Help! Will my Frospawn make it?

[kfowler]

I picked a frogspawn on Saturday. This was the first coral added to this tank. It looked like this.

I have three Peppermint shrimp to control aiptasia and one of them immediately started picking at the coral. I was hoping that it was just investigating the new addition but it looks like the shrimp was actually doing damage. Here's a pic of the villain in the act.

I come home today and the frogspawn looks terrible. The shrimp have definitely been picking at it again. Here's a pic I just took.

I've since moved the frogspawn off the sand bed and on the LR where it would be more difficult for the shrimp to reach.

So, what do you think the chances are of the frogspawn surviving? Anything I can do at this point? I feel the shrimp must go but can I hold off taking them out until Saturday? I have no place to put them if I take them out tonight. Any suggestions on catching them?

Thanks

 

[raoul]

Can you go to the store and get those little critter care holders? I can't remember what they're called exactly, but I've seen them used in tanks to separate (or contain) livestock. They're small plastic containers with lids. There's ventilation on the top, but if you feel more comfortable you could probably drill some small holes. Sometimes LFS's will take them off your hands, but at least they're contained until then.

I've seen them do some damage on livestock before, I think you have to assume the froggie is at risk until the peps are contained and/or removed. It looks like it's still got a good chance, but that's just a guess.

As far as catching them, ours seemed very food motivated. We fed our tanks very lightly so they were hungry. During this time we also put our fishnet in the tank. After a few days we stuck a yummy morsel of food in the net, and they would go in after it and we pulled out the net.

I wonder if you can put something over the froggie to protect it. Strawberry baskets are used to cover nems to keep things away, but I think the holes are too big for the peps. Maybe the top of a soda bottle with holes drilled into it would work. Hopefully others have some suggestions too!

Good luck!

 

[kfowler]

Thanks for the feedback raoul.

Here's the latest. I decided to relocate the shrimp to the fuge until I figured out what to do with them. I thought this would be a real pain to catch them but I caught all three in less than 5 minutes. I used the exact technique you just mentioned. A piece a flake food in a fish net. Greedy little buggers. The thing that sucks is I had no aiptasia problem after I got them. Oh well. Joe's Juice it will be.

 

[raoul]

You're welcome, glad you got them out. I didn't realize you had a fuge though or I would have suggested that Yes, they are greedy little buggers, and you can use it against them sometimes!

 

[kfowler]

Update

The Frogspawn seems to be doing much better today. It looks really good and you can hardly see the damaged areas. I was really worried yesterday.

The 3 convict shrimps are still banished to Hades (fuge). I found someone who is will to trade a Kenya Tree for them.

 

[Ephraim]

I had a frogspawn come back from a lot worse. I have a small frag that fell behind some rocks and by the time i found it there was only a small bit of tissue around the mouth left. 3 weeks later it had 20+ tenticles grown back. Pretty resilient corals imo

 

[r00onmac]

my peppermint eats anything and everything and has killed more than i can list here... if the fiance didnt like him so much id...................

 

[danch]

Would your fiance like them in a butter and garlic sauce, perhaps?

 

[raoul]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9243974#post9243974 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by r00onmac
my peppermint eats anything and everything and has killed more than i can list here... if the fiance didnt like him so much id...................

I know people that can make them disappear I've heard they taste good on a Ritz cracker too

 

[kfowler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9243974#post9243974 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by r00onmac
if the fiance didnt like him so much id...................

If find this very funny since my wife HATES these peppermint shrimp. She watched one eat a hermit crab one time and has been scarred ever since. I told her I was getting rid of them and she said, "Good!"

 

[chrisstie]

Is it possible its a camel shrimp and not actually a peppermint? i cannot tell from the pic but there's a big reef safeness difference between the two?

 

[raoul]

There's also two kinds of shrimp listed as peps., and one seems to be more aggressive than the other, at least that's what our local group has noticed.
We have some now, that are very hard to see. The ones we had when we first started were monsters, we saw them snatch up a crab or two and eat them alive, they also killed a feather duster and wiped out a xenia patch twice. Then there was the annoying food stealing from the coral at feeding time. We decided to give these a try since everyone else seems to have had luck with them. I think the suppliers get them from the Gulf of Mexico, but I could be wrong.

Good luck!

 

[kfowler]

I believe camel shrimp have white stripes going down there back. I remember reading about how to ID before I bought these. I believe they are true peppermint shrimp. Just with a bad attitude.

 

[r00onmac]

raoul you are right... apparently the ones from the florida coast areas are the more aggressive ones... at least thats what i hear the most about...

i wish mine just stuck to crabs and snails... hes taken out 2 btas and several corals including some blastos and a beautiful carnation....

 

[raoul]

I've been watching ours closely, if there's damage they're gone. I was unsure about it when we got them, but our lfs guy said he would take them back if we wanted him too. Occassionally I'll see one in each tank, rarely do I see both. The bad ones were always visable and would even swim through the water playing follow the leader during the day! They weren't shy at all.