Why did my peppermint shrimp eat my brand new favia coral?

[ReefKeeper666]

I’m upset and stumped on this. All my other corals in my tank are open, polyps out etc. I have seen my 2 peppermint shrimp walk across my corals before but never pick at one. Last night after lights out I placed A new favia frag in my tank. I set it on the sand bed. Today I come home from work at 4pm and I notice that 2/4 sides at the very bottom are turning white. I though maybe I put it directly under the light and hurt it. So I kept it on the sand bed but pushed it towards the back glass away from the light. I took a look at my tank again a lil later to see both my peppermint shrimp digging into the coral. In fact the one shrimp that’s a lil bigger at one point started to chase away the other to pig out on the thing. Now it’s almost all completely white except for the very top. What the heck happend?

 

[Wee Mad Arthur]

I can’t help you but can confirm that they will eat coral. My single proven true peppermint was eating my Gatorade zoas. Unfortunately after trying every method of capture I could find suggested I ended up emptying my tank right down the the last rock to catch it. I used it as an excuse to upgrade my tank.

 

[Greg Goby]

I can also confirm that they are coral eaters. After a bit of research it seems that there are a handful of shrimp that resemble peppermint shrimp but in truth are not. Some species of these look-a-likes eat coral.

In June of 2019 I bought what I was told was a peppermint shrimp from my LFS. I put him in my tank and he found a nice hole to hide in and after about five minutes of hiding he migrated under one of my torches and started snacking on the ends of the polyps. Tore them right off. I went to sleep thinking about how I was going to deal with him and when I woke up in the morning I couldn't find him.. my Banggai Cardinal had eaten him overnight.

 

[ReefKeeper666]

I can also confirm that they are coral eaters. After a bit of research it seems that there are a handful of shrimp that resemble peppermint shrimp but in truth are not. Some species of these look-a-likes eat coral.

In June of 2019 I bought what I was told was a peppermint shrimp from my LFS. I put him in my tank and he found a nice hole to hide in and after about five minutes of hiding he migrated under one of my torches and started snacking on the ends of the polyps. Tore them right off. I went to sleep thinking about how I was going to deal with him and when I woke up in the morning I couldn't find him.. my Banggai Cardinal had eaten him overnight.

Removed the peppermints last night. Way easier to catch than a fish. They are such greedy eaters that I just put food near a net and scooped em out.
Went to back to store. Reviewd tank parameters with store and was told mine were “pretty dang good”. Lfs also confirmed he has had rouge peppermints before. Bought new Favia. So far so good!

 

[ahiggins]

Ok. Unpopular opinion time: I hate shrimp. All of them suck. They steal food from the mouths of coral and regardless of if they actually eat the colony or not, it causes undue stress.
After seeing it happen to my prized Lobo a few times, I took the shrimp out. Haven’t ran a system with a shrimp in it for that reason in years.

 

[Wee Mad Arthur]

Removed the peppermints last night. Way easier to catch than a fish. They are such greedy eaters that I just put food near a net and scooped em out.
Went to back to store. Reviewd tank parameters with store and was told mine were “pretty dang good”. Lfs also confirmed he has had rouge peppermints before. Bought new Favia. So far so good!

Very lucky! I spent hours trying to lure mine out with food. Glad you didn’t have to take your tank apart to get it.

 

[Wee Mad Arthur]

Ok. Unpopular opinion time: I hate shrimp. All of them suck. They steal food from the mouths of coral and regardless of if they actually eat the colony or not, it causes undue stress.
After seeing it happen to my prized Lobo a few times, I took the shrimp out. Haven’t ran a system with a shrimp in it for that reason in years.

No shrimp or crabs here now. Just snails and bristleworms.

 

[ahiggins]

No shrimp or crabs here now. Just snails and bristleworms.

I exiled my handful of hermits to the sump. They were nibbling on my poor baby rock nems.

 

[MightyMO]

I had 3 peppermint shrimp, I named them after mob bosses because they terrorized my corals in my tank!!! Anyways, built a trap out of a soda bottle and caught all 3 of them... Never again...

 

[ReefKeeper666]

I am gonna stay away from those shrimp now too. Maybe just add some more snails.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Dang it , in in the peppermint shrimp boat! It sux favia is getting beat up!

 

[RedReefer]

I can also confirm that they are coral eaters. After a bit of research it seems that there are a handful of shrimp that resemble peppermint shrimp but in truth are not. Some species of these look-a-likes eat coral.

In June of 2019 I bought what I was told was a peppermint shrimp from my LFS. I put him in my tank and he found a nice hole to hide in and after about five minutes of hiding he migrated under one of my torches and started snacking on the ends of the polyps. Tore them right off. I went to sleep thinking about how I was going to deal with him and when I woke up in the morning I couldn't find him.. my Banggai Cardinal had eaten him overnight.

Good save! That saved you from trying to catch the shrimp.

 

[RedReefer]

I never owned another shrimp after I had to tear a tank down to remove one. Never again!

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I just bought some bamboo food skewers to try this,all I have is salmon for bait.