Tallspawn Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 So I noticed the other morning that one of my Ultra Acans that had been doing really well all the sudden had a dead polyp. I couldn't figure out what was going on, nobody was picking on it that I could tell. The next morning it was worse, so I decided to get the flashlight out that night and what did I see?? A peppermint shrimp eating away at the acan. I tried and tried to catch him but couldn't. I pulled the acan out and put it in a different tank until I decide what to do. I'm hoping they don't go after my other acans in the meantime. So I have 2 questions. Has anyone else had peppermints harm corals and what are the odds of the acan recovering? They managed to totally wipe out 1 head and mostly wiped out 2 others. Thanks in advance for any advice!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 They might have only been eating the dead/dieing polyp because it was dead or dieing. They are scavengers after all. I would be more worried if you saw them attacking a healthy polyp when it did not have any food in it's mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallspawn Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 They might have only been eating the dead/dieing polyp because it was dead or dieing. They are scavengers after all. I would be more worried if you saw them attacking a healthy polyp when it did not have any food in it's mouth. He was hitting the healthy polyps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Make sure that you don't have a fish picking at them and that the peppermints just aren't eating the torn pieces. I know that immediately you wouldn't think any of your fish would do that but for example if you have tangs or rabbit fish you might be suprised. I have had a tang and a foxface eat acans. Once they get torn it seems like most anything will pick at it then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teg Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I dont trust those peppermint shrimp either. Two of my cleaner shrimps died within a week when I added 4 peppermint shrimps into my tank (but my coral banded did fine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxima Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I have 3 peppermint shrimp that love eating xenia (for whatever reason). Any time I tried putting xenia in the tank, they tear it apart in seconds. Haven't touched my acans though I have seen them steal food from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I have 3 peppermint shrimp that love eating xenia (for whatever reason). Any time I tried putting xenia in the tank, they tear it apart in seconds. Haven't touched my acans though I have seen them steal food from them. You might be able to rent them out to people with xenia problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I've had peppermint shrimp in a few of my tanks and haven't had problems. That being said since they are good for getting rid of Aptasia sp. I'm not too surprise to hear them going after other animals. Its been awhile but I seen Camelback Shrimp sold as Peppermint and they will eat a lot of different corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Both my boyfriend and I have had bad experiences with peppermint shrimp eating xenia (him), and yellow colonial polyps and frogspawn (me). I'll never put another pep in one of my tanks. Aiptasia X works just as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxima Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I have 3 peppermint shrimp that love eating xenia (for whatever reason). Any time I tried putting xenia in the tank, they tear it apart in seconds. Haven't touched my acans though I have seen them steal food from them. You might be able to rent them out to people with xenia problems If I could catch them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallspawn Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 I have 3 peppermint shrimp that love eating xenia (for whatever reason). Any time I tried putting xenia in the tank, they tear it apart in seconds. Haven't touched my acans though I have seen them steal food from them. You might be able to rent them out to people with xenia problems If I could catch them! Well they didn't touch my aptasia for the first couple of months then they went after it like crazy. I noticed the last piece gone bout a week ago. Guess they figured the acan would work. Now, how in the world do I catch them?? I thought about getting something that would make a meal out of them but them I'm afraid they would mess with my fire shrimp or pick on snails and crabs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Borrow a large wrasse from someone, that should work. Otherwise good luck, I tried catching my shrimp when I did a redbug treatment and had no success. I even bought 2 different shrimp traps, nothing worked. I had all of my shrimp survive the treatment though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tavio Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Peppermints can be good for aiptasia but they will also munch on coral(healthy or not). It can be a hit or miss thing with those shrimp. Pull it out if you can, it probably won't stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Ah looks like you have the kind of peps that actually eat aiptasia. Congrats! Problem is when they run out of their preferred food, they WILL eat other types of corals sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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