Peperment Shrimp with BTA's?

[mborkush]

I currently have 2 bubble tips, 1 haddoni carpet, 1 seabe and 1 Long tentacle in my system. Last night I added the second bubble tip and he settled in rather quickly. Once the lights went out and moons were on, I noticed one of two peppermint shrimps picking at the tentacles. Is the shrimp feasting off stuff stuck to the tentacles or is it eating them? I ask because the shrimp appears to be popping the tentacle. This morning it looked like half of them were flat or deflated. I mention the other anemones because they are all fine and the shrimp have never bothered with them (To the best of my knowledge) I wonder if the anemone is too close the shrimps "home" or if the shrimp is just being a bully? Any feed back would be appreciated.
Thank you! :thumbsup:

 

[robexcoral]

from what it sounds like is the peppermints were cleaning the anemone they dont really go after live tissue

 

[Spazdad]

going to be fine.

 

[mborkush]

Anemone seems to be ok. However, the tentacles that the shrimp picked at have been popped and are not re-inflating. Will these heal up or re-grow?

 

[angel-luver!!]

id try and deliberatly feed the shrimps if you can to try and keep their appetite at bay, many shrimps can irritate corals and anemones. some peppermint-type species of shrimp do eat smaller live anemones and some polyps so would be good idea to try and keep the shrimps just as well fed as the fish. the anemone should recover quickly given good conditions. a dedicated clownfish living in the anemone will chase off shrimp and other fish that may pose a threat to the anemone. failing that anemone crabs (i have personally had good experience with these looking after anemones... some have had bad experiences) could be another possible help in keeping other annoying creatures away from the nem. oh and sometimes anemone shrimp can be very protective.
a lot of shrimp are scavengers, so it may be trying to clean something off the anemone, but i have witnessed several peppermints damaging bubbletip anemones.

 

[mborkush]

Thank you, good info. I find it interesting that this shrimp has decided to go after this bubble tip, yet hasnt even given the other anemones a second look. The shrimp were added about 4 months ago......hummm.....ohh and the shrimp do eat well. I feed the tank a home made food mix so there is a lot that settles down to the sand. This is why I got the shrimp, to help eat the left over's. None the less, its time to start training the new clowns to go to the new anemone.

Has any one else tried using a picture taped to the tank of a clown in an anemone as a training tool? I did and had good luck. Wondering if any others do this?

 

[mborkush]

It went from bad to worse. I just rescued him from the LTA's death grip. The bubble tip doesnt look good at all. What do you all think the odds of survival are? He's pretty stringy and his mouth is wide open like you can see its base through the mouth. I put it in a basket made of egg crate hanging at the top. Good water circulation. I dont know, kinda bummed out. He's a nice neon green :sad1:

 

[TCT]

hmmm...At one time I had a BTA win the battle with an LTA...interesting to hear it is opposite

 

[mborkush]

This thing is in rough shape. I will try to post some pictures today of the after math.