my tank was doing so good now im ready to give up help me please

thisistodd

Member
well. here is the official count. starting about 3 weeks ago, my fish have been slowly disapearing. first they were small fish, so i figured they must have died. but now its just ridiculous...i have lost over $200 in fish. first...it was 3 blue reef cromis, one after the other. next, i never saw my pistol shrimp or banded firefish goby, both very small. next, i noticed that my yellow watchman which has been living for 6 months, is gone. also, my hawkfish, which has been going strong for 6 months is gone. A 6 line wrasse that i bought disappears about 5 days ago, and my newest and best addition, a baby blue hippo tank disappeared. yesterday i was watching him at 12:00 noon, he is always out swimming. at 5 i couldnt find him, and i knew it was bad. today he isnt here. so i am completely tearing my tank down. i got out all of the LR, and there is not 1 single corpse of a fish anywhere, nothing. Please, does anyone have a clue what could have caused this, i cant even afford to replace these fish right now, and ill probably lose the rest of my livestock from tearing down my tank. could there be a mantis in my rocks that did all this? how do i get it out??? i would really like to get this straightened out so that it never happens again. thanks for any insight.
:nope:
 
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tizzo

Guest
You lost your fish, one at a time, you say??? A mantis was the first thing that came to mind for me also. Have you tested your ammonia? At least that will help to know if they died and rotted or if they were immediate food for something.
 

thisistodd

Member
i hear one clicking sound everynow and then and its the living pistol i have in there right now. i just took out all of the lr and dipped alot of it in freshwater, no signs of anything. i actually just discovered my blue tang stuck in my PH
dead. however theres no way this happened to my other fish, because i had a prefilter on until a couple days ago. i took it off cuz it was clogging with algae and food. but i dont think i have a mantis...nothing has been found yet. i am still stunned to think that many fish have vanished. ammonia is at 0.
 
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tizzo

Guest
7 fish, 1 pistol shrimp in 3 weeks and no ammonia? Either you have one 'ellava clean up crew or you have a predator!!:scared:
But if you already dipped all of your LR in freshwater, I am at a loss too. Wierd...
I don't remember if you mentioned it, do you have an anemone?? If so, which kind? Good luck though, whatever it is I hope you find out soon!!
 

thisistodd

Member
yes i am just amazed. yes, i DID have an anenome. i wondered if that could do it so i ditched it. it was a florida condi anenome? have you heard of them eating fish, it doesnt even seem like it could eat a fish the size of my firefish.
 

aqua39

Member
that definately could be the coulpret. I've heard many instances where aquarists have walked in to see that there fish is not swimming anymore, and to find half of the fish still sticking out the the condi. They are nasty little dudes, and most fish are not immune to them, especially because they are from the caribean, while many of our aquarium fish are from the pacific.
 

thisistodd

Member
if thats the case that makes me soo mad. i cant even beleive that thing could eat those fish. i guess when its inflated it looks like it could, but when it isnt it is so small i figure i would see the fish in it. oh well i have like 1 fish now and im just gonna have to wait till spring when i plan on getting a big aquarium and rebuy all the fish
 

saltydave

Member
sorry tp hear about ur losses. how long did u have ur bl reef chro mis? what did u think about them? did they schook around? what kind of pesonality? how did the colar look? i'm planning on getting a school soon. ant info wood b helpfull.
 

joker_ca

Active Member
I had the same problem like you when I first started out and i also took out all of my live rock and found nothing, and i also never heard any clicking that would suggest a mantis. the lfs told me to bait a trap so i did and to my surpirse it was a mantis. i found out that there are mantis that dont make a clicking sound so you may want to set a trap just to make sure its not a mantis
 

thisistodd

Member
as for the blue reefs. i had 3, all were gone in 3 weeks, about 1 per week. actually i like the green chromis much better than the blue. the blue has a black stripe i dont really like, and they just dont seem as lively. the green are actually blue-green and they look awesome...and the 2 i have stay together all the time. plus they are cheaper
 

wocka

Active Member
i only have a cleaner shrimp in my tank, and i hear clicking often. whats goin on? ive never seen any other shrimp
 

joker_ca

Active Member
i got it at my lfs and put some raw shrimp in it and left it in all night and on the second day i found the

[hr]
in there
 

saltydave

Member

Originally posted by ThisisTodd
as for the blue reefs. i had 3, all were gone in 3 weeks, about 1 per week. actually i like the green chromis much better than the blue. the blue has a black stripe i dont really like, and they just dont seem as lively. the green are actually blue-green and they look awesome...and the 2 i have stay together all the time. plus they are cheaper

when u had 3 together did they school together. or hang out on thier own? what colar blu was blu?
 

thisistodd

Member
they didnt really hang out together as much as my green ones do. but i guess it all depends. the color i got was a darker blue, i didnt really like it...the green is more of an aqua blue green and i love it. maybe they vary, i rarely see blue ones at the LFS though.
 

thisistodd

Member
thanks its ok now. i was having a dilema. i mean it is a lot of money in fish but oh well. i have decided that im not adding any fish or anything till spring when i get a big tank. maybe my corals and LR will get real nice by then
 

acez28

Member
i doubt it was the condi catchin the fish. It would be pretty hard for the condi to catch the fish unless they were already sick. I am guessing you have a mantis. I would get a trap for it too.
 
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