duckfluffed
New member
I've just started my tank recently. Its a 36 gal bow front. There are no fish in it yet. To start out, there are miscellaneous snails in the tank; elephant limpets, stomatellas, pyramid, nassarius (13-17 total). A month ago, I added 2 cortez hermits (one died immediately, the other is active and seems fine), 1 Halloween hermit and 1 electric orange hermit. The three were thriving, very active. The Halloween patrolled the front of the tank nonstop and was active all day, where as the electric orange was active more at night and was aggressive. He would go at any snail within reach and a few turned up missing, so I decided to return him.
I've had a few spots of aiptasia growing, so I traded in the electric orange and bought 2 peppermint shrimp (on Jan 28th). Days after the shrimp were introduced I noticed the Halloween wasn't as active during the day. He was constantly grazing/sleeping on the same rock, only grazing on other rocks every now and then. I assumed he had found a comfortable home, the rock cradled this oblong shell perfectly.
The shrimp became accustomed to the tank within 24hrs, and I noticed that the larger female (my LFS said they looked to be a pair) looked pregnant. Roughly a week later she was at the front of the tank and a small bristle worm was moving along the side of the glass on the sand. She went after it, it burred itself in the sand, she dug it out and ate it on the spot
I don't know a whole lot about peppermint shrimp behavior, but this seemed odd and my LFS had warned me that bristle worms have stinging spines. Not a problem for her though, she devoured it. This further convinced me that the shrimp is pregnant and was either HUNGRY or saw the worm as a predator.
Last week a nassarius snail went missing from his shell. I saw the female shrimp eating was I assume was the missing snail. At one point the smaller (male) shrimp had it, was forced to drop it and was chased away by the female. I stepped away from the tank for a sec and when I returned a large bristle worm had itself wrapped around the snail, and the female shrimp was weaving/picking at it. She tried 3-4 times to get the bristle off the snail with no success. She gave up, but at this point I'm thinking she might be too aggressive.
On Saturday I returned from work to find one of the pyramid snails that are always at the water line was on its back in the sand. It was still alive, moving slightly and extremely vulnerable. I sat it upright, but the next morning it was in the same spot, untouched. After work, the shell was on its side and was empty.
Last night I checked the tank and everyone was fine, but I wake this morning to find my Halloween hermit out of his shell and partially eaten on his usual rock. I know everyone has plenty to eat; my LR is crawling with mysis shrimp and other pods and there is a small amount of alge growing. The cortez hermit is well, the snails are too. A lot of the stometella have doubled in size and my elephant limpets are growing rapidly. The shrimp are doing their usual thing, but I haven't seen either one on the Halloween hermits body. Actually I haven't even seen bristle worms or snails on its body. The halloween hermits shell was roomy for him, if anything too big. I'm not looking to replace him. Once I add fish to the tank I might add a few more cortez hermits. I'm just curious what could have happened. He was the biggest guy in the tank excluding the female shrimp.
I did a 20% water change 5 days ago, checking all parameters before and after. I checked everything again after noticing the dead hermit and everything is as it should be. So... to anyone who has had peppermint shrimp and hermit crabs: Do peppermint shrimp kill crabs? Is the behavior that I've mentioned normal for both? My hermit was average size I guess, definitely not a juvenile. Could his behavior and death just be normal 'old age'? I know some LFS's sell camel shrimp as peppermint, but I am confident that mine are peppermint because they ate all the aiptasia. Any insight into this will be appreciated.
I've had a few spots of aiptasia growing, so I traded in the electric orange and bought 2 peppermint shrimp (on Jan 28th). Days after the shrimp were introduced I noticed the Halloween wasn't as active during the day. He was constantly grazing/sleeping on the same rock, only grazing on other rocks every now and then. I assumed he had found a comfortable home, the rock cradled this oblong shell perfectly.
The shrimp became accustomed to the tank within 24hrs, and I noticed that the larger female (my LFS said they looked to be a pair) looked pregnant. Roughly a week later she was at the front of the tank and a small bristle worm was moving along the side of the glass on the sand. She went after it, it burred itself in the sand, she dug it out and ate it on the spot
I don't know a whole lot about peppermint shrimp behavior, but this seemed odd and my LFS had warned me that bristle worms have stinging spines. Not a problem for her though, she devoured it. This further convinced me that the shrimp is pregnant and was either HUNGRY or saw the worm as a predator.Last week a nassarius snail went missing from his shell. I saw the female shrimp eating was I assume was the missing snail. At one point the smaller (male) shrimp had it, was forced to drop it and was chased away by the female. I stepped away from the tank for a sec and when I returned a large bristle worm had itself wrapped around the snail, and the female shrimp was weaving/picking at it. She tried 3-4 times to get the bristle off the snail with no success. She gave up, but at this point I'm thinking she might be too aggressive.
On Saturday I returned from work to find one of the pyramid snails that are always at the water line was on its back in the sand. It was still alive, moving slightly and extremely vulnerable. I sat it upright, but the next morning it was in the same spot, untouched. After work, the shell was on its side and was empty.
Last night I checked the tank and everyone was fine, but I wake this morning to find my Halloween hermit out of his shell and partially eaten on his usual rock. I know everyone has plenty to eat; my LR is crawling with mysis shrimp and other pods and there is a small amount of alge growing. The cortez hermit is well, the snails are too. A lot of the stometella have doubled in size and my elephant limpets are growing rapidly. The shrimp are doing their usual thing, but I haven't seen either one on the Halloween hermits body. Actually I haven't even seen bristle worms or snails on its body. The halloween hermits shell was roomy for him, if anything too big. I'm not looking to replace him. Once I add fish to the tank I might add a few more cortez hermits. I'm just curious what could have happened. He was the biggest guy in the tank excluding the female shrimp.
I did a 20% water change 5 days ago, checking all parameters before and after. I checked everything again after noticing the dead hermit and everything is as it should be. So... to anyone who has had peppermint shrimp and hermit crabs: Do peppermint shrimp kill crabs? Is the behavior that I've mentioned normal for both? My hermit was average size I guess, definitely not a juvenile. Could his behavior and death just be normal 'old age'? I know some LFS's sell camel shrimp as peppermint, but I am confident that mine are peppermint because they ate all the aiptasia. Any insight into this will be appreciated.
