I have a shrimp disappearing problem.
Months ago, I bought some beautiful blood red fire shrimp and recently three adorable little peppermint shrimp that I bought for an Aiptasia outbreak i'm enduring. in both cases none of the shrimps lasted more than 24 hours and I have no idea what happened. In both cases there was no evidence of a meal, no leftover half-eaten carcass, no exoskeleton bits floating about... nothing. Absolutely nothing but suddenly missing shrimp.
Anyway... about me: I have a 92 gallon display. My fish inhabitants are a purple tang, a blue hippo tang, two antheas, two small Percula Clownfish and a royal gramma basselet (I know the blue hippo will eventually outgrow my tank but for now he is small and fits and my kids love 'Dory').
I have several other inverts in the tank; several emerald crabs, I think 5 hermit crabs, a turbo snail we call 'not mike', a host of trochus snail, a very healthy bubble tipped anemone my clownfish completelyignore, the most productive and cleanly sand-sifting star anyone has ever owned as well as a mystery critter that looks like a small turbo snail but without a shell slug thingy that I didn't buy but somehow appeared in my tank (a bit eewgie I know but he oh how he cleans!). My alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, temp, specific gravity and ph are all where they should be and my fish and inverts are healthy as you can imagine (fat, energetic and so very colorful).
My question to all of you is one of my fish eating my shrimp? Or is it that I'm a lousy hobbist and the poor shrimp are getting stuck in my pumps or poisoned or lost under the sand or committing suicide by jumping out at night or something else entirely? I ask because I have Aiptasia and really need peppermint shrimp but also because I love shrimp but hate the thought of introducing one of them into a hostile environment where they might end up a snack. I don't want to risk introducing shrimp again without knowing whats wrong but I really want/need shrimp! What do you guys think? please help?
Months ago, I bought some beautiful blood red fire shrimp and recently three adorable little peppermint shrimp that I bought for an Aiptasia outbreak i'm enduring. in both cases none of the shrimps lasted more than 24 hours and I have no idea what happened. In both cases there was no evidence of a meal, no leftover half-eaten carcass, no exoskeleton bits floating about... nothing. Absolutely nothing but suddenly missing shrimp.
Anyway... about me: I have a 92 gallon display. My fish inhabitants are a purple tang, a blue hippo tang, two antheas, two small Percula Clownfish and a royal gramma basselet (I know the blue hippo will eventually outgrow my tank but for now he is small and fits and my kids love 'Dory').
I have several other inverts in the tank; several emerald crabs, I think 5 hermit crabs, a turbo snail we call 'not mike', a host of trochus snail, a very healthy bubble tipped anemone my clownfish completelyignore, the most productive and cleanly sand-sifting star anyone has ever owned as well as a mystery critter that looks like a small turbo snail but without a shell slug thingy that I didn't buy but somehow appeared in my tank (a bit eewgie I know but he oh how he cleans!). My alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, temp, specific gravity and ph are all where they should be and my fish and inverts are healthy as you can imagine (fat, energetic and so very colorful).
My question to all of you is one of my fish eating my shrimp? Or is it that I'm a lousy hobbist and the poor shrimp are getting stuck in my pumps or poisoned or lost under the sand or committing suicide by jumping out at night or something else entirely? I ask because I have Aiptasia and really need peppermint shrimp but also because I love shrimp but hate the thought of introducing one of them into a hostile environment where they might end up a snack. I don't want to risk introducing shrimp again without knowing whats wrong but I really want/need shrimp! What do you guys think? please help?
