We've had several fish disappear in the last month. The first was a 2 inch long lawnmower blenny, 2nd was a 2 inch clownfish, and most recently a 3 inch clownfish. I have a 28 gallon nano that's completely covered. The other inhabitants are a watchman goby and pistol shrimp, pajama cardinal, several small snails, 2 small hermit crabs, a small condi and a small rose tip bubble. There hasn't been any outbreak of anything new, no recent water changes as the water has tested perfect for several months. I just can't imagine what happened to them! If anyone has any ideas please share!
Help!!! Disappearing Fish!!!
- Thread starter AndreaRN2016
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Welcome aboard, AndreaRN2016!
I'm not sure what, in your tank could be causing some pretty substantial fish to vanish ... if you had a big cleanup crew, they could make a fish disappear quickly, but . . .
My best guess might be the Condy - I don't think they're a normal host for clownfish. But instead of relying on my guesses, let's get some experienced eyes on your situation... #reefsquad
~Bruce, hoping your next post can be something happier!
I'm not sure what, in your tank could be causing some pretty substantial fish to vanish ... if you had a big cleanup crew, they could make a fish disappear quickly, but . . .
My best guess might be the Condy - I don't think they're a normal host for clownfish. But instead of relying on my guesses, let's get some experienced eyes on your situation... #reefsquad
~Bruce, hoping your next post can be something happier!
Thank you Bruce
melypr1985
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Hi Andrea! Welcome to R2R. I'm sorry to hear about your losses. Does this ^^ statement refer to disease symptoms? You are saying there hasn't been any signs of disease in these fish before they disappeared... right?
redfishbluefish
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Mysterious fish losses are a head scratcher. I'm going to throw out there the possibility of a rogue crab.....a hitchhiker that has an appetite for fish. How old is the tank and did you use live rock from an LFS or local friend?
jsker
Reefing is all about the adventure
I am in agreement with @redfishbluefish since the nano is covered. I will say that I had two cannibal clown once. I would leave town and I would be missing fish when I got back. I narrowed down to those two clowns, no pun intended
they even ate a warm water lobster that I figure that would be safe
they even ate a warm water lobster that I figure that would be safe
OldGoat
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hey folks! I am going to Answer for Andrea (my wife) as many of your questions as possible.....not smart enough to do the whole quote thing but here it goes...
No disease symptoms whatsoever in any of the fish.
We have not looked at night for predators, LFS guy suggested as much just the other day. He mentioned mantis shrimp
The tank is 9 months old and all the rock came from LFS
On a side note which may be very important we bought all of the rocks for my 55 gallon and one new rock for Andrea's tank at the same time.....since then I have had 3 damsel fish disappear from the big tank. There is no clean up crew at all in the big tank just the fish and we never found one single carcass in either tank. Based on LFS and comments here we are leaning strongly towards a hitchhiker predator of some sort.
The question now is.....What do we do about it? LOL
No disease symptoms whatsoever in any of the fish.
We have not looked at night for predators, LFS guy suggested as much just the other day. He mentioned mantis shrimp
The tank is 9 months old and all the rock came from LFS
On a side note which may be very important we bought all of the rocks for my 55 gallon and one new rock for Andrea's tank at the same time.....since then I have had 3 damsel fish disappear from the big tank. There is no clean up crew at all in the big tank just the fish and we never found one single carcass in either tank. Based on LFS and comments here we are leaning strongly towards a hitchhiker predator of some sort.
The question now is.....What do we do about it? LOL
Set a trap?
What kind of trap is going to depend on what kind of predator you suspect.
~B.
What kind of trap is going to depend on what kind of predator you suspect.
~B.
bluebulls49
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Do you have a condy in both tanks
bluebulls49
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The reason I ask is I had 20 gallon setup with two yellow tale damsels a green spot puffer and a clown I had a condi in my 46 I moved him to the 20 the next only seen one damsel I looked everywhere for him 2 days later my clown was missing later that day my son noticed you could see orange and white inside the condi.... Mystery solved lol
