peppermint shrimp dying - help?

[fishgate]

My Peppermints are dying off one by one. I don't know what is killing them or causing their deaths. Are there shrimp ailments that effect shrimp and nothing else? Everything else in the tank seems fine but all the shrimp are dying. I think there is one left. They have been happy and eating, molting, etc. during the die-off. They just die.

They start to turn white, then can't move much and just drift around the tank, then kind of just float around, then die.

WTH!

 

[Reef264]

Hi,

There may be a lack of food in the system for them to eat to survive.What are your Nitrate Levels?

 

[fishgate]

Around 20-30 ppm. They eat a lot. They actually tackle food when it comes at them (swim out and grab it). I see them get a lot of food plus I assume they eat the leftovers at night.

 

[mgargiullo]

Just checking basics... are you sure it's the whole shrimp... or are they molting?

Do they look like they get sick, then die... or do they look good one moment, and dead the next (or overnight)?

 

[fishgate]

No they are dying for sure. 100% not a molt. They start to change color like they are being cooked. They turn white. Then they flounder a bit, then they die. One died tonight. I think I have just one left alive. They started disappearing several months ago but it is just lately that I am pretty sure they are dying - I've seen two die.

 

[Reef264]

Try a couple of water changes to lower your nitrates.

 

[Pants]

how many do you have?

 

[Swolek]

Just to check, are you using your own RO-DI system? When did you last change your resin? Shrimp, as you probably know, are very sensitive to contaminants...especially heavy metals.

In the meantime, I'd probably do a water change and run both activated carbon and polyfilter just in case.

 

[fishgate]

I use RO/DI (my own) exclusively. The TDS meter shows 0-1 after the DI. 160 before. I change 10% per week (4 gallons) plus about 2 gallons/week top off.

I can put some charcoal in my HOB skimmer I think. I'll try that.

I had 6 at one point, I think I have 1 left as of today as one more died last night. The rest of the tank is thriving.

 

[Pants]

It is quite common for two to pair up and kill the others.

 

[fishgate]

It is quite common for two to pair up and kill the others.

Really? How do they kill the others? I didn't notice any injuries. But one of the shrimp just had a ton of eggs on her. That one is still alive.

 

[Sharkdog22]

and no fish are picking on them? if they are jumping at food I would try feeding some more , because I've personally seen a group of peppermints jump up and take down a green chromis and eat it ALIVE!!!!! its was crazy

 

[Pants]

This article is on cleaner shrimp but the same applies to peppermints:
http://www.livescience.com/16985-cleaner-shrimp-murder-rivals.html

 

[Fish Biscuit]

I had 2 when I first set up my tank & everything was fine for 2 or 3 weeks. All of a sudden I noticed 1 picking on the other & a few days later I came in to find half a body in the tank. This pep is a pia & thought he was going to push the pistol around at breakfast time, 1 click was all it took lol.

 

[fishgate]

I think I have a sociopathic shrimp in the tank. After reading the article about cleaner shrimp posted by Pants, I am convinced that the pregnant shrimp is the murderer. I am not sure she killed all of the shrimp but I am convinced she killed all of them that are dead. There might be 1 more in there besides her. And I know one of the shrimp died right after a molt like the article states happens.

This is great information to know! I think I will leave the tank without any more shrimp for awhile to let it settle with what is left (1 or 2) and then maybe get 1 more shrimp to see if it dies. If it does, I am not sure what I'll do. I'd like to have more then one shrimp. So that means getting rid of the miscreant shrimp. And I wouldn't risk giving this to anyone else, even the fish store, so the only option would be.......

 

[Pants]

We originally had 4 (they took care of the aiptasia that came on our live rock). Then two died and we noticed one had eggs. We've now had the remaining two for several months.

 

[Humuhumunuku]

Interesting, I have 3cleaners atm, 2 of which are quite small. I also have about a dozen peppermints, all in a 135. I thought for sure the smallest of cleaners was killed during a molt, but after being MIA for a couple days, it showed back up. Hard to tell how many peppermints there are at any given time, since it is difficult to count them all, and I would be very unlikely to see a body of a dead one.

 

[mdelp]

I found my shrimp stuck to a rock in front near the sand. I tried to get him to move and he wouldn't but I think he was still alive. So I just figured he was molting in the front of the tank for a change and I chould chill. Next day his shell and antenna were nearby and I figured he had completed molting in the night, and was hiding while his new shell came in. Then I saw little tentacles coming out of the rock, near where he was stuck, not shrimp tentacles, more like octopus type. I'm like *** is that? My starfish died a long time ago. I had a boxer crab at some point but it didn't look like him. I wonder if this tentacled thing ate my shrimp! Well hopefully he'll show up in a few weeks... he's hidden before when molting...

 

[j_mazzy]

sounds like a hidden brittle star, pics?

 

[Jscwerve]

I can't keep shrimp for some strange reason either.

I've tried twice now. Both times they were thriving, and both times I've found one body, then a few days later, the other disappears.

I don't have any shrimp killing fish, all of my fish and corals thrive, parameters remain in check. All of my other CUC types thrive as well. Crabs, snails, urchins, little starfish, etc. all do well.

Still a death sentence for shrimp.