Peppermint Shrimp Eating Plate Coral!

[Fingers68]

Hi

I have 4 (what was sold as peppermint shrimps)

My plate corral after looking very happy has been withdrawn and not fluffing up, being new I thought this might be just a phaze.

This morning I notice one of my peppermint shrimp pulling bits off! and eating it.

I have talked to a friend who thinks I might have rhyno shrimp or dancing shrimp, this is not from observation as I could not get a photo to him, just from description.

A true peppermint apparently should not have a hump on the back and the eat are black and not out on a stalk. The white markings also indicated to him they might not be true peppermints.

?

Getting them out is going to be tricky.

 

[Straydum]

you do not have a camel shrimp and that is indeed a peppermint. peppermints as far as i know wouldn't touch a healthy. maybe your plate was looking bad in the first place

 

[rabbut]

Certainly looks like a Peppermint to me They are almost always reef safe, so if it's gone after the coral in a strop as it's new, it's likely dieing and hence why the Peppermints are looking at it as lunch. Just check the obvious, re. water stats, lighting and flow are suffice for the coral. Check it over for any signs of infection e.t.c. If that looks OK, the coral will likely be best pulled, rather than the shrimp, as the shrimp will require a tank strip to retieve and are likely polishing up the left-overs of a dieing coral that may require some attention in a QT tank anyway...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Fingers68]

One day the coral was fine then I noticed it was not puffing up a couple of days ago, I must say that I have not till now seen the shrimp pull bits off and eat it. But they have looked at it and had a go at it. I though they might have been cleaning bits off it rather than eating it. But now they are clearly eating it.

But regardless of what shrimp this is, it is eating this coral that might not be dead and might recover. I have moved it to another area that the shrimp might be less inclined to have a go at it, but I see it having little chance of recovering if these little swines are eating it.!

I got these to eat the aiptasia, they have not bothered it at all. The two aiptasia that I could see are still there and has been little sign of any of the 4 shrimp giving them so much as a look.?

 

[rabbut]

IME, they will go after excess food in the system before aptasias, so mebe you're overfeeding? Cut food for a couple of days and that will tempt them some more, but that may also tempt them onto the coral. I suppose Mg, Alk and Ca stats look good?