Where'd my Shrimp Go??

[MKFMedic]

Hi Folks,

I have a 30 gal reef tank with live rock, soft and LPS corals and a Percula, Firefish, Tiny Yellow Goby and a Royal Gamma. My clean up crew consists of several hermits, two emeralds, some narcissus snails and a Fire Shrimp and Peppermint Shrimp.

I came home this morning after being gone for two days and it appears my shrimp have disappeared. Yep. Disappeared.

The fire shrimp was on the larger size and no matter where he positioned himself I can always see his white feelers. The peppermint is much smaller, so he could be hiding, but I have never NOT been able to find my Fire Shrimp. It's near impossible for that guy to hide. He molted his entire shell two days ago and has always appeared active and healthy! I'm wondering if he got mixed up on the losing end of my ecotech mp10?

Anyone have thoughts on why two shrimp just up and disappeared?

As always, thanks for your time and experience!

Mike

 

[austinsdad]

Whatever happened to'm, that fact that you've got hermits and emeralds means you would see absolutely no remains.

 

[MKFMedic]

Thanks Ray,

I just found what appear the be the front "Pincher" arms of my fire shrimp. One on the sand bed, and one being munched on by a, you guessed it, hermit crab. I guess Ecotech supplied the foam cover for a reason. Lesson learned.

Mike

 

[melosu58]

I would not put it past the royal Gramma. They will take care of a shrimp also.

 

[MKFMedic]

melosu58,

It's funny you mention that because my Royal Gamma is a bit of a bully when it comes to the hermits and other members of the tank. Fortunately, he doesn't seem too aggressive towards the Percula, Goby or Firefish, but I have considered removing him because of his aggression and my tank is so small.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Mike

 

[austinsdad]

I think you shold go with your instinct and get more shrimp again.

 

[MKFMedic]

Yep,

You are right. Not one sign of either shrimp for a couple of days now. I bought one peppermint shrimp and would like to get another shrimp of some kind, I'm just not sure if I want to go Fire or another type.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[MKFMedic]

So my Ecotech power head is a killer, and my Royal Gramma was a bully. So I found that my ecotech was a culprit in at least one of my shrimps deaths, probably two. Basically, I'm an idiot. After adding the supplied foam cover to the power head it seemed to collect quite a lot of debris. So of course I wanted to rinse it off and removed it. Why, what could happen in a minute or two that it might take? Well, my new Peppermint shrimp managed to get caught in the power head. I feel terrible as I committed shirmpicide.

I'll turn it off next time, but feel like a jerk. I guess my cleaner shrimp has the run of the tank for now.

On another note, all of my fish became much more active, paticularly my fire fish, upon the removal of the Royal Gramma (Returned to LFS). I now see my little Yellow Goby and Fire fish out front all the time, where in the past, they seemed to spend most of their time hiding.

At least there's a little good news to go with the bad news.

Good night all,

Mike