:lol: Ya, my fish are lucky to get 30 mins, same with inverts. If I forget about them, then they might get an hour. There are some fish I will acclimate longer though, like Clowns and Tangs. They get a PraziPro bath too though. I don't even acclimate my corals unless they are real lucky.

I'm with you on that one, haven't lost one yet. Assuming healthy coral coming from a healthy tank, going into an equally healthy tank :)

Same here but my big ones never come out of the sand, but then I have a trigger in that tank. They probally come out after he goes to sleep.

I second the Tongan Nassarius ID. They get quite large. I have a few in my tank that I've had for years, and they will be all over something that is dead or dieing, but never over a healthy fish. They are considered to be predatory, but usually just go after things on the way out. J&L has them right now.... they are great at keeping the sandbed turned but I only recommend them in a larger tank. I can see them getting hungry in something under 30 gallons. :P

My moneys on it's either a mis id'd whelk or the shrimp was already in trouble.
It does look a little smooth to me as well for a nassarius.


Diana could also be right, and they could just be a lot more voracious then the smaller variety and not getting enough food in a smaller tank but the other two possibilities seem more likely to me.

Definitely do some research on the larger Nassarius' to see if your is the exact same.
If it is, you might want to feed your tank more or buy faster shrimp.

WOW! I have 4 tonga's and 4 reg. in my 90g and a cleaner. Everyone gets along fine. I would also assume something wasn't quite right with the shrimp.

looks like a tongan supernass to me. they have smooth shells. still, look up the whelks... I suspect though that the others that suspect the nass was just scavenging are right. I can't see a shrimp not being able to get away from any snail, ambush predator or not. shrimp have a very rapid escape response and a healthy shrimp just shouldn't be taken so easily. Did you check the params of the lfs water to compare with your own? inverts are particularl susceptible to rapid salinity fluctuations

I would say its a whelk as well

sorry for your loss. I love my cleaner shrimp. That snail would already be in my sump ><