Will Peppermint Shrimp Bother Anemones

[Silvio]

A few months ago I put 4 peppermint shrimp in my 90 gallon tank. They made quick work of the aptasia and I had a problem since. Then I went on vacation for a week. When I got back, one of my BTA's was gone! I mean there was no trace of it. It was a medium sized anemone (4" long). Then I heard that peppermint shrimp will attack anemones after they have eaten all the aptasia. Is this true? I have noticed that a couple of the shrimp are now hanging out right near the remaining BTA. There were no signs of trouble before I went on vacation ( and I had been aptasia free for 10 weeks at that time). It seems unlikely that the shrimp could have eaten that much anemone in a week.

 

[Scarfish]

yeah, sounds unlikely

 

[~Flighty~]

you could probably get some nice frags for proven aptasia eaters. I have 12 pepermints and none of them touch the stuff. The CBB is taking up the slack now.

 

[NateHanson]

I'd guess your peps are hanging out by the anemone so they can steal food from it. That's what mine do all the time.
Maybe your disappearing anemone will show up double in a couple days.

Nate

 

[tucc185]

I know it sounds unlikely, but a very similar thing happened to me a few months back. I had had a peppermint shrimp (not for aptasia removal) that was very ative and fun to watch. during this same time. I had tried introducing several anemones, including LTA's BTA's, even a carpet anemone. each one invariably shriveled and died in a week or so. then I got a light fixture with moonlites, and began to watch the nocturnal activities of my reef. Sure enough, almost as soon as the lights went out, the shrimp went right up to the nearest anemone and began to dismantle it by tearing its tentacles into shreds. I tried to remove that little bugger for two months, but he escaped every trap, net and bait until finally, he died. now, one lucky BTA has come out of hiding and began to flourish again. My point is, some peppermint shrimp are just plain evil.

 

[NateHanson]

tucc, one possibility is that the anemones were dying because of a water or light quality issue, and the shrimp were just cleaning up the mess at night. Perhaps now the BTA is doing better because the tank has matured. Is that a possibility?

 

[tucc185]

Well, I wouldn't say it's impossible, but at the same time I had (and still have) many thriving corals, including torch, frogspawn, xenia, and Montipora capricornis. These probably would not have done so well if the water/light was unsuitable for Anemones. As for the tank maturing, the anemones were added well after most of the corals had established themselves and at that point, the tank had been up for nearly 14 months. I'm sure there could be another explanation for the shrimp's strange behavior, I just haven't been able to think of anything else yet.

 

[NateHanson]

Well your tank was nice and mature. Who knows.
I just hope none of my peppermints ever turn evil!