did my starry blenny eat my peppermints?

[DAZ3ON3R]

i recently added 2 peppermint shrimps to my system 5 days later i removed all my LR to reaarange and not a trace of either shrimp does anyone know if starry blennys attack or eat peppermint shrimp...other tank inhabitants are 6 or 7 various damsels,pencil urchin,clown,seahare,enginneer goby,anenomi,sand sifting star ...blenny has a suspicious look in his face like hes hiding something..lol...argghh...any help would be appreciated

 

[peasofme]

could be anything in your tank, or just stress, or just parameters

 

[SecretiveFish]

I would be really surprised if the blenny did it. Honestly, none of your fish stand out as shrimp killers (although I have read that an engineer goby may eat shrimp, no personal experience though) so I would either guess one of your water parameters is out of whack, maybe they were not acclimated long enough, acclimated too long, or the shrimp died from transportation stress.

 

[reefjunkie42]

I would be really surprised if the blenny did it. Honestly, none of your fish stand out as shrimp killers (although I have read that an engineer goby may eat shrimp, no personal experience though) so I would either guess one of your water parameters is out of whack, maybe they were not acclimated long enough, acclimated too long, or the shrimp died from transportation stress.

this ^^^ or their still hiding, their are nocternal and very secretive especially when first introduced. still seems like a while they have been hiding. they are sensitive so it could have been anything.

 

[Wolverine]

They may not be dead. Peppermint shrimp are really good at hiding. Check the tank at night with a red light, and you may see them running around. We would go for months without seeing ours in a 46g tank, and I went over a year without seeing the ones we had in our 200g tank, but we found them alive when we were removing everything.

Unlikely the blenny did it.

 

[jason2459]

They may not be dead. Peppermint shrimp are really good at hiding. Check the tank at night with a red light, and you may see them running around. We would go for months without seeing ours in a 46g tank, and I went over a year without seeing the ones we had in our 200g tank, but we found them alive when we were removing everything.

Unlikely the blenny did it.

Yep I've always notice mine go crazy at night swimming all over the place like they are all coked up.

 

[DAZ3ON3R]

thanks everyone for your help....dropping a coral banded in today so i will keep you guys updated....he still looks suspicious to me tho....lol

 

[jason2459]

The coral banded shrimps could be aggressive toward other shrimps. I had one a long time ago take out a cleaner. I haven't had issues with cleaners and peppermints.

 

[DAZ3ON3R]

banded shrimps is in ,been 1 full day and hes doin great......still no sign of peppermints...oh well on another note i was fortunate enough to run into a guy who was gettin rid of everything in his tank he sold me about 30 pnds of LR and 7 good size corals for 20 bux....put them in yestreday evening im up early cuz i have no idea what they are. so im waiting for them to come out if any of you can help identify much appreciated pics comings soon....:bounce2:

 

[sjwitt]

Depending on your tank configuration they could also be in the overflow. In my old 55g I had peppermints in there all the time. I have a 185g now and put several peppermints in only to lose sight of them ... they turned up months later. Very good at staying hidden, especially when very small.

 

[DAZ3ON3R]

These were kinda tiny...hopefully the are hiding....thanx

 

[sacalaitman]

engineer goby may have done it if it is large enough.

 

[Triple One]

i'm a little surprised nobody suspects the damsels (including the clown), unless the fish are also pretty small. damsels are not as mean as dottybacks but they're not very nice either.

i started with three peppermint shrimp but have only seen one (the same one, constantly in its little station waiting for one of my fish to settle next to it for a shrimp shave...) for months now. at first, there were at least two under the same rock, but it has been ages since i've seen more than the one so either the other two are serious about their xenophobia, or they're just dead.

i really doubt the blenny is the culprit. if the shrimp was killed by another animal it would be for food, most likely, and starry blennies eat algae. if the shrimp are actually dead and not just hiding in there somewhere, i'd suspect the damsels, engineer goby, or even a feisty hermit crab before i'd ever suspect the blenny. and now that you've added a coral banded shrimp, that'd be my prime suspect in the future if you find minced peppermint...

 

[DAZ3ON3R]

Banded shrimp died last night...no one killed him he just pikd a corner sat there and passed ...40 bux down the drain..(literally)

 

[Triple One]

then maybe water quality is an issue after all... how did you acclimate your shrimp?

 

[DAZ3ON3R]

I sat him in the sump in lfs bag for a bit then dumpd him in the tank

 

[Triple One]

that would do it...

that would do it...

I sat him in the sump in lfs bag for a bit then dumpd him in the tank

:eek1:

i think that may be the issue. there's a lot more to marine systems than temperature to take into account when you're relocating living creatures.

i acclimated my pistol shrimp in a small clean styrofoam box that i use specifically for acclimating new corals and livestock. a clean bucket works too but styrofoam holds the temperature better. first i float the bag in the sump to get it up to temperature, like you did, but while i'm doing that i take a piece of 0.25" (6.35mm) vinyl tubing, tie two half knots in it, and start a slow tank-water drip siphon going into the styrofoam box, adjusting the knots to slow the flow so that there's just a little (<0.5cm) tank water in the bottom of the styrofoam after a few minutes. you can use a shorter piece of tubing and siphon from your sump if you want. i also put an airstone in the box to keep the water oxygenated.

when the bag is up to temperature, i lay the bag on its side in the styro and gently slide the animal and the shipping water out into the box. i adjust the siphon so that the water volume doubles in the box in about 20 minutes (some people recommend slowing it to as long as an hour... for delicate species especially), then dump half the water out (NOT back in the tank!) and let it double again. for the pistol shrimp i only let the water double twice before i netted the shrimp out and dropped it in the tank (that's another thing: you should almost NEVER add the bag/acclimation water to the tank... livestock in transport is at its most stressed and will be excreting/secreting like there's no tomorrow, so typically that water doesn't benefit your tank at all)... if you've got something really sensitive it's not a bad idea to double and dump several times, so that by the time you're placing the livestock in your tank it's already in nearly 100% tank water already. obviously, make sure to have some fresh saltwater ready to replace the volume you're inevitably going to lose to the acclimation (i usually plan a water change with any addition anyway; easy way to replace what you're taking out anyway, welcome refreshment for all the stuff you're adding).

i think acclimating your critters this way would probably improve your survival rate significantly! that is assuming that your parameters are good... how do your chems look? what about those new corals you scored? if you dropped them straight into the tank the same as the shrimp, they might take a while to open up for you...

 

[DAZ3ON3R]

Thanks for the acclimation procedure ..I had no idea..greatly appreciated also the polyps are not opened yet..the biggest zoanthus colony is showing some heads..but surprisingly the what I think to be a sort of shroom colony is puffing up...cleaning crew is doing great job...sea hare deserves a raise..lol

 

[Triple One]

Thanks for the acclimation procedure ..I had no idea..greatly appreciated also the polyps are not opened yet..the biggest zoanthus colony is showing some heads..but surprisingly the what I think to be a sort of shroom colony is puffing up...cleaning crew is doing great job...sea hare deserves a raise..lol

:beer: Absolutely! Happy to Help! I made the same mistake with my first toadstool leather and it flopped over like a wet glove and promptly started rotting. Dead leathers are STANKY! (dead snails are the WORST though...)

mushroom anemones are super tough; wouldn't surprise me if they're the first ones to show. zoa's are usually tough too although i once bought a frag from my LFS with two different colors of zoanthids on it and even though the orange ones were open within an hour, the blue ones took almost two weeks, and they were on the same frag!

Glad to hear things are coming along though... Let us know when you've got some pix and we'll try to help you with your IDs! Happy Reefing!