who is the suspect

tboy

tboy

Member
hi
there is a killer in my tank.
everyday i have fish got beaten, eaten to where you can see bone sticking out.
i have
Mystery wrasses (I think he's the killer)
gold rim tang
clown tang
sailfin tang
powder brown tang
2x tomato clown fish
blue damsel
manderin
used to have
big yellow tang
small blue hippo tang
green chromis
blue damsel
here is the situation. Day 1, the yellow tang got snap at the top fin where you can see two of her bone were sticking out. day after find her laying dead in the rock. Follow is the hippo tang wont come out from rocks. he last 3 days in rocks and found dead. next, is the green chromis, some one snap him on his side where you can see the red meat. disappear next day.
who is the suspect?
what should i do with him?
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Well, the damsel certainly could be the aggressor, depending on the size of the other fish. I also read that clown tangs get territorial if they've been in the tank a while. Those would be my two guesses. Take the damsel back to the LFS, either way, since they're not friendly overall.... then if you see the injuries go away you know you got your culprit.
 
tboy

tboy

Member
i don't know
i'm very upset now
just find out my mandarin just got bit last night
damsel, he got bit him self once but very slightly, one or two scale coming off.


 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
At first I thought it might be Tang territorial issues (you have a lot of Tangs).
This isn't it because they wouldn't bother with the Mandarin.
There's a type of Mantis Shrimp that stabs its prey, is that a possibility?
Tomato Clownfish are also very territorial but I don't think they can make a slash like what's on your Chromis.
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Out of the fish that are not injured, which looks the healthiest? I have had a big tomato clown in the past that was super aggresive.
Maybe another terrorist in the tank that is not a fish?
 
tboy

tboy

Member
my tank size is 220
this is all happen in a week now. every morning when i look at them there something happen.
just tested water and everything is perfectly fine.
should i start taking some of the fish out or what should i do?
my tank is only running about almost 2 months now
here is the tank detail
first the tank was cycle for a month. then i add a tomato clown and 3 chromis, two didn't make it.
follow i move all the fish from home out,
blue damsel
mandarin
mystery wrasses
bicolor blenny
tomato clown
blue damsel (red sea)
the blue damsel and the bicolor was the first one that disappear but never notice until after a while. then i start adding
small blue hippo
big yellow tang
powder brown
when the yellow tang first introduce in the tank he is very shy always in rocks and stuff. 3 or 4 days later i find out he got beaten bad and die. i thought maybe the wrasse got hungry and aggressive. i didn't care and add
clown tang
sailfin tang
gold rims tang
every since i add the last 3 tangs that when fish start missing every day
something wrong with my wrasses tail
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
In a 220 with that type of damage? My money is on some type of mantis as Bang said. But are they eatin too or just killed? I would definatly set a video camera up and let it go. Or at night sit in front of the tank with a red lens flashlight.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Well, the reason the one damsel died likely is because you had two damsels and they don't do well with others.... same with the Chromis, you started with 3 and they all likely fought to the death - they should be kept in groups of 6 or more. If the majority of the others were only after adding the last 3 tangs, then it is possible that the clown tang is doing it. Is that one bigger than all the others?
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
i mean sit up at night and watch the tank....with the lights off...or setup a camera to do it for ya....
 
dburd708

dburd708

New Member
Do you here any clicking sounds coming from the tank at night? This happened to me. I started missing a couple of fish, then my shrimp (found one with a hole in the middle of his body).
Rock was in the tank for 8 month then it started to happen. Lucky I found the Mantis Shrimp sticking his head out of the rock and was able to take the rock out and fresh water dipped it. Mantis ran out of the rock. He was only about 1 1/2 inches long. I got lucky I was able to get him out of the tank before it ate everything.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
that damage definitely looks like a slasher mantis, and since the tank is so new (goodness, that's a lot of fish in 2 months...) i bet you got a nasty hitchiker...
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
that damage definitely looks like a slasher mantis, and since the tank is so new (goodness, that's a lot of fish in 2 months...) i bet you got a nasty hitchiker...
Agree on both counts.
I was with Bang too on the Tang aggression until the Mandarin.
Never had one, but I don't believe slashing Mantis make a "popping" sound.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
you are correct, no popping noise from them.
telltale signs are fish getting nastily slashed up. a tang would normally slice lengthwise wouldn't it? some of those look verticle, which would be perfect sense for a slasher's claws.
 
ice4ice

ice4ice

Active Member
I was going to mention that you may have got a mantis shrimp hitch hiker but someone beat me to it. LOL!!
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by Ice4Ice
I was going to mention that you may have got a mantis shrimp hitch hiker but someone beat me to it. LOL!!
Sadly, Mantis get blamed for everything short of global warming around here

In this case, however....
New tank
Slashing injuries
Occuring at night
 
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