Here We Go Again!

[Melanie]

Thank you HMA! I am trying really hard. When I'm not doing something to my tank, I'm either here learning or reading books. There seems to be limitless things to learn.

[hma]

Hi Melanie,

to be a reefer is like a never ending story. Each day is added a new chapter (You learn each day a little more in addition) !

[GeeWizzItsMe]

You turned into such a great reefer so fast! I will try to emulate your success!

[DrHank]

The best way to learn fast is to go slow. Read, research, and ask. Try not to be impulsive.

[GeeWizzItsMe]

Yup! I didn't mean it in a rushy way. I ask a lot if you may have noticed lol! I didn't mean she went fast I mean she got great at it fast!

[Craig Manoukian]

Everything looks fabulous Mel! Nice work!

[AQTCJAK]

Looking good from this stand point

[Melanie]

Aha! I think I found out what is happening to my scarlet reef hermits. I keep finding legs all around the tank. It's hard to tell if any are missing because I have so many little pencil eraser-sized crabs.

It's probably my banded coral shrimp! I did a little research on this species and it turns out they really don't hesitate to kill smaller crabs and shrimp that "get in their face."

So far he hasn't touched my peppermint shrimp, but this is a concern because I had hoped to add a few different species of shimp over the life of my tank. I genuinely LOVE inverts, perhaps more than fish and corals.

My question now is, why would a reputable site sell a package containing peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, and hermit crabs all together saying they are reef-safe at that. I ordered the pacakge for a 30 gal. tank and I have a 72 gal.

[GeeWizzItsMe]

Maybe the scarlets are just molting...

[Melanie]

Originally Posted by GeeWizzItsMe

Maybe the scarlets are just molting...

That thought occured to me but I don't really think that's it. It's only the legs I'm finding and I'm finding MANY sets of legs. Probably about 6 a day and when my red legged molted, he shed an entire replica of his whole body, not just tons of legs lying in the sand. And I wouldn't think every hermit in the tank would molt simultaneously.

[GeeWizzItsMe]

Oooh. That doesn't sound like molting now does it... Sorry I couldn't help!

[hma]

Originally Posted by Melanie

Aha! I think I found out what is happening to my scarlet reef hermits. I keep finding legs all around the tank. It's hard to tell if any are missing because I have so many little pencil eraser-sized crabs.

It's probably my banded coral shrimp! I did a little research on this species and it turns out they really don't hesitate to kill smaller crabs and shrimp that "get in their face."

So far he hasn't touched my peppermint shrimp, but this is a concern because I had hoped to add a few different species of shimp over the life of my tank. I genuinely LOVE inverts, perhaps more than fish and corals.

My question now is, why would a reputable site sell a package containing peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, and hermit crabs all together saying they are reef-safe at that. I ordered the pacakge for a 30 gal. tank and I have a 72 gal.

Hello Mel,

can already be the banded coral shrimp your crabs killed. It is Reef safe, goes thus not at corals, eats however quite different shrimps and crabs. It can also be it small fish (Gobies. etxc.) kills and eats. I would remove it as fast as possible from the display. Set this small devil in your fuge, there can it nothing bad arrange.

A friend had similar problems with the shrimp. Every few days disappeared a small fish without ever again to be seen. When the shrimp was removed from the display, it came to no further fish losses.

[Melanie]

I do want to keep the coral banded shrimp, but the fuge is isn't wide enough for him to be happy. His antennae are very wide and would be cramped in a 4.25" X 24" fuge.

I think my plan for him will be, to keep him in the DT until I have finished adding my fish (probably in the next month) and then turn my QT into a nano dedicated just for him. Then of course, I will purchase another 10 gal to keep as a hospital tank "just in case".

These are just my thoughts this morning, and of course may change as time goes by.

[hma]

I would risk no further losses. 4 weeks in the fuge do not harm the animal reliably. The shrimp moves anyway not much. Is better the shrimp for relatively short time separated than further losses.

[DrHank]

Coral banded shrimp are one of the more aggressive shrimps. They like all shrimp are cleaners. That's why they were added to the CUC section in at least one very reputable dealers. When you consider the volume of orders that these folks process, they don't question what you are ordering, they just process the orders. They expect you to determine what you want and they don't question what you order.

Also, many clubs place group orders to save members on shipping so it is common for the folks who are taking the orders to receive many incompatible items on the same order. Also, some folks have several tanks and order both predator and prey for different tanks.

I know that this doesn't make you feel any better but hopefully it helps explain why a good merchant didn't question your order. Sorry for your loss, but again it stresses the need for careful research before you buy.

It may seem easy for me to say but the reason that I do is to try to help. I can't tell you how many times I've made similar mistakes. I just wouldn't blame the merchant. I've got 5 peppermint shrimp in my tank so guess what? Not only no other shrimp but no lobsters and it also eliminates many fish types which would call them dinner.