peppermint shrimp vs. torch coral

[kristytang]

we got a torch coral today and put it in our QT tank. our QT tank has its own clean up crew of a few snails, hermits, and two peppermint shrimp. almost imediatly (like, attacking my hand as i set it down) the peppermints started to attack the coral and pull the little bulbs out. is there any way to stop them from doing this? i had never heard of a shrimp attacking a coral like that and its really irritating since it is such a pretty little thing. any advice would be appreciated.

 

[VacavilleFC3S]

umm tank them out of the tank?? otherwise no, mostly likely it's not gonna understand you telling it not to attack the coral lol

 

[kristytang]

well, yea haha. but i was wondering if they are just hungry or if this is a one time thing (like new to the territory) and if they are always going to do that or calm down in a while. like the clown, he will attack things when i first put them in there but within a few minutes to an hour he stops.

ETA: we also just added kenya trees, xenia, hammerhead corals, and mushrooms and they dont mess with those-just the torch. i know its not a camel back, ive seen those in the petstore too, it is a peppermint.

 

[Tennyson]

It's somewhat common for this to happen. Heres a thread, he had the same problem you did. And it's happened to me with my frogspawn, and someone else with a trumpet coral i think.

I don't think its because they're hungry, someone suggested that it could be because the coral is new, and stressed/damaged from being moved to a new home. And the peppermint "cleans" the stressed/damaged coral like any cleaner shrimp would to a sick fish=tearing off the tentacles.

I think it will eventually stop doing that, it did with my frogspawn. But it has always attacked my new corals, including my Coco worm.

Good luck with your shrimp and coral. Keep an eye on it and see if it continues to attack it and the other corals.