Dead Cleaner Shrimp

[Eat At Joe's]

Well I was hoping to lurk around a bit more before posting, but I have a question. I have one skunk cleaner shimp and two peppermint shrimp in a 38g tank for about three weeks now which are all about the same size. Tonight I was watching my tank and noticed that one of the peppermint shrimps had a hold of the cleaner shrimp and was tearing its guts out through the mouth area and eating it. I'm fairly certain that this wasn't a leftover piece of shrimp molt, because I could see the peppermint devouring the insides of the cleaner. Is it possible that the peppermint killed the cleaner (I searched some previous posts and most people said they were compatible) or is it more likely that the cleaner shrimp died (it was a smaller one so I don't think it was very old) and the peppermint was just eating leftovers? I've been feeding the peppermints regularly... although in retrospect I was feeding them shrimp pellets... maybe they got a taste for shrimp now

Water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, undetectable nitrate, 8.2 pH, 420 calcium, 3.5 meq/L carbonate. B Ionic is dosed daily and strontium and iodine are added weekly at 1/4 dose. The only fish are two ocellarus clowns... so I don't think it was the fish that killed it.

Any comments are welcome including "You idiot!", "What were you thinking putting those two together!", or "Maybe you and Kirtis should exchange aquarium husbandry techniques".

 

[tazdevil]

Well, all are possible.
1: the cleaner could've died and the pepp. was eating the leftovers.

2: the cleaner/pepp. got into a holing dispute, pepp. won, cleaner gets eaten.

Won't call you an idiot, as this is unforeseen. However, you may want to add one at a time, as once they have established their territory, others will move elsewhere. All three added at once, and constant battling may have insued, the cleaner being a more docile species, lost. Shrimp don't like big salinity changes, so it could've been during the change. I've heard drip aclimation is best way to avoid this, but I've never tried it.

[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: tazdevil ]</p>

 

[EnvironmentalWacko]

I personally witnessed my group of 5 pepperment
shrimp boldly kill my sobome aneneme and a cleaner
shrimp.

Now I'm making plans to remove them dead or alive.

 

[tazdevil]

For entertainment, you could use a trigger (depending on what else you have in the tank that you may want to keep alive!). Then have a few friends over, some beer, and there you go, your a redneck reefer!

 

[danmhippo]

Uhh.......

Hmmm.......


Uhh.........T..T..T...Taz, Umm..........

(I am speechless....)

I think the deep bottle baited with raw shrimp trick should work.........