Peppermint Shrimp loves coral....

[pistolshrimp]

I just picked up a great piece of hammer coral, and right after I put it in my tank my two peppermint shrimp started tearing it apart! I thought they might be hungry so I put some food in, and they didn't even notice. I gave it a few minutes, and moved the coral. At this point, I knew what I had to do. I scooped one out, put it in a bowl of hot water, and my anemone had a nice snack. I'm hoping the other one knows what his fate will be if he doesn't stop chowing down on my nice new coral!

 

[Rone]

nice meal for the night...LOL

 

[DoctaQ]

i had this happen to me as well, was not a fun time catching them

 

[s_kelley]

That will show em!

 

[marco67]

sorry but I hope you out grow that irresponsible attitude.
Likely your "peppermint" shrimp we're camel, regardless longevity in the hobby and longevity of the hobby count on responsible selection and treatment of the animals we keep.
Sorry if that sounds like a rant just a harsh truth

 

[Muddskipper35]

+1 with Marco. Reckless killing of any animal is irresponsible. Peppermints harming a hammer? Never heard of it .. Camels~ eat almost anything.. Including corals.. y

 

[pistolshrimp]

Please Marco67, its a shrimp. They are eaten all the time, and it has the brain the size of the head of a needle. They were labeled at Jay's Aquatics as peppermints, so I have a good reason to believe they are peppermints. I hope you are sitting down for this....but I am also a deer and turkey hunter! I know...irresponsible treatment of animals, but they sure taste good!

 

[ireefer]

i hope you are sitting down for this....but i am also a deer and turkey hunter! I know...irresponsible treatment of animals, but they sure taste good!

lmao!!

 

[Blueflu1]

I respect Marc and Marc, you give great advice but He could be right. I had some peppermints that ate an acan. I thought it was because the acan was dying and they took advantage of it. I had them for a little while after but I gave them away to Shane because they weren't getting along with my Coral Banded. Well, from what I hear, they got a taste for corals in Shane's tank too.

Mine were 100% peppermints. I knew they were but I did research after I questioned it. I still have one that I never caught and he hides all the time and bothers nothing. In a pack though, they can be destructive.

Not sure about a hammer though because they aren't fleshy like an acan but I wouldn't doubt it.

 

[afboundguy]

You can't take that "they're just shrimp" attitude. That is against this hobby's mentality of preservation. We all need to do our best to preserve what we have so that we don't whipe out the coral reefs. It may have just been 2 shrimp but what if everybody did that and then LFSs started buying more because they think the demand is up and it could have a negative effect on the reefs. Especially cleaner species like the shrimps we carry.

That being said you couldn't pay me to get a peppermint because I've heard stories they eat smaller LPS frags and with the money I've spent on some of my acans I'm all set with that

I would recommend next time trying to possibly return them, sell them or give them away...

 

[kevinpratt823]

I have heard people mention peppermints eating corals, but I have kept as many as 20 of them in my 72g LPS tank, torch, frogs, hammers, large acans, brains, open brains, welso, etc. and never once had a problem.
I don't advacate the intentional killing of him, but where do we draw the line.
I remember getting a couple damsels for my aggressive tank as they ate the scraps and kept it cleaner, and I mentioned that,"Oh well, hopefully a couple of them make it in the long run, but no big deal if my Grouper has a $5 snack." The kid working there acosted me and said that it was a pet, and should not be treated in that manner, so I pointed to the tanks full of "feeder guppy's etc." and said "How is this fish's life any more precios than those ones, just because it's got some color and cost more?"
FWIW, I'm pretty sure these peppermints aren't collected from a reef, they are bred in a facility.

 

[The Ng Thing]

I think the issue people are having is that it was killed out of spite rather than necessity. =/

 

[dcforester1]

I might have to subscribe to this thread. I thought the fish ring was good, but this looks like we might get a few different views on this one. Im going to play Switzerland

 

[marco67]

I hope you are sitting down for this....but I am also a deer and turkey hunter! I know...irresponsible treatment of animals, but they sure taste good!

Very Funny,
Believe it or not I ate shrimp last night.

But you miss my point, based on your post count can we assume you are new in the hobby?
Maybe you are not aware of the pressure we have been coming under for the past years, pressure from new regulation, new restrictions etc.... and it all boils down to responsible purchases and responsible attitudes regarding the animals we keep.

So maybe you were not aware, maybe just a little new but,
A post like that hits a nerve in a couple of ways;
1) it's that exact attitude that threatens this hobby (a hobby where I happen to make my living)
2) I'm also not thrilled with anyone that gets a kick out of torturing any living thing, I don't care if it is "just a shrimp" (but that's just a personal thing)

again sorry for the rant,
Here's to your tank being healthy and choosing animals that will thrive

 

[MrReefer]

Famous line from a classic movie "fish are friends, not food" hahah. We do live in a country that slaughters the most chicken and cow. but for this thread im going to stay out of this one. touchy subject

 

[jenreef]

the fact that you did it out of spite i think is what is ticking a lot of people off. i can never ever put a living animal under burning hot water to die. if i was in your position i would have gave the shrimp away to somebody else who maybe didn't have a reef tank or a fish store. one day someone gave me a little tank for free but only under the condition i would take there freshwater fish too. i knew i didn't want the fish i just wanted the tank for saltwater. but i did the responsible thing and i put it up on craiglist for free. and someone came and picked it up the next day. but just because i didn't want the fish that doesn't mean i was going to flush it down the toilet or burn it in hot water. fish and shrimp is the same thing it's a living animal. i don't agree with hunting either but i see that is just something you have to do in order to eat. but what you did you didn't have to do. i know shrimp probably get eating all the time in the wild but that is in the wild. it should not happen under our care. in the wild predator fish always eat little fish when they have a chance. that don't mean we are going to put a predator fish in a community tank. it's just our responsibility to take care of these living creatures

 

[STiTCH87]

I have two peppermint in my 29g with zoas, xenia, gsp, and a finger leather. The shrimp o sometimes walk across the zoas causing them to close, but then the shrimp eat a few pieces of junk caught between each polyps then swim away. Otherwise they don't touch any corals in my tank. In fact my hermits are what do. My hermits like to sit in a patch of my gsp and fall asleep or nip at my zoas, but even they never do harm. The corals close, they walk away, the corals open.

The only thing my peppermints attack is my hand when it goes in the tank. The jump onto it and run around on it like it's an amusement park ride. Oh how I get a kick out of that... They don't seem to nip at me, but then again I wear gloves.

 

[kevinpratt823]

How many of us have eaten lobster(they're boiled alive, I'll pass)
Now I'm feeking guilty about wanting to kill every little acro eating flatworm as well as any potential offspring, but I can't find anybody willing to adopt them.
Marc's points are very valid, just think twice before acting.

 

[pistolshrimp]

I certainly did not kill the shrimp out of spite. I had no personal vandetta against it, no ill will towards it. I got rid of it out of neccesity, so it didn't ruin my nice new coral. I didn't have time to bring it to a LFS, who probably would not have taken it, and I needed it out ASAP so I couldn't take the time to find someone who would drive up to central NH to get a $5 shrimp. Would it make anybody feel better if I had eaten it myslef? Go ahead and call PETA....

 

[JohnK]

For future reference, if nothing else, freezing is usually considered the most human way to put something down. If you could not keep it, or give it away, putting a marine animal in a cup of water and putting that in the freezer would be the least cruel thing to do.

If nothing else, boiling water just sounds mean...