Added my first two corals… utter chaos to say the least

[LPS Bum]

The shrimp won’t eat the corals. They were likely grabbing up all the hitchhikers you couldn’t see with the naked eye.

I’ve seen Peppermint Shrimp absolutely destroy LPS corals. More than once.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

So super exciting day. After a year and a half I finally went to pick up my first two corals for the tank! I ended up picking up a single polyp Utter Chaos Zoa and an unknown favia. Any id help?

After a brief freshwater dip where there was more hitchhikers than I was hoping for, I added both frags to the tank and almost instantly my two peppermint shrimp began absolutely mauling both frags. I kind of freaked and scooped both frags out placing the favia in a net left sitting on the rim of the tank and out the Zoa in a cup with tank water. Quickly built a trap out of a Pepsi bottle, threw a scallop in it and placed it in the tank catching both the shrimp. Needles to say they are goners which is a bummer because I enjoyed them for few days they were in the tank. Hopefully the corals recover and survive, only time will tell. First hard reefing lessons learned

The zoa will survive, the favia is rough around the edges, though stable and adequate parameters, good lighting and flow and maybe an iodine dip should be all it needs to recover.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Depends on the species. There's like only one or two that actually eat Exaiptasia and won't bother your corals.

The majority of peppermint shrimp are coral-eaters*

 

[encrustingacro]

The majority of peppermint shrimp are coral-eaters*

I have heard conflicting information on this. Some say that they eat LPS while others say that they only eat dying corals. Sometimes camel shrimp--which are known to eat corals--will get mislabeled as peppermint shrimp, which adds more to the confusion.

 

[steveschuerger]

I’ve had peppermints off and on. Never attacked my coral. But I might’ve gotten lucky. I also feed the frozen fairly heavy.

 

[reef’r]

The zoa will survive, the favia is rough around the edges, though stable and adequate parameters, good lighting and flow and maybe an iodine dip should be all it needs to recover.

Hey thanks for the message! The zoa made it and has done very well. The Favia (or whatever it is) is still alive however it looks really rough, almost like melted wax. But I can still see sweepers at night and it puffs up so it’s still in the tank…. I feel like an idiot but oh well I guess. Another lesson learned the hard way

 

[reef’r]

I have heard conflicting information on this. Some say that they eat LPS while others say that they only eat dying corals. Sometimes camel shrimp--which are known to eat corals--will get mislabeled as peppermint shrimp, which adds more to the confusion.

The dying coral part could be true, as I had just dipped the coral for 5 minutes in fresh water (sweet rookie mistake). I’ve always thought they were reef safe as well, but I did see pieces of flesh coming off and the shrimp chomping away. Dead flesh? Possibly

 

[Lavey29]

Hey thanks for the message! The zoa made it and has done very well. The Favia (or whatever it is) is still alive however it looks really rough, almost like melted wax. But I can still see sweepers at night and it puffs up so it’s still in the tank…. I feel like an idiot but oh well I guess. Another lesson learned the hard way

We've all been there.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

The dying coral part could be true, as I had just dipped the coral for 5 minutes in fresh water (sweet rookie mistake). I’ve always thought they were reef safe as well, but I did see pieces of flesh coming off and the shrimp chomping away. Dead flesh? Possibly

Though peppermint shrimp do indeed have a reputation for coral eating, I've personally done FW dips before, though I haven't really seen any more or less success with them compared to a mild dip (like iodine). Though if you were to do a fw dip, I do agree that 5 min is too long, maybe 1 min 30 sec max