did my heliofungia (long tent plate) eat a shrimp?

patiof · 06/21/2017, 02:20 PM

i have a long tentacle plate coral thats roughly the size of the palm of hand or a bit bigger. its in a 10 gallon tank and doing well for a few months now, but i'm now missing a peppermint shrimp.

to properly set the stage, when i last saw the shrimp a few nights ago, it was trying to wrestle a piece of food away from the plate coral. it was frantically picking at the piece of fish the coral had, and i thought winning the match, but now i'm not so sure. too bad i didn't have the time to watch the drama unfold.

no other signs of the shrimp, like pieces of shell (though i haven't cleaned yet) and the only other culprit would be the single dottyback in there. i just don't think the dottyback could have been the culprit without leaving some evidence behind.

anyone else have experience with this coral taking out something as significant?

AlSimmons · 06/22/2017, 09:34 AM

Sometimes when a shrimp molts they'll disappear for a few days.

patiof · 06/22/2017, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlSimmons

Sometimes when a shrimp molts they'll disappear for a few days.

yeah i've had them missing for up to maybe a day, but i usually find the shed straight away in those cases.

this was a female with eggs, so i could also see her disappearing for a bit longer than usual without knowing their breeding habits offhand.

at any rate, still missing since sunday night so, i'm about 90% convinced i have a well feed coral right now.

AlSimmons · 06/22/2017, 12:18 PM

Yeah, I'm still having a hard time believing that a Heliofungia could capture and eat a HEALTHY Peppermint shrimp. These things have got some real jets when they want to get away from something. Stranger things have happened though I guess.

patiof · 06/22/2017, 12:39 PM

i'm gonna do a pretty thorough cleaning of the tank this weekend, so any traces left behind should turn up then.

i do think she may have recently molted, as there was a shed in there that morning. i wonder if that my have me her more vulnerable.

i guess i keep coming back to how frantic she seemed, but as far as i can tell it was that she was frantically picking at the piece of fish. again, i i didn't get more than a 10 second glimpse tops. 5 seconds more likely.

patiof · 06/29/2017, 10:29 AM

after a thorough cleaning and finding no trace evidence, i'm about 99% sure it did devour the shrimp. its only a 10 gallon and the only thing capable of disappearing the shrimp in such short order.

ClownNut · 06/29/2017, 10:38 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psV9qDSrUMM
unless the shrimp is dead. most likely not your LTP
i will give up this hobby before i would let a dottyback into my display tank.(one and only exception orchid dottyback)

patiof · 06/29/2017, 12:14 PM

i've seen the dottyback harass the shrimp like that in my own tank, but the shrimp is literally half the size of the dottyback, so i can't see how there would have been no evidence whatsoever of that happening.

i will say that i could see the dottyback taking out a freshly molted shrimp, but again, it would have been stuffed to the gills like an anaconda that swallowed a deer.

the ltp on the other hand is both large enough to swallow the shrimp whole and conceal the evidence.

fwiw, i did see the dotty back catch a blue-legged hermit checking out another shell and that didn't end well for the crab. it did leave some evidence behind too.

patiof · 07/17/2017, 08:50 AM

i guess i have come back around and dialed back my initial suspicion that the LTP coral ate the shrimp. i'm back to about 50/50 and not really sure what happened.

i don't recall if i had just cleaned the tank, and if that was the case, i have noticed if i do a large 50% ish water change (been battling some hair algae), my shrimp have sometimes gotten a bit wonky after. like sluggish and seeking shelter around the ltp coral.

i did see the coral expelling a large amount of material following this weeks massive cleaning though. some real dark, long stringy looking stuff and then a shrimp-sized mass of grayish material that looks very similar to wet lint/dust bunnies.

hope that's normal. don't necessarily thing the gray stuff was the shrimp though, as i do feed it a few times a week and that was the first evacuation i've noticed, though there are some other signs around...

06/21/2017, 02:20 PM	#1
patiof Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: web city Posts: 57	did my heliofungia (long tent plate) eat a shrimp? i have a long tentacle plate coral thats roughly the size of the palm of hand or a bit bigger. its in a 10 gallon tank and doing well for a few months now, but i'm now missing a peppermint shrimp. to properly set the stage, when i last saw the shrimp a few nights ago, it was trying to wrestle a piece of food away from the plate coral. it was frantically picking at the piece of fish the coral had, and i thought winning the match, but now i'm not so sure. too bad i didn't have the time to watch the drama unfold. no other signs of the shrimp, like pieces of shell (though i haven't cleaned yet) and the only other culprit would be the single dottyback in there. i just don't think the dottyback could have been the culprit without leaving some evidence behind. anyone else have experience with this coral taking out something as significant?

06/29/2017, 10:38 AM	#7
ClownNut Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,859	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psV9qDSrUMM unless the shrimp is dead. most likely not your LTP i will give up this hobby before i would let a dottyback into my display tank.(one and only exception orchid dottyback) __________________ Dont let me know where u lived if u have a nice pair of clownfish in ur tank!^_^ Clown kidnaper^_^ Current Tank Info: 300DD, SM200/RD3,ATI 60-8X80+4X75, 2 Sea Sweep & 4X6105 & 6208

06/22/2017, 09:34 AM	#2
AlSimmons Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: California Posts: 2,482	Sometimes when a shrimp molts they'll disappear for a few days.

06/22/2017, 12:18 PM	#4
AlSimmons Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: California Posts: 2,482	Yeah, I'm still having a hard time believing that a Heliofungia could capture and eat a HEALTHY Peppermint shrimp. These things have got some real jets when they want to get away from something. Stranger things have happened though I guess.

06/22/2017, 12:39 PM	#5
patiof Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: web city Posts: 57	i'm gonna do a pretty thorough cleaning of the tank this weekend, so any traces left behind should turn up then. i do think she may have recently molted, as there was a shed in there that morning. i wonder if that my have me her more vulnerable. i guess i keep coming back to how frantic she seemed, but as far as i can tell it was that she was frantically picking at the piece of fish. again, i i didn't get more than a 10 second glimpse tops. 5 seconds more likely.

06/29/2017, 10:29 AM	#6
patiof Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: web city Posts: 57	after a thorough cleaning and finding no trace evidence, i'm about 99% sure it did devour the shrimp. its only a 10 gallon and the only thing capable of disappearing the shrimp in such short order.

06/29/2017, 12:14 PM	#8
patiof Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: web city Posts: 57	i've seen the dottyback harass the shrimp like that in my own tank, but the shrimp is literally half the size of the dottyback, so i can't see how there would have been no evidence whatsoever of that happening. i will say that i could see the dottyback taking out a freshly molted shrimp, but again, it would have been stuffed to the gills like an anaconda that swallowed a deer. the ltp on the other hand is both large enough to swallow the shrimp whole and conceal the evidence. fwiw, i did see the dotty back catch a blue-legged hermit checking out another shell and that didn't end well for the crab. it did leave some evidence behind too.

07/17/2017, 08:50 AM	#9
patiof Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: web city Posts: 57	i guess i have come back around and dialed back my initial suspicion that the LTP coral ate the shrimp. i'm back to about 50/50 and not really sure what happened. i don't recall if i had just cleaned the tank, and if that was the case, i have noticed if i do a large 50% ish water change (been battling some hair algae), my shrimp have sometimes gotten a bit wonky after. like sluggish and seeking shelter around the ltp coral. i did see the coral expelling a large amount of material following this weeks massive cleaning though. some real dark, long stringy looking stuff and then a shrimp-sized mass of grayish material that looks very similar to wet lint/dust bunnies. hope that's normal. don't necessarily thing the gray stuff was the shrimp though, as i do feed it a few times a week and that was the first evacuation i've noticed, though there are some other signs around...