with a bud to two sad, shrunken polyps and none of the polyps have really opened much (if at all) since i got the shrimp.

it's not a chem. issue since i also have mushrooms and rhodactis that aren't being touched and are thriving.

 

i know i don't have that mature a system, but there should be enough tasties to go around so that the sexies shouldn't have to resort to eating polyps, right??

i started target feeding mysid shrimp, but it's time consuming and they have to be fed several times a day to keep them from eating the zoas.

i'm leaving for a week starting fri. morning, so i've got basically a day to figure out some way of making sure i'll still have polyps when i get back.

 

has this happened to anyone else? i can't be the only one who gets demonic shrimp!!

what's the problem? what can i do?

HELP!!!

[el fabuloso]

Oh no! So you've actually seen them eat your polyps? This is terrible... I have heard of this happening to some people but mine are so well-behaved that I refuse to believe it! How often are you feeding them?

[Weetabix7]

Yes, they will sometimes eat zoas, and sometimes other things.

I know that arwndsh has them and has to be careful what she puts in her tank.

She's been able to keep mushrooms and plate corals with them, but I don't remember what else.

You could ask her.

You may have to decide whether you like sexies or zoas more.

[leahski]

i've been feeding a couple mysid like twice a day.

yeah, i actually can watch them eating the polyps! it's terrible!

 

what do you feed yours? anything?

[coralcrazy]

yikes...really i thought those little guys where reef safe..????

[el fabuloso]

Terrible! I give mine shrimp pellets every other day and they get about a pellet each. Then once a week before I do my water change I feed them with either baby brine or cyclop-eeze which usually turns into a feeding frenzy for the whole tank. One time I tried skipping a day and they went nuts! Frantically running around the tank digging at corals. Since then I've been on top of feeding them regularly and they've all been good.

[Eric65]

I've experienced the same problem. I used to love them- not anymore.

[Lalani]

Yeah, my sexy shrimp started eating the skirts off my zoas too, but I now feed them one small piece of flake food each day and I haven't had trouble with them since. I use a tweezer to present the flake to them, and they run up and grab it fast.

[Reef Chicks]

this thread is making me think twice about sexies. and I have been frantically looking for a trio

[leahski]

so they're reefsafe IF they're being regularly fed?

 

i was told that they were 100% reefsafe and that i wouldn't need to feed them! lies!

 

are there any live foods that i can introduce to my tank to kind of bulk it up so that they can find something to eat without constant feedings? i'm afraid of overfeeding such a small system.

[arwndsh]

Yes, they will sometimes eat zoas, and sometimes other things.

I know that arwndsh has them and has to be careful what she puts in her tank.

She's been able to keep mushrooms and plate corals with them, but I don't remember what else.

You could ask her.

You may have to decide whether you like sexies or zoas more.

 

I've never had mine in a tank with zoas because I had heard that they would eat them. I have had them kill a feather duster. They annoyed it so much it just gave up. That being said I have them in with some xenia and its just fine. And I don't feed them as often as I should probably. I think it just depends on the shrimp, how often they are fed, and what they where kept with before you got them. They naturally pick at stuff. THe like to irritate corals so they can eat te slime that comes off of them, sometimes they go too far and eat the coral as well. I'm sorry you are having a problem with them. I would recommend removing them or the zoanthids, whichever you like the least. Or you could try feeding them more often.

[constantocean]

I have a zoa garden and am obsessed with sexy shrimp. I find as long as I give the tank a little squirt of frozen cyclop-eeze every few days my sexy doesnt bother anything and spends his time scavenging for the cyclop-eeze. Clearly the on-going theme here seems to be: keep them fed, and you won't have a problem.

[Reef Chicks]

why does everything in this hobby require such attention... LOL

 

P.S. I AM kidding people

[leahski]

okay...i'd rather not choose between zoas and sexies. i adore both, and my LFS won't do refunds/exchanges on inverts...

so i'm going to try and make it work. all of the polyps are tiny tiny frags that my dad picked up for cheap, but they were a present, and i do love them so i'd rather they not be eaten!!

 

do you think an automatic feeder would work for them while i'm gone for a week? if so, what kinds/how much food should i put in?

[constantocean]

okay...i'd rather not choose between zoas and sexies. i adore both, and my LFS won't do refunds/exchanges on inverts...

so i'm going to try and make it work. all of the polyps are tiny tiny frags that my dad picked up for cheap, but they were a present, and i do love them so i'd rather they not be eaten!!

 

do you think an automatic feeder would work for them while i'm gone for a week? if so, what kinds/how much food should i put in?

 

IMO even on the smallest feed amount an auto feeder would probably dispense too much food. unless you maybe put like freeze dried mysis in there? and just left the feed door open a tiny tiny crack.

[leahski]

hmm...i've never used one before so i'm not really sure how they work.

 

what else could i try though? i want them to be able to eat without destroying more polyps for a week until i can get back and start a regular feeding schedule.

[constantocean]

hmm...i've never used one before so i'm not really sure how they work.

 

what else could i try though? i want them to be able to eat without destroying more polyps for a week until i can get back and start a regular feeding schedule.

 

if you're leaving town for a full week I would hope you'd have someone to look after your tank. Do you have an ATO? if not, who is going to be doing your top offs?

[leahski]

i generally don't worry about top offs. i check a couple times a week, but i really don't get that much evaporaton. my hood traps most of it i think.

 

i do a WC every week, and usually i don't do any other real maintenance during the week before i started feeding the shrimp. oh, i do rinse/change my filter floss during the week, but before i leave i'm doing a good cleaning of the back chambers so that should be fine while i'm gone.

 

it wasn't my choice to leave for a week, i was planning on staying home over spring break and just leaving for the weekend, but it worked out that for me to be where i need to be that weekend, i'm going to have to leave for the entire week. and there isn't anyone i can ask to take care of it for me.

 

i know, i'm in a pickle.

[constantocean]

I guess given your situation, try the auto feeder. Or you might be coming home to some pissed off zoos.

[Lalani]

If the corals aren't attached to the rocks, I would put them in glasses with plastic mesh over the tops until you return. Just a thought.

[constantocean]

not a bad idea, while you are gone, you could try putting your zoos into a plastic tupperwear (INSIDE YOUR TANK STILL) with some holes in it so its still getting flow and not stagnant water, a thin mesh layer over this (pantyhose would work) and a rubberband to hold it down.......and wha-la....you got yourself a sexy proof zoo frag.

[arwndsh]

Or you could try putting the sexies in a plastic breeder while you are gone or one of those mesh breeder nets. Just make sure they cant get out of it back into the tank.

[leahski]

glasses? like cups? or do you mean something else?

i superglued them onto the rockwork because they were so tiny, but i have a sneaking suspicion that most if not all have become loose already. i was actually halfway considering getting one of those hang on the side little plastic things like fish stores put fish in that you're going to buy, drilling some small water flow holes and putting them in there with it hanging in my tank.

 

this would mean though that the tank would be open a crack, which might make more evaporation and screw me over with salinity...

 

AHHHH!!! HOW DID I GET MYSELF INTO THIS MESS????!!!

[Weetabix7]

You beat me to it Lalani.

I was just going to suggest getting one of those deep soapdishes with plastic suction cups and putting them in there.

[leahski]

i'm a little concerned about putting the sexies themselves into a seperate container for fear that they woudn't be able to eat. and if they're able to get back into the tank, what good is it doing?