Peppermint Shrimp Killing Strawberry Conch

[Trenton Henderson]

So I had a strawberry conch, and then one of my two (at least I think it was just one) decided he wanted lunch. So I bought another conch, bigger this time, and it left it alone for a while. I also started target feeding my peppermint shrimp so they wouldn’t be as aggressive. Well, today after my water change, the shrimp started attacking the new conch. Fortunately, I was able to fish him out and drop him in the sump. He’s in the refugium right now, and he only has access to the skimmer/heater chamber, but he can’t get to the return chamber unless the sump fills with more water.

Is this shrimp fine to stay down there?

My other peppermint doesn’t seem to care about the conch or snails like the other did, but I’m watching it.

Also, these shrimp are huge for peppermint shrimp, they are almost as big as my skunk cleaner, which is fully grown!

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

He should be fine in the sump, just don’t top up with freshwater directly into his section if possible. Drop in some food every couple days he will be fine.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

He should be fine in the sump, just don’t top up with freshwater directly into his section if possible. Drop in some food every couple days he will be fine.

Water tops off in the return chamber. Sounds good. I wish he could unlearn his habits like fish do with territory, but I guess the guy has a taste for snail!

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

Water tops off in the return chamber. Sounds good. I wish he could unlearn his habits like fish do with territory, but I guess the guy has a taste for snail!

Yeah its like crabs theres always that one ****** haha. I currently have a red emerald crab who lives in our sumps at work, he’s an urchin plucker and plucked their urchin clean twice before they surrendered him. He now has a routine that every time he sees my hand he runs over claws up and waiting for food, although im pretty sure hes actually just trying to get my hand.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Yeah its like crabs theres always that one ****** haha. I currently have a red emerald crab who lives in our sumps at work, he’s an urchin plucker and plucked their urchin clean twice before they surrendered him. He now has a routine that every time he sees my hand he runs over claws up and waiting for food, although im pretty sure hes actually just trying to get my hand.

Yeah…I wish I could find him a better home, like eventually a coral QT, but if he does that to conchs, I don’t wanna know what he will do to LPS lol.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

So an update on things: I woke up this morning to see the other peppermint shrimp picking at the still-alive strawberry conch. The shrimp don’t seem to bother the trochus, cerith, or nassarius snails though. I can’t figure out why they mess with this one. I feel as if two in a row wouldn’t be unhealthy enough to be picked off (I got them from my LFS). Also, half of the time, the cerith snails lay face up on the sand bed, which is an easy target, and they still don’t bug them.

This makes me wonder if the conch’s have been weaker than normal and an easy target for them. And what are the odds of having two peppermint shrimp that like to kill conch?

Thoughts?

 

[Cajun86]

So I had a strawberry conch, and then one of my two (at least I think it was just one) decided he wanted lunch. So I bought another conch, bigger this time, and it left it alone for a while. I also started target feeding my peppermint shrimp so they wouldn’t be as aggressive. Well, today after my water change, the shrimp started attacking the new conch. Fortunately, I was able to fish him out and drop him in the sump. He’s in the refugium right now, and he only has access to the skimmer/heater chamber, but he can’t get to the return chamber unless the sump fills with more water.

Is this shrimp fine to stay down there?

My other peppermint doesn’t seem to care about the conch or snails like the other did, but I’m watching it.

Also, these shrimp are huge for peppermint shrimp, they are almost as big as my skunk cleaner, which is fully grown!

I had to ban a few of my peppermint shrimp to the sump because they tried to eat a new pink tip Torch coral. They never bothered other Torch or my Conch. 1 other pm shrimp is still in display tank not bothering anything. Mine are the size they are supposed to be. You're shrimp might not be Peppermint shrimp due to the size description ?