fish vinishing

justinwwwallin

justinwwwallin

Member
all my fish keep going missing.
ive lost
a blue tang,
a naso tang,
3 yellow tangs
a hawk fish
a few chromis. and a few others.
what is happening? there are no bodies left. they just vanish.
 
S

shrimpy brains

Guest
Need more info. Tank size, filters, water parameters, how long between having fish and fish missing, did it all happen at once or over a period of time??
Two guesses right now.
You have something wrong with your water or fish disease. Fish are dieing and cuc is doing it's job.
You have a really nasty hitchhiker, like a mantis or something!!
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
If you're losing fish as large as tangs then there almost has to be something in there eating them. I can't see a cleanup crew getting through an entire Naso or Hippo without leaving anything at all for you to be able to see. My bet is on a Mantis shrimp.. Have you heard any strange clicking noises coming from the tank at all?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
It does not sound like a disease that's killing your fish.
I had a Xanthid crab wipe out my hippo tang and a few other fish without a trace, he was only about the size of a silver dollar. My guess is an evil hitchhiker is in your tank and declaring war.
I found the crab by turning the lights off and sitting in from of the tank for about 30 mins, very still, then I saw horrible evil red eyes staring at me from inside a rock.
Good luck
 
geckoxp

geckoxp

Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/3157605
If you're losing fish as large as tangs then there almost has to be something in there eating them. I can't see a cleanup crew getting through an entire Naso or Hippo without leaving anything at all for you to be able to see. My bet is on a Mantis shrimp.. Have you heard any strange clicking noises coming from the tank at all?
+1 about something eating the fish...I had a coral banded shrimp eat 2 royal grammas (not in the tank together but at seperate times), bicolor pseudochromis (not in the tank at the same time as the grammas), flame angel, bicolor blenny and 2 firefish...since I removed the shrimp I have had no fish die on me...imagine that!
I learned my lesson the hard and $$$ way!!
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
have tajen the tank apart and check every where and looked in the back? The only thing I could think of is a decently sized mantis shrimp. But your cuc would be in danger as well.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I disagree that this has to be something killing them. We all like to believe our fish are healthy and are killed...the reality is that is not what happens the majority of the time.
How big is your tank?
How old?
How often did you lose these fish?
What is "pretty big" for a naso? Yellow tang, regal tang? 3, 4, 5, 6"? People often think those tiny blue regals are pretty big...and they have a dismal survival rate.
How long did you have them before losing them?
What are your other tank mates?
What are your specific water parameters?
IMO, the least likely thing is something is killing them.
Other than disease, IMO.
It is critical to understand all the facts about the tank and the timeline of this. Did you lost any simultaneously? Always over night? etc?
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I agree, although a large carpet anemone could take the fish down but not completely without a trace in most instances. How long are they missing before you know it?
How big is your tank? Open top? Check around the back? Lots of info missing but I'm not sold on a mantis just yet either.
Side note, I hear clicking in my tank whenever the lights go off but have yet to see anything missing including CUC. I do find a rogue crab and see him on occasion but never the clicking thing.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Eating the bodies?
It is very unlikely it is killing them.
If you are losing these in close succession or within a week of introduction it is very unlikely to be predation.
If you are losing corals...that would be the bristleworm, IMO.
 
katsafados

katsafados

Active Member
I have the same problem. My missing fish l;ist is smaller though.
I've lost a green cromis(hen I first established the tank) maybe an inch in size, then recently about a month ago my green clown goby dissapeared without a trace (half an inch).
My water parameters are near perfect(just have a spike in nitrates, but thats recently)
I have a 10g tank, no anem's, just small corals frags. Got a XP1 canister filter on it(intake has a mesh on it, outake is in my fuge). I also have a 18inch HOB refugium completelt filled with cheato and LR rubble (no room for fishies to be swimming in there. I also checked to make sure)
I acctually do hear a "clicking" sound at night time, since its in my bedroom, I was thinkig it might have been a hitchhicker pistol shrimp. I havent seen anything though.
My cleanup crew is pretty much accounted for, dont know about the snails though.
My clowns and linned blenny havent gotten eaten or died randomly and I've had both for a while now, so I doubt its a disease.
The cromis and the green clown goby went missing in a span of maybe 5 months.
Current livestock is:
Asorted snails (nassarius, cerith, turbo, astrea)
3 blue legg hermits
3 hollowen hermits
1 cleanner shrimp
1 serpant star
1 coco worm
1 green emerald crab
1 clown
1 linned blenny
Do you think the clicking could mean theres a mantis, or even a pistol? If there was one, wouldnt my clean up crew be gone already?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
But did it catch it...that is the question. It would absolutely eat the body, but I don't believe it would/could catch them, personally. Do you have corals and are you seeing them die?
Truthfully, the bristleworm is the LAST place I would look. I would post the pattern you are seeing and parameters, etc.
 
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