Fish mysteriously disappearing...could this be why?

[coronajack]

Hello everyone, over the past five months I've had fish mysteriously disappearing from my tank. Over that time, I've checked my parameters and generally things are normal. Phosphate has been as high as 0.24; manganese a little low, and strontium and barium a little high. Otherwise, corals are doing great (softies, still trying to tighten the macros so sps can do better).

So far what I've lost includes (not all at the same time, but spaced over 5 months): 1 clown fish, 2 blackcap basslets, 2 blue tangs, a flame hawk, a royal gramma, 2 anthias, and a sail fin tang. Also during this time, the other two of the original three clown fish have been loving live - seem to be doing excellent. A yellow and a purple tang are also in there now, doing great too.

And - my fire shrimp was good, albeit shy and always hanging out behind the rocks. ... until today. I noticed white antennae coming out of my bubble coral, and went for a closer look. He was getting swallowed, and within 10 minutes there was no evidence the bubble coral ever got him. Could this bubble coral be the culprit for all these other fish? The bubble coral predated all the fish that vanished, but nothing ever triggered me to correlate one with the other as an explanation. This seems the most likely explanation, but wondered for your thoughts before I get rid of the bubble coral.

Thanks!

 

[Reefer40b]

If the fish is sick enough and weak a bubble coral would probably be able to eat them. I bet that you have some kind of parasite going on

Also you sure that the bubble coral just didnt eat the shed of the shrimp and its still in there somewhere..

 

[laverda]

A bubble coral is not going to catch healthy fish or shrimp. Unless it is a gaint one I doubt it could eat that much even if it was able to capture them. Are sure it was not the molt from your shrimp it just eat? Shrimp eill hod after molting as they are more vulnerable.
When was the most recent addtion to your tank? I suspect some parasite or disease was introduced some how.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

The fish losses stink, sorry to hear about them.

Parameters aren’t really come into play like mag or Calc.

Temp, salinity, ph, some sort of bloom, etc will

The weird part is where you say it went missing. My first thought would be jumpers but I would think you would see or smell at least one. Next gues would be any over flow or drains into asump they could have gotten into. Then. Maybe disease took them down and the clean up crew made them disappear. We’re there any signs of trouble with the fish just before it disappeared.

Also , tank info always helps

 

[BestMomEver]

Welcome to the reef! I would guess some sort of parasite or something. As for jumping out... I’m pretty sure I’ve had jumpers that the dog got. Who knows. I did find a long lost chromis in the overflow when I broke down a tank last weekend.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Welcome to the reef!

Holly cow, totally missed the welcome, thanks @BestMomEver .

Glad you are here. #WelcometoR2R

 

[coronajack]

The fish losses stink, sorry to hear about them.

Parameters aren’t really come into play like mag or Calc.

Temp, salinity, ph, some sort of bloom, etc will

The weird part is where you say it went missing. My first thought would be jumpers but I would think you would see or smell at least one. Next gues would be any over flow or drains into asump they could have gotten into. Then. Maybe disease took them down and the clean up crew made them disappear. We’re there any signs of trouble with the fish just before it disappeared.

Also , tank info always helps

Thanks - fish losses do stink. I don't think its jumpers with no evidence, but I know the critters can find their way into some pretty good hiding spots outside the tank. But for that to happen to all 10 missing fish seems to be a stretch, so I don't think its that. It is possible the cuc disappeared them - for sure - after their demise. No signs of trouble before disappearing - in fact, 6 or 7 of them were brand new additions to the tank and vanished within a couple days after being added. When I did see them before disappearing, they looked fine. Even if I didn't acclimate them properly, 6 or 7 taking such a big hit on introduction that they would die seems unlikely. They all came from the same supplier where I got everything else in my tank, including top off and salt water. I'm not running a UV sterilizer, so maybe there is something in the system - but then it's weird that the two remaining clown fish from the original stock haven't been take down.

 

[coronajack]

Welcome to the reef! I would guess some sort of parasite or something. As for jumping out... I’m pretty sure I’ve had jumpers that the dog got. Who knows. I did find a long lost chromis in the overflow when I broke down a tank last weekend.

Thanks! Been reading the posts here for a while, and figured it was time to chime in.

 

[coronajack]

A bubble coral is not going to catch healthy fish or shrimp. Unless it is a gaint one I doubt it could eat that much even if it was able to capture them. Are sure it was not the molt from your shrimp it just eat? Shrimp eill hod after molting as they are more vulnerable.
When was the most recent addtion to your tank? I suspect some parasite or disease was introduced some how.

I hear ya. For sure, the molt is possible - but I'm not seeing the shrimp in the tank any longer, even in his usual hiding spots (where I can at least see his antennae, if not his body), and it didn't look like molt when I saw what the coral was consuming - but it is possible. Fingers are crossed his hiding skills have improved!

 

[ca1ore]

Highly unlikely a bubble coral is killing healthy fish. You don’t say how large any of the fish were, or how long you had them when they went missing. If you have a cat or a dog, jumpers may be pet snacks. Novice reefers always under appreciate how quickly a small fish carcass gets consumed. Within 24 hours there’s literally nothing left.

 

[laverda]

Thanks - fish losses do stink. I don't think its jumpers with no evidence, but I know the critters can find their way into some pretty good hiding spots outside the tank. But for that to happen to all 10 missing fish seems to be a stretch, so I don't think its that. It is possible the cuc disappeared them - for sure - after their demise. No signs of trouble before disappearing - in fact, 6 or 7 of them were brand new additions to the tank and vanished within a couple days after being added. When I did see them before disappearing, they looked fine. Even if I didn't acclimate them properly, 6 or 7 taking such a big hit on introduction that they would die seems unlikely. They all came from the same supplier where I got everything else in my tank, including top off and salt water. I'm not running a UV sterilizer, so maybe there is something in the system - but then it's weird that the two remaining clown fish from the original stock haven't been take down.

Knowing that most were new additions to your tank tells me you need to check you parameters, especially salinity and PH. The next thought is your acclamation procedure. Most LFS and wholesalers keep the salinity in their systems at 1.019. The change to the higher salinity in most tanks is very hard on them and is why they should be drip acclimated until the salinity is pretty much the same in their acclamation container and the tank. If the salinity in your tank is higher than normal it is even harder for new fish to adjust to.
I lower the salinity of my QT tank when adding new fish to about 1.022 and raise the salinity in their container to match. Drip acclamation also gives them a chance to adjust to PH and other changes.

 

[BestMomEver]

I hear ya. For sure, the molt is possible - but I'm not seeing the shrimp in the tank any longer, even in his usual hiding spots (where I can at least see his antennae, if not his body), and it didn't look like molt when I saw what the coral was consuming - but it is possible. Fingers are crossed his hiding skills have improved!

FWIW, my cleaner shrimp disappeared for months. Because he typically danced all over my corals, his absence made me fear the worse. Amazingly, he reappeared a few weeks back... big and beautiful as ever!