Lost 4 fish in past 2 weeks!!

[bkhunt]

I have a 90g reef and have lost 4 fish in the past week. All fish were eating and swimming the night prior to them going missing. The system is 2 years old and I have owned it for the past year. I lost a powder brown tang, swallow tail angel, blue spot jawfish, and a large green chromis. I just found the first courpse. The fish was missing eyes gills and all the internal organs with no damage to the body of the fish. I have not added and rock to the system since I have owned it. I have no snails or hermit crabs in my tank. Only inverts are a sand sifting star, 2 cleaner shrimp, and a peppermint shrimp.

salinity .025
ph 8.2
nitrate 5
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
dkh 9
cal 380

Any suggention would be great. I am not looking forward to tearing the tank apart and looking at ever rock with a fine tooth comb.

Any other info needed just ask!!


Thanks

 

[Mr. E Wrasse]

Do you have any type of angel, pseudochromis, or any other aggressive fish in your tank? Could be a bully issue, especially if all these fish were added just recently. Also I had a blue spot one time and didnt see him for a week and then noticed sand had been moved in the back area behind a rock and there he was. They do jump also so if you dont have a full canopy top, I mean like completely closed cover. Then they can find a way out

 

[bkhunt]

All the fish have been living together with no problems for several months. there are 2 percula clowns, 6 line, ornate wrasse, and now 1 green chromis. The jaw fish was in there for 6 months and I have full screen covers that he could not fit through just because of him. none of the fish have been carpet surfing besides my clowns. the clowns attack my arm and then have jumped out of the tank several times.

not sure if there was some small crab or mantis in there that I have never seen. are there any types of worms that would eatmy fish? I am just confussed beacuse it is all the insides that are gone with no damage from the outside.

 

[danka-cedium]

If it is a mantis, and you have a good guess which rock is his, pull the rock out hold it over a bucket and pour club soda into his hole.

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[bkhunt]

to be honest I have NO clue what is going on. I would assume it would be one of the bottom rocks if it is a mantis. have not had any problem with fish loss for the whole year i have had the tank.

 

[Mr. E Wrasse]

Mantis shrimp are extremely aggressive. He could have been very small when you first set up your tank so maybe you didnt notice. Or it could be something else but I really I have no clue what else would do that to a fish. Even if your fish died from something else theres no way your cleaner shrimp or peppermint shrimp could do that. My guess is a mantis. If I were you, maybe try to shine a light in there at night and see if you can find anything weird going on

 

[jedimasterben]

A mantis would not tolerate any other shrimp in the tank.

 

[danka-cedium]

Some (smaller) are reclusive at least mine was. Just be careful, have your phone ready. BTW they are very quick.
It is a awesome creature, if you want you could setup a smaller tank just for him. 10g should do, might want to make it an acrylic tank.

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[mike007]

Could be a ammonia spike that will kill them quickly. You need to test your water parameters.

 

[bkhunt]

@Mike see test results above. Also an ammonia spike would not answer why they were missing all their organs and eyes with no damage to body.

 

[danka-cedium]

Yea, I don't think a mantis would select just the eyes and organs.. unless he is the Hannibal lector of shrimps

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[NanaReefer]

I know Bristle Worms eat from the inside out. Could be something killed the fish and the BW's cleaned up.

 

[bkhunt]

Well I lost another fish - #5!! I got a some green chromis, mandarin, and kole tang off a local reefer. Well this morning I found the kole dead. When I got it out the same thing. Looks like something went in through the fishes vent. the fish was full of a very thick slime and the guts have all been eating and it really stunk. the fish was last seen alive yesterday morning when I went to work. I really am at a loss a to what it could be. I am going to have to tear the whole tank apart to find what could be killing all my fish.

 

[ritter6788]

If you had a mantis big enough to take out tangs you would know it. They aren't shy creatures and one big enough to take out a tang would be out smiling at you waiting for you to feed it. They will also take out snails, hermits, crabs and shrimp and rarely bother fish.

 

[bkhunt]

ok but what is going to eat fish from the inside out?

 

[ritter6788]

My guess is the fish died from something you can't see. If it isn't water related it could be disease or parasites.

Bristleworms and hermits would pick at a fish from the inside out. Possibly your cleanup crew is getting to them quick. I've had fish die and by morning there is nothing left but an eyeless head.

 

[bkhunt]

Ok I tore tank apart this morning and found nothing. I looked in and on every rock. Found a few bigger bristle worm but no mantis or anything else that looked out of the normal. Now I am looking for any other ideas!! Should do anything else?

 

[droblack]

No way it was a mantis from what you have described. Wouldn't have suddenly killed 4 fish in one night, and eat so selectively. Do a few large water changes and add some carbon. Something is up with your water. Also, check for stray voltage. Did you add a biopellet reactor? If so, make sure your o2 levels are correct.

 

[bkhunt]

I had a cyno outbreak and used redslime remover and added phosphate reactor for a week and used seachem phosgaurd. Removed media and turned on skimmer and all had been good for few weeks until I lost fish. I did add reactor back in with seachem carbon.

 

[jcdeng]

did you check the dead fish's eaten belly for any sign of parasite activity? usually they will leave the host after they killed it but you might find one or two still.