Peppermint Shrimp

[Bama8200]

Ok I went to the LFS yesterday and purcahsed 2 peppermint shirmp and today no sign of them except 2 clear shrimp shells. I have heard they will molt right after you put them in a new aquarium but that quick? I konw i dont' have any copper because I have several other crabs, shellfish ect that are doing fine. I have tested my water and everything seems to be good. 0 Nitrite, 0 nitrate, 0 Amm. I have 2 false clowns, a six lined wrasse, a sun coral (but the shrimps shells are no where near this) and candy cane coral. The shrimp seemed healthy when i put them in and the skins are clear, If they had died would they be clear this soon. I saw them alive last night around 8pm.

[Cheech]

I doubt they're dead.

They're very good at hiding during the day... look for them tonight after the lights go out... My bet is that you'll see them coming out of hiding soon enough...

[Sploke]

agreed....molts can be pretty realistic looking, my shrimp and crabs had me fooled hte first time. My cleaner hid quite a bit when I first got it, I want to say for a week or so, but now I see it all the time. Give it time, I'm sure they'll show up.

[cam191919]

mine always dart out right after the lights go out, and loaf around their favorite rock in the day

[Fishieness]

they will hide for a few days after they molt because their shell is really sold so they are super vulnerable. And they leave the molt in a visible place to distract predators. They will come out in a few days once it hardens.
They can molt out of stress. As long as you aren't using tap water, it probably isn't for any bad reasons and just because they are getting used to your tank.

[<3Oscar]

are these kind of shrimp safe for starfish and clowns?

[cam191919]

yes

[Brian Bivens]

I had the same thing happen to me three days ago. Two molted complete shrimp exoskeletons and sure enough when the lights went out last night, two peppermint shrimp, alive and kicking...

Also, I do use tap water, treated with prime.... I guess I am a bad daddy...

[DoctaQ]

watch them at night with a red flashlight, those lil buggers eat coral!

they ate my frogspawn down to the skeleton( it was little but has regnerated niceley) and were picking the polyps out of my sps. yes i am absoluteley sure, if you look on reef forums you will find many accounts like mine

[Brian Bivens]

alright, I saw it with my own eyes Saturday... I put in a brand new torch coral, and my peppermints came out and starting tearing it apart. I caught one of them, and had no where to put him (expensive snack for my Frontosa), I am working on catching the other... Meanwhile, the torch coral is down to half of what it was... Will it live?

[DoctaQ]

called it..sorry just rubbing salt into the wound

anyways, yes your coral will regenerate like my frogspawn, they are pretty similar corals, i was left with almost nothing like i thought it was completeley dead but now its back and bigger than before

[Brian Bivens]

Sweet. You should have seen my Frontosa, he looked like a big striped catfish, with the shrimps legs and antenae sticking out of his mouth!

[DoctaQ]

nom nom nom

you ever eaten shrimp thats 500 bucks a pound? cuz your fish just did

[Brian Bivens]

I don't eat anything that lives in water, I'm not against it, I just don't like it...

Oh the other thing is, I totally forgot about my refugium/sump below... I could have put him there, but after the trouble of catching him I just dumped the thing in my other tank!