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Peppermint Shrimp ... eating coral?


Fluffeh

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well as i feared after having a couple of peppermint shrimp in my tank for about 2 weeks, i saw one of them tearing into my fungia short tentacled plate coral. the past couple of days i noticed white areas on the fungia, however i ignored it. now im noticing more white areas and spots you can see the damage :( i knew there was a risk, but some people said they never had a problem. these are the 'right' peppermint shrimp btw. they also killed about 95% of my aiptasia which im happy about. but i can't accept them eating one of my corals. soooo... do you guys think they will start munching on my other corals after this one? what do you guys think i should do now? i really want them around because they are keeping my aiptasia in check. but i dont know what to do nor how to even remove them! :(

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I have ALWAYS had eventual problems with Peppermint Shrimp. After the Aiptasia is gone, I'd give them away. I don't understand why they call them reef safe.

 

yes this is horrible. whats the easiest way to catch these guys without tearing my whole tank down?????

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Food pellets and a net. Place a net in your tank and then put a food pellet in an open corner of your tank. You should be able to catch it easy enough. You might even try putting the pellet inside the net.

 

You could also try putting a piece of PVC that it can hide inside of. When you approach it, it will hide in the PVC fitting and you can simply remove the shrimp and PVC at the same time.

 

I would spot feed them if you are planning on keeping them around.

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well i might keep them around for just a little more because of the aiptasias left.

what do you spot feed them?

 

i guess my only hope after these guys are berghia nudibranches - anyone know a good place to buy these? do they really work?

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You can spot feed them pellets (or any fish food). However, they will be more effective at eating the Aiptasia if they are a little hungry.

 

well, i guess if im going to get some berghia nudibranches i mineswell remove them now.

 

how about a piece of freeze dried krill inside of a net? do you think they will go for it?

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how about a piece of freeze dried krill inside of a net? do you think they will go for it?
It's worth a shot. They will typically come out of hiding for food.

 

You might also try to put some food inside a pop bottle trap:

bottletrap.jpg

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is your aiptasia problem really severe?

My pep is well behaved, i must be lucky... i have had a bit of an aiptasia problem before, but i havent seen one in months... i can only assume it is because of him.

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Let this be a lesson to future Aipatasia sufferers. Never use a living creature as a remedy for a tank problem! Just get a hypodermic needle and some lemon juice and inject each aiptasia. They will die almost instantly. This has worked for me.

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i never had a problem with peppermints before...the only problem i had was that it disappeared one day and i never found it. i replaced it with a skunk shrimp. those are more reef safe than mints.

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i wish mine would dissapear. i have to go to the store and get a net now

my plate coral has some pretty bad damage to it. i wonder if it'll survive.

 

i want to plan on how to get rid of my aiptasia in the future, anyone have experience with berghia nudibranches? are they really effective? some people say they die off too quick and don't get all of the aiptasia.

Edited by Fluffeh
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I have had rotten luck with receding plate corals. :( Good luck.

 

Personally, I'd leave the shrimp in the tank until the Aiptasia is gone. You might help them out by breaking off rock pieces with pest anemones on them.

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is the pep eating the corals or just picking at damaged or dieing parts of the corals

usually ppl think they are eating their corals but that is because it is dead or dieing

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jedimasterben

Peppermint shrimp do not eat coral. Camel shrimp, however, do, and are, more often than not, commonly sold as peppermint shrimp. Camels usually will not touch aiptasia (some will), instead going straight for tasty corals.

 

The two look very similar, but not similar enough where, if you know what you're looking for, you should buy one and not realize it's the other. Camel shrimp have white streaks, peppermint shrimp have clear-milky streaks.

 

Camel shrimp:

camel-shrimp.jpg

 

Peppermint shrimp:

Peppermint_Shrimp_ps.jpg

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The identification difference is the camel hump on back, and white stripes that go down the legs.

 

That being said, either way you're going to have to catch the bastard. Food in a net and simply quickly puilling the net up when he gets in it to eat the food is probably the best. You can also use some long tongs to grab his antenna with and then slowly pull him up. You will have to put a net under him quickly as when he tries to swim off near the top of the tank, he will get out of the tongs.

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Peppermint shrimp do not eat coral.
Maybe, but they sure can pick the heck out of healthy coral, anemones, and feather dusters. :angry:

 

I wouldn't hesitate to get some to help get rid of Aiptasia, but once the job is done they will be given to any LFS that wants them. Part of the success of getting them to eat Aiptasia is keeping them hungry; I'm sure this accentuates their tenancy to pick at other animals in the tank.

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Peppermint shrimp do not eat coral. Camel shrimp, however, do, and are, more often than not, commonly sold as peppermint shrimp. Camels usually will not touch aiptasia (some will), instead going straight for tasty corals.

 

The two look very similar, but not similar enough where, if you know what you're looking for, you should buy one and not realize it's the other. Camel shrimp have white streaks, peppermint shrimp have clear-milky streaks.

 

Camel shrimp:

camel-shrimp.jpg

 

Peppermint shrimp:

Peppermint_Shrimp_ps.jpg

 

I respectfully disagree; peppermint shrimp will eat corals and other desirable anemones. I had a peppermint strip all of the polyps off my pocillapora and devour a small bubble tip anemone before I was able to catch it and banish it to my sump.

 

That being said, the bottle trap someone posted about works great. Just be sure to weight the bottom and tie a piece of fishing line to the top for easy removal. I just bated with pellet food and caught mine after a couple attempts.

Edited by halcyonism
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I agree, both peppermint and skunk cleaner shrimp are evil, and devoured some feather dusters and really gave my gorgonian a hurting before i managed to catch and kill erm I mean give them away. i dont think ill ever own a shrimp again, they are always picking and agitating stuff.

 

good luck with the net method, i didnt get it to work, they wise up the first time you swoosh up to catch them. your better off trying the PVC method, or the .5 liter bottle method.

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well i decided to keep one in my tank because i have a few aiptasia still. once they are gone i will remove the last.

 

it was VERY easy to remove the peppermint. all i did was put a piece of freeze-dried krill on some tongs, then i let the krill touch the shrimps antenna, as soon as i did this he jumped up and started picking away at the krill. i then used a net to lift him out of the tank. easy enough.

 

my cleaner shrimp i've had for a very long time has never bothered any corals unless he was really hungry then he might try to rip food out of the corals mouth. but these peppermints just eat away the flesh of the corals for no reason.

 

oh and its DEFINITELY not a camel back, its a real peppermint shrimp - i will stay away from these guys at all costs unless i have an infestation of aiptasia again ;p

Edited by Fluffeh
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  • 7 years later...

Hello fish and coral hobbyist. I have a peppermint shrimp I believe is killing my sps. I tried to net him but after first try he caught on to that. Then I tried to lightly take some live rock out but saw that it was stressing my fish too much. And just couldn't find him. I read that you can use a soda bottle and cut the top off and stick the top backwards in the base of the bottle with some pellet food. Just wondering how well this works and can you use a 20 oz soda bottle instead of a liter or a two liter? Please help as he is killing my Jason fox corals and I love my Jason fox corals. 

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