Bristle worms eatting feeder shrimp?

[Feron]

Yesterday I put together a food breeding tank, where I was HOPING to cultivate feeder shrimp, pods and macro algae out of in order to feed the variety of life here in my reef/fish only tanks.

The 20g has three chunks of (very) live rock in it.
So I acclimate my feeder shrimp and put em in.

No sooner had I walked to the sink to dispose of the waste water and come back.... the feeder shrimp are getting mowed down by a BUNCH of tiny bristle worms.
It's like they paralyzed the shrimp and sucked their guts out 8O
Out of 20 feeders, I have 3 left...

Is that normal?

While I respect the life in these rocks, I can't very well have a food tank if something in the food tank eats everything... will they chill out a little now that they've had a feast, or should I eradicate them?
(I really hate to boil the rock or something, it has some freebie coral and fan worms stuck to it)

 

[abnmojo]

I feel your pain man. Check this out.

I tried to raise my skunk cleaner shimp fry one (more) time. I set up the 10 gallon. transfered a small chunk of rock, sand and water from my main tank, set up the powerhead filter deal and droped the very ready to pop shrimps in there (hermaphradites, both carry eggs if you get a pair). I got the airpump driven filter ready for the fry and in the tank and running. The next night, one shimp is fanning the fry off her abdomen, and the other shrimp is eating them as fast as it can catch them. I yank that one out and drip it back into the main tank. That one got a LOT of fry. As soon as the one is done 'brushing' the fry off it's abomen, it starts eating them too. That one is gone. OOOPS I forgot to turn the powerhead sponge filter off, there go some more. A lot more.

Now I have a hundred or so left....


Forgot about the pods in the sand and LR chunk.

They got them all. I ended up keeping the fry alive for 2 weeks. Once they were large enough to want to hang out on the sand bed they were gone. I witnessed pods eating the fry - they look about the same at two weeks age.

At least worms didn't get em.......

An arrow crab will eat those worms BTW


David