So ****ed! Killer Peppermint Shrimps!

[chimuelo]

On Saturday, I had a 20g long with the following.
- 2 clown fish
- 1 fire fish
- 1 emerald crab
- 5 hermit crabs
All the inhabitants lived peacefully for couple weeks.

So Saturday, I go check out a LFS far far away (I was in that neighborhood), and I see the peppermint shrimps are on sale for 5 dollars each. I buy 3, put them in tank.

Sunday morning, I wake up to find out the shrimps are munching on my dead fire fish. My girlfriend is ****ed. Everything I read online indicates peppermint shrimps don't do this and my fire fish was probably sick. The fire fish was very active and ate well the night before, so I was skeptical. I call another LFS (one close to me) to see if they'll credit me if I bring in these shrimps, and they say no. So I leave it alone.

Monday morning (just now), I wake up to find out the shrimps are munching on my dead emerald crab. I haven't told my girlfriend yet, but she's gonna be super ****ed. I saw the crab walking around the day before, and he was doing fine. Damn. The shrimps are close to 2" and the crab was probably around 3/4" or so. This is very upsetting. :headwally:

 

[psusocr]

are you sure its the shrimp? shrimp will feed on anything "dead" so after they died just because they were cleanign up the remains doesnt mean its what killed it. a "coupe of weeks" isnt ong for a fidh to live. what is your water chemistry like?

 

[Drag Racer]

Yeah I would suspect something else. Did you dump fish store water in your tank? Was there something on your hand that got in the tank? I cant keep a pep shrimp in my tank. My clowns kill them. I cant picture a pep shrimp killing a fish.

 

[ange062]

Agree with above, VERY unlikely that the pep's killed anything. Most likely feeding on things that are already dead. How about a little more info on the tank (how old it is, filtration, water parms, etc).

 

[Fleur]

I put 2 peppermint shrimp in my biocube and they ate half of my snails overnight. I watched as one picked up a live snail and ate it. There were no problems in my tank when I put them in. I took them back to the LFS I purchased them from. Little suckers!

 

[platylover]

If you go to liveaquaria and look at the shrimp section, do your shrimp look like the camel or peppermint shrimp? They are often mistaken for each other. I have had both and the camel shrimp are not reef safe.

 

[Jmnazari]

I agree with the camel shrimp idea. That's my first instinct! I've seen em get big and nasty! I see no point to having camel shrimp, other than fooling the less informed customer Maybe for somebody's FOWLR predator tank?

 

[chimuelo]

The tank has been running for years. In the first couple years, it had a single puffer, and it probably died around 2009 some time. Then 2010 December, I got a blue crab from an Asian grocery store. The crab died around 2011 May/June. It's been running empty since. I used to top it off with clean water. I just ran the nitrate test, and looks about 20ppm.

I put in two clown fish a month ago. I put in a fire fish, an emerald crab and 5 hermit crabs around 2 weeks ago. Then the 3 peppermint shrimps went in last Saturday.

I have no doubt the peppermint shrimps are responsible. This cannot be a coincidence. I did pour in the water from the bag, but the fact that both murders occurred at night leads me to believe it was the peppermint shrimps.

 

[chimuelo]

This guy just ventured out for a mug shot. :headwally:

 

[psusocr]

I still say you added way to much bioload way to quick and that's probably killed your fish. They are all young fish and it's a nano so a big bioload off the bat could have done it. Also what is your salinity ? Phosphates? Etc. etc your shrimp only fed on the already dead fish IMO .does your Los use copper? Do they treat with any chemicals?

 

[Kole Tang]

The tank has been running for years. In the first couple years, it had a single puffer, and it probably died around 2009 some time. Then 2010 December, I got a blue crab from an Asian grocery store. The crab died around 2011 May/June. It's been running empty since. I used to top it off with clean water. I just ran the nitrate test, and looks about 20ppm.

I put in two clown fish a month ago. I put in a fire fish, an emerald crab and 5 hermit crabs around 2 weeks ago. Then the 3 peppermint shrimps went in last Saturday.

I have no doubt the peppermint shrimps are responsible. This cannot be a coincidence. I did pour in the water from the bag, but the fact that both murders occurred at night leads me to believe it was the peppermint shrimps.

Was the fish or crab torn up, or was it just dead? crustaceans cannot just kill things with brain power, they should be shredded pretty bad if it was a crustacean. If it is not shredded it was not a shrimp

Peppermint shrimp are VERY timid and have tiny pinchers. MAYBE it could kill a firefish, but an emerald crab has large strong claws and armor. There is NO chance that a pep could have killed an emerald crab.

You realize that the bacteria in a tank die if there is no livestock is producing ammonia. Maybe there are water problems?


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