Coral Beauty may be the perp

[t blackwell]

welcome to another episode of reef forensic files..lol..
ok..let me explain

In the past month...I had a head of duncan coral that showed no signs of stress..disappear in one night...it didnt close up for a week..it was gone..I attributed this to my possible incompetence (maybe it was too much flow /chemistry or something) then about two weeks ago a rather ugly but thriving micronesian torch I had suddenly lost a head...then a few days later..another..now it has one left thats half gone..I assumed it was just something with the water..I have been on top of testing..basic paramters are all good..temp averages 78.5 to 79.9 alk calc mg all very good..the only parameter i have thats off a bit is nitrates ( about 30) ..phos is fine..anyhow..now I have noticed one head on my three head hammer is missing..its got to be a fish chomping..as i said the torch..the hammer..there is no brown jelly or obvious disintegration..let me tell you my fish in this tank...naso,regal(baby)2anthias/2blennies/2chromis/2clowns/royalG/redhsolarwrasse/1damsel/clown goby/yellow watchmanG (tiny)...oh yes..and a coral beauty angelfish! ( this is one of my first fish that I got...before I ever thought I would want any corals..I have never seen this guy do anything..but im thinking its him...what do you guys think..? am i jumping to conclusions here..or is it..very likely and logical..I could try to catch him ..put him in the sump and then take him to LFS next time I go..Id love to hear some feedback

 

[evolve29]

welcome to another episode of reef forensic files..lol..
ok..let me explain

In the past month...I had a head of duncan coral that showed no signs of stress..disappear in one night...it didnt close up for a week..it was gone..I attributed this to my possible incompetence (maybe it was too much flow /chemistry or something) then about two weeks ago a rather ugly but thriving micronesian torch I had suddenly lost a head...then a few days later..another..now it has one left thats half gone..I assumed it was just something with the water..I have been on top of testing..basic paramters are all good..temp averages 78.5 to 79.9 alk calc mg all very good..the only parameter i have thats off a bit is nitrates ( about 30) ..phos is fine..anyhow..now I have noticed one head on my three head hammer is missing..its got to be a fish chomping..as i said the torch..the hammer..there is no brown jelly or obvious disintegration..let me tell you my fish in this tank...naso,regal(baby)2anthias/2blennies/2chromis/2clowns/royalG/redhsolarwrasse/1damsel/clown goby/yellow watchmanG (tiny)...oh yes..and a coral beauty angelfish! ( this is one of my first fish that I got...before I ever thought I would want any corals..I have never seen this guy do anything..but im thinking its him...what do you guys think..? am i jumping to conclusions here..or is it..very likely and logical..I could try to catch him ..put him in the sump and then take him to LFS next time I go..Id love to hear some feedback

I think so with your assessment, they do tend to nip at corals.

 

[Dave Garrett]

My Tangs steal food from my Duncan colony when I feeding them Reef Roids.... They have also nipped off tentacles... The Duncans did really seem to care much about a few missing Tentacle Ends... What they did care about was my Clown trying to host in them... 3 heads receded and died ... It didn't happen over night like yours....I am more care full now to feed the Fish at the same time as I do the Corals so I am not inviting them to steal and damage the Corals or getting them started pecking on Corals...

 

[Auquanut]

Sounds like a midnight fragger! Does your Coral Beauty look unusually plump and happy? Look for bone cutters in his usual hiding places.

 

[WMR]

I agree with everyone, but just throwing this out there, aren’t coral beauties diurnal? When lights go out, get a red light & watch the tank

 

[t blackwell]

yes the coral beauty looks fat and happy..he has always been kind of neurotic..just cruises in and out of the rocks..never hangs out with the other kids..I would like to point out I have never seen him nip a coral( but then again I wasnt suspect of him) ..where would i get this red light..what kind..I can look up diurnal but if you come back and reply tell me what that means..

 

[t blackwell]

Sounds like a midnight fragger! Does your Coral Beauty look unusually plump and happy? Look for bone cutters in his usual hiding places.

If I find out he did it ..I want him DEAD!..I want his family DEAD! his friends DEAD...not tommorow..but right now-DEAD! lol im just kidding people..I think thats from a movie maybe like al capone in the untouchables..my memory is getting bad..but seriously does it sound like I am onto something..whats the likelihood..I was thinking of trying to catch him and put him in the sump..till I could rehome him..

 

[WMR]

yes the coral beauty looks fat and happy..he has always been kind of neurotic..just cruises in and out of the rocks..never hangs out with the other kids..I would like to point out I have never seen him nip a coral( but then again I wasnt suspect of him) ..where would i get this red light..what kind..I can look up diurnal but if you come back and reply tell me what that means..

Put a red, clear, piece of plastic over your flashlight, red light. Diurnal, day active.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Euphyllia corals have a quite a potent sring most fish tend to avoid so im not so sure it would be the angelfish, do you have any emerald crabs which are known to clip off and eat heads of corals? Its possibly the a angelfish but im not so sure....

 

[Jay Z]

I have a coral beauty, cleaner shrimp, and emeralds. I came up missing a Duncan head on my 9 header. I had a piece of coral Get knocked onto my Duncan for a day. The one head looked dismal. Next day gone. Cleaner shrimp took care of it.

They tend to “clean” any damages or dying coral from what I’ve noticed.

Had a skimmer runaway while I was out out town 2 months ago. Ato emptied and water was 6” low when I got home. My war, dragon soul, and small hammer were half exposed for 4 hours. When I filled the tank back up my cleaner shrimp went to town on the damaged/dead corals. They cleaned up 1 stalk of my hammer, and half my dragon and war. They did not touch what was still alive on them. Just the damages parts.

 

[t blackwell]

ok..if all my paramters are spot on..with the exception of nitrates (about 30-not too bad to cause this) no chance of coral warfare..and I have a three head hammer that now has only two heads (just notice this as the last head was blocked from view to some extent by the front two...the torch still has about a half a head worth of tentacles on one of the three heads..looks pitiful I moved it..im sure it will likely bite the dust..I toned the flow down slighly though it was not high..just in case that had something to do with it..what would cause euphyllia to do this if its not parameters or brown jelly..warfare..or too high flow...?

 

[t blackwell]

to the person who mentioned the sting of euphyllia..I never heard that was a deterrent to nippers..the duncan head was getting big and always looked nice..had it about 5 months..I had one other small double head one on the other end of the tank..it is gone as well..though it appeared to just stay closed for long periods..then was just gone ( its right beside my cleaner shrimps top spot) but the one that disappeared overnight..it didnt close..or disintegrate...it was just bone clean the next day..i suppose it could be flow rate but i doubt it..i have on one end at the top a gyre 3k running pulse up to say 60 70 percent....and on the other end a slightly lower wavepuck 3000 gph though its set to about 60 percent max pulse on for 20 secs off for 10...

 

[t blackwell]

Euphyllia corals have a quite a potent sring most fish tend to avoid so im not so sure it would be the angelfish, do you have any emerald crabs which are known to clip off and eat heads of corals? Its possibly the a angelfish but im not so sure....

I put an emerald crab in like..a year ago..a small one..never saw him once..so I dont have any that im aware of..If they nip at the bottom part near the skeleton would it sting them...? so you dont think it could be the angel eh?

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

I put an emerald crab in like..a year ago..a small one..never saw him once..so I dont have any that im aware of..If they nip at the bottom part near the skeleton would it sting them...? so you dont think it could be the angel eh?

Well its still possible it nipped at the bottom thats true, im just not sure as euphyllias are generally left alone by angelfish, but check at night as others suggested to see if he is picking at your corals or not, good luck finding the culprit

 

[t blackwell]

if you look back at my first post you will see the list of fish in that tank..do you think any of those are likely? never seen anybody pick on a coral..but it seems most likely the coral beauty might