I have a killer on the loose.

[MichaelReefer]

Well, I have had an interesting last two weeks with the tank.

To start, my inhabitants: Yellow Tang, Starry Blenny, a pair of clowns, Valentini Puffer, Melanurus wrasse, and a Dotty Back.

Two weeks ago I added a Foxface Rabbit Fish. Was doing great.... for a few days. Then I noticed what appeared to be bite marks on his side and him and the Tang seemed to be showing aggression towards each other. Then a few days later he died. He looked extremely beat up.

Then a week later I decided I should add something less aggressive and smaller. Maybe the Tang would ignore some smaller fish? So I added a school of Chromis, 9 of them. One by one they dwindled. I am now down to four. No sign of them at all. (checked around the tank, none jumped).

Any ideas? Everyone seemed to get a long before.

 

[Scorpius]

Chromis are known to pick each other off one by one till there's only one left. If you're looking to have a school of fish you'd be better off with any cardinal fish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree chromis will go to war at times.
Helpful would be pics of any fish mentioned under white light to see if anything else noticeable. They are suceptible to uronema and other conditions.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Agree chromis will go to war at times.
Helpful would be pics of any fish mentioned under white light to see if anything else noticeable. They are suceptible to uronema and other conditions.

Interesting. I never knew that about Chromis.

Unfortunately I didnt get any pictures. His fins looked bit up and the bite mark looked similar to a human one. Like a half circle on the top and half circle on the bottom?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Interesting. I never knew that about Chromis.

Unfortunately I didnt get any pictures. His fins looked bit up and the bite mark looked similar to a human one. Like a half circle on the top and half circle on the bottom?

Sounds like aggression.

Does the marks look like this ? :

 

[MichaelReefer]

Sounds like aggression.

Does the marks look like this ? :

No, not flesh loss around it like that. Just a bite mark. Again, and his fins looked pretty ripped up. My assumption is it was the tang but have no real evidence.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Cardinals will pick their way down also, depending on species. Most fish in captivity do not behave as they do in the wild. Especially in smaller systems. Anything under 1000g. So, if you want multiples of something, you have to provide enough room for them to live alone.
My indigo dottyback trio lived for their lives in mostly peace.
I have tried many types of fish, but they all want their own place when they mature. As juvies, they will hang together, then, nope, fight it out.