Do I have a serial killer?

[jackj921]

In my case it was a very large spiny urchin that was hitting my big fish at night. Lost a queen angel, moorish idol, blue face angel, cuban hog etc etc and these were not new introductions to the tank. It all stopped when he was Removed but it took me a month to find the killer unfortunately.

 

[Mark McCarty]

Any strange sounds coming from the tank at night when the lights are out? Maybe a clicking noise? Add any new rock to the tank? Maybe a mantis shrimp hitchhiker?

No mantis shrimp sounds. Had one in one of my old tanks and definitely know that sound.

 

[Mark McCarty]

Thinking about adding Metroplex and Fusion to the feeding schedule just to rule out disease and do that for a while. Any other thoughts on disease control? Want to rule that out before adding anyone else. I may also go for my own QT tank for new additions.

 

[3mm3]

I would stake out the tank at night with a red flashlight.
Anything else getting killed such as snails or hermits?
Do you have any brittle stars?

 

[Mark McCarty]

Have been doing my red light surveillance at night. My nassarius snail count seems lower but no evidence of them being taken out. They could just be in spots where I can't see them. I do not have any brittle stars but saw what look like really small brittle star legs coming out of live rock for first time last night.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I found a nasty starfish taking out my fish for months before I found him. Could be a killer, could be a disease. Keep watching at night and ask about the qt protocol they company uses on the fish.

 

[3mm3]

If you have something like krill you can put a bait pile out by the rockwork and see what comes for dinner at night. Worked for me multiple times.

 

[Mark McCarty]

Here are some shots of the tank including the ledge and cave where the Royal and Firefish like to hang out. Firefish has had no problems there. Clown started to host there once the royal dug in.View media item 3238View media item 3237View media item 3236View media item 3235

 

[Mark McCarty]

If you have something like krill you can put a bait pile out by the rockwork and see what comes for dinner at night. Worked for me multiple times.

Would a chunk of frozen shrimp work? Only carnivore stuff I have is Marine Fusion cubes. Would that work?

 

[OriginalUserName]

^ The shrimp should work fine. Try and secure it to something so it doesn't float away and make a mess.

Your gramma may not be dead. I picked one up a couple days ago and swore it was dead, but this morning I found his hidey hole.

 

[Mark McCarty]

Put out a coke bottle trap with some shrimp in it last night for about 30 minutes. Only thing that showed up was a Nassarius. Emerald crab was out and in the neighborhood but seemed completely disinterested. Kept eating algae off the rocks instead.

 

[johnthehermit]

My son had a nano tank a while back which had a small bobbit worm in the live rock Very difficult to spot.
John

 

[kirstyflash]

Put out a coke bottle trap with some shrimp in it last night for about 30 minutes. Only thing that showed up was a Nassarius. Emerald crab was out and in the neighborhood but seemed completely disinterested. Kept eating algae off the rocks instead.

Nassarius always come to the party lol

 

[drblakjak55]

3 yr old 90g mixed reef. Every Blenny , gramma, and dottyback I bought looked great for up to three weeks and suddenly gone one day. No crabs but one good size serpent star. Giving up on those guys

 

[Mark McCarty]

Service brought out a free bicolor blenny as a replacement for the lost royal gramma. He is decent sized. Will see if he can hold his own!

 

[Mark McCarty]

Now the false percula is gone! Perfectly healthy one minute and then completely disappeared within the span of two hours. I'm beginning to believe in alien abduction!