Plate coral puzzle

[Ivan Stoiljkovic]

I've lost one medium orange plate just after 2 days I recieved (online purchase)
Bough a second one to replace, been feeding it every night and after 6 notices tissue loss around the mouth, will it recover after a small tissue los?
When I feed them I try to keep shrimp away until they swallow food...
The other purple rim plate is doing just fine. Low to medium flow at the bottom.
Also noticed that the other 2 small plates not extending tentacles at all until i cover them with a bottle.

There is no fish in the tank (dealing with ich), only inverts, 4 shrimp and a dozen hermits.

Id appreciate any plate coral expert advice, I hate losing any coral

Thanks

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

What kind of shrimp do you have? If the shrimp are peppermints, they could be the culprits. I've had peppermints pick at LPS incessantly.

 

[Ivan Stoiljkovic]

1 fire, 1 banded and 2 peppermints

I know they pick at corals but are they able to damage it to the point it dies

 

[fragit]

Sounds more like a flow issue to me than a shrimp issue. The reason I say this is because you mentioned after they are covered they extend their polyps. That to me is an indication that they are preferring low flow.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I've had peppermints KILL LPS before or irritate them until all polyps bail out. I agree that covering them could indicate a flow issue, but it also makes it very difficult for the shrimp to mess with the corals.

 

[Vaughn17]

I had a cleaner shrimp that would go from coral to coral (lps) after I'd spot feed, pry open the coral's mouths and remove the food. Needless to say, it was re-homed.

 

[thaitopher]

How are you able to keep those bottles from floating?

 

[Ivan Stoiljkovic]

Yeah, but once I cover them back they extend tentacles, this orange plate just dies, on the other hand a small orange next to it is extended all day
Large purple rim only extends at night.
You can also see a long tentacle plate on the right thats loving the flow, always extended
I have no idea why I lost 2 of the orange ones in a row

 

[Ivan Stoiljkovic]

I stick bottle in the sand, all the way to the bottom (1 inch sand bed)

 

[zchauvin]

Flow

 

[Zack K]

Same problem. It was the shrimp.

Shrimp Problems!

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Shrimp-Problems!.288140/

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

I can attest to shrimp bothering my plate coral. It refused to open for a few weeks when it was being bothered. Not that peppermints eat coral which they dont.

 

[ricky5415]

If u feed the shrimp enough, they don't bother corals at all. What about flow/light / nutrient /tank parameter ?

 

[ndrwater]

Peppermints are the devil.

Yes peppermints will ABSOLUTELY eat Coral. I would set fire to the peppermints at the earliest opportunity. Just my 2¢

 

[Ivan Stoiljkovic]

After observing and researching, I also think peppermints did it, coral is under a bottle now and after 2 days seem recovered.
Flesh is healing back.
Now I got 3 solutions,
- leave the coral covered forever (not very practical)
- remove shrimp (still thinking about), so far ive seen them do damage to the plate coral and only certain type of plate coral
- or filter feed, fine particle food hoping that the shrimp wouldn't care, but there is always risk that some bigger chunk will fall on the plate while feeding fish
on the flip side, you only feed fish during the day while shrimp are not as active, feed corals at night powder food.

I hope this helps other people in a similar setup
Thanks guys