I might have a mantis...heeeeeeelp!!!!

[dmitry]

Okay, so I upgraded to a new and bigger tank a week ago and put in all this new live rock to it. And since last Sunday I've lost 5 - count 'em - 5 fish! I hadn't seen my Bicolor Blenny and Sixline Wrasse since I put them in last Sunday, two Blue/Green Chromis vanished a few nights ago, and tonight I came home to find that my little Clown has vanished. I'm freaking out! All my readings come out ok with nitrate just a little high, but everything else is kosher. So I know I don't have 5 fish rotting away in there. The weird thing is I've heard no evidence of one (no clicking sounds) and I haven't seen anything. But where could 5 fish have gone in one week?! How do I catch this %&&%^*(^'????!!!!!!! I want this thing dead, dead dead! I really can't take my rockwork apart to try to find him. I've seen people here mention just using fish-traps and possibly soda bottles (not sure exactly how those would work). Do you think that'd help? What kind of bait should I use??
As far as the soda bottle...take one, cut it in half. Take the top portion and invert it and glue attach it back with the throat of the bottle inside the bottom half, right? The reasoning being that it might slide inside and have a hard-time getting back out???
It's been a bad week for my little fishies...

 

[mr_bill]

Originally Posted by Dmitry
As far as the soda bottle...take one, cut it in half. Take the top portion and invert it and glue attach it back with the throat of the bottle inside the bottom half, right? The reasoning being that it might slide inside and have a hard-time getting back out???
Yes, this is what I would do if you do not know which rock he is in. Also nitrates a "little high"? Do you have a cleanup crew?

 

[dmitry]

I do have a clean-up crew though probably could use more, but since it's a "new" tank I think it's just not stable yet. I have to get that #&*%$%# out of there! The lights have been on for a few hours and the little Clown is definitely not in there. What should I use for bait in the trap????

 

[mr_bill]

Originally Posted by Dmitry
I do have a clean-up crew though probably could use more, but since it's a "new" tank I think it's just not stable yet. I have to get that #&*%$%# out of there! The lights have been on for a few hours and the little Clown is definitely not in there. What should I use for bait in the trap????
Something meaty like a chunk of raw shrimp or fish. He will not come out unless it's dark, turn off lights and try to make the room dark.

 

[dmitry]

Well, I just made the trap out of a bottle and put in a little pice of raw salmon (I'll eat the rest!) It won't be completely dark until tonight, but it's in there waiting. Now I just hope the raw meat won't set off a big cycle!

:scared:

 

[dmitry]

Well, a nassirius snail has crawled into the trap. I hope he doesn't eat all the salmon!
And speaking of complete darkness...there hasn't been any in my tank! I've got night-lights. And last night when my Clown vanished I actually messed up the timer and the actinics were still on 20hrs later, so the Clown vanished during in the light. Unless he swam into a dark cave or something...but my Coral Beauty has been all over the rocks and she's still around. Any other ideas on how five fish could vanish without a trace and not set off a massive cycle??

 

[mr_bill]

If he eats it all thats fine. Do you have any red lenses for your flashlight? I would watch the tank tonight. Stay as still as you can, because if it is a mantis they are very skitish. I wouldn't rule out other things that could be the cause either. How much LR did you add and how big were the pieces?

 

[dmitry]

I probably added about 60lbs of live rock, from various sources (stores and people breaking down their tanks.) The pieces are mostly quite large.
I left the trap in there all day and night and flashed a regular flash-light in towards morning and all the trap has managed to catch have been a nassirius snail and a peppermint shrimp. I figure I'll leave them in there as possible further bait. If the mantis is in there and ate my Clown last night it might not be hungry just yet.
Can I leave the night-light on in the tank or should the room be in total darkness for the night?
What other explanation could there be for 5 missing fish in seven days??

 

[darth tang]

If you catch him I will take him off your hands. Good luck.

 

[gmusick]

If you haven't heard any clicking sounds then I would assume that you don't have a mantis. After all, the mantis would have made the clicking sounds killing the fish. Also, with the mantis, he would be more likely to kill and eat your snails or other inverts before he would a fish, mainly because they are easier to catch. Do you have any anemones in your tank? Do you have any starfish?

 

[dmitry]

I do have one small BTA, but it had been in the tank with the Blenny, Wrasse, and Clown for about six months. Them three and 2 other Chromis...isn't that much for a small anemone is 7 days??? It's true I haven't actually heard any strange sounds from the tank, but if the Mantis does his thing at night perhaps I wouldn't. The tank is in the living room and I'm not home a lot of nights working. I come in, pass through the room, look in to see what's up, and off to bed in a different room. The Clown was happily swimming around with his mate before he vanished. I just can't imagine that many fish disappearing into thin air unless something was eating them!
Today I found a mushroom stuck to a power-head. Don't know if that means anything.

 

[mr_bill]

Hmm, big chunks of rock.. maybe octopus?

 

[gmusick]

The only reason I ask is that I have had problems over time with 1 former and 1 current inhabitant of my tank. I had a green serpent starfish who I caught killing one of my chromis. I bought him before reading much about them. I took my LFS word that they were safe for my tank, but this species tends to ambush fish at night. I also had an issue with a green carpet anemone. I never actually saw him eating my fish, but one day he "burped" out a carcass. He ate 3 fish in one week. Otherwise, the only thing that I can think of would be that your fish died of natural causes and any crabs or shrimp you have in the tank might have finished them off without a trace. I am not sure, but I don't believe that it would be a mantis without you knowing it.

 

[dmitry]

An octopus?!?! :scared:
I don't have any starfish that I'm aware of and the BTA just doesn't strike me as the type to eat that many fish. The Blenny was rather large, too. In fact, I didn't add the anemone into the new tank until 3 days after everything else was moved and the Wrasse and the Blenny were already "missing." I just can't figure it out. I'm not sure that my hermits and snails and regular shrimps could eat that much fish in such a short period of time. I did see one dead new Chromis, which I got out of the tank. But the last "victim," the Clown, just doesn't make sense.
I've been home most of the day and have heard no clicking from the tank. This evening's trap yielded nothing. (Fortunately not even snails/hermits/regular shrimps.) Ugh!

 

[mr_bill]

Is the bait staying in your trap or is it gone every morning?

 

[dmitry]

The bait - a piece of raw salmon - is still in there. The first night the pep shrimp and nassirius snail had a bit of it (their last meal), but last night's piece was intact.

 

[mr_bill]

Originally Posted by Dmitry
The bait - a piece of raw salmon - is still in there. The first night the pep shrimp and nassirius snail had a bit of it (their last meal), but last night's piece was intact.
If bait is still there I doubt it is an octopus, still possibly a mantis but how much of a clean up crew do you have left in there?

 

[dmitry]

I've got about 15 snails (mixture of turbo and nassirius) and 10 hermits. Plus 1 Skunk Shrimp and 1 Pep Shrimp. (There used to be 2!) I will be getting more within this week. I'll try the trap for a week and see what happens. Also see if any more fish vanish. One interesting thing is that the Coral Beauty swims all through the rocks and sleeps in the rocks. There's not an area of the tank she doesn't go to and she's fine. The Clowns have always slept just on the edge of rocks and so do the two remaining Chromises.
I'm convinced the female Clown is pining for a mate!

I'd love to get her one, but the fear of the unknown...

 

[mr_bill]

10 hermits and 2 shrimp would deffinetly be able to make a dead fish vanish. Your sure your not getting some kind of parameter spike in the night? Do you take your water parameters in the morning, noon, or night?

 

[dmitry]

Really??? Well....I hope so! It's a better alternative than a Mantis in there. I've taken readings during the day so far. I'm in the process of setting up a sump, so that should stabilize the water at night, if indeed there are some sort of problems on that end. Let's all hope for the best! Thanks for your help and advice on all this!!