Missing Fish...Again! ???

[Marco S]

I have a 5", (give or take) Harlequin Tusk in a 45 gallon QT with and Achilles Tang and 3 Blue/Green Chomis. All fish are in Copper Power and PraziPro and all are healthy, swimming around good and eating everything I put in the tank. I feed a frozen meaty blend in the morning and flake or pellet in the evening as well as plenty of Nori for the Tang, (that the Tusk eats as well). I even give the Tusk a clam or 2 every other day, so I believe he is well fed.

This morning 1 of my Chromis is missing. There are no body parts, bones or any other signs that it was ever there. This is the second Chromis that has disappeared in this manner since I have had the Tusk in this QT. I even checked all around the tank even though I have a lid.

Is it possible that my Tusk is killing my Chromis???

 

[Dragon52]

The Blue/Green Chromis is known to kill each other. I had 3 that I purchased with the same results as have others here on R2R.

 

[saintsreturn]

I bought 7 and have 1 left a year later. They school and then i see them occasionally bully each other. They also fought territory with my clown. My guess is they either kill each other or just die off quickly.

 

[clm65]

I've heard that they will kill each other...but do they eat each other too? The OP said there is no body left behind.

 

[Dragon52]

I've heard that they will kill each other...but do they eat each other too? The OP said there is no body left behind.

If you have any kind of CUC they will consume the dead in no time, I never saw anything of mine. One day there the next vanished.

 

[Marco S]

I've heard that they will kill each other...but do they eat each other too? The OP said there is no body left behind.

Exactly!!! There is NO BODY.

While I agree that Chromis are notorious for killing each other off and maybe they even start to eat the dead body...there would still be a half eaten body or bones or some sign of the dead fish. In these 2 cases though, there is absolutely no sign of the body. Either they were eaten whole or aliens are taking fish now to do their anal probes instead of humans.

 

[Dragon52]

Exactly!!! There is NO BODY.

While I agree that Chromis are notorious for killing each other off and maybe they even start to eat the dead body...there would still be a half eaten body or bones or some sign of the dead fish. In these 2 cases though, there is absolutely no sign of the body. Either they were eaten whole or aliens are taking fish now to do their anal probes instead of humans.

Of any of the fish that I have lost I have only seen the skeleton of 1, all the others I never found anything even after taking a tank down.

 

[Marco S]

Of any of the fish that I have lost I have only seen the skeleton of 1, all the others I never found anything even after taking a tank down.

I could understand that in a reef tank where there is a ton of places for the dead body to be hidden while it either decays or gets eaten over time. This is in a QT that is bare bottom and has nothing in it besides a few PVC pipes. I would see a body and have seen the other fish that have died and gotten them out as ASAP. I have checked everywhere in the tank and the filter and even around the tank the very day they disappeared so there should be a body and I should be able to find it very easily.

 

[Dragon52]

I could understand that in a reef tank where there is a ton of places for the dead body to be hidden while it either decays or gets eaten over time. This is in a QT that is bare bottom and has nothing in it besides a few PVC pipes. I would see a body and have seen the other fish that have died and gotten them out as ASAP. I have checked everywhere in the tank and the filter and even around the tank the very day they disappeared so there should be a body and I should be able to find it very easily.

My bad, I missed the QT part. Is it possible for them to have jumped out.

 

[Marco S]

My bad, I missed the QT part. Is it possible for them to have jumped out.

I have a lid. There is a small opening for the HOB filter and heater, but it would have to be a strategic jump for them to have made it out that small space since the filter and heater occupy most of the space. Even with that, I did check all around the tank and found no dried up body so I am thinking they did not jump out.

I have gone over all the options in my head over and over both times this has happened. My only question is, is it possible that my Tusk is eating these fish or not?

 

[Lukas75]

I have a lid. There is a small opening for the HOB filter and heater, but it would have to be a strategic jump for them to have made it out that small space since the filter and heater occupy most of the space. Even with that, I did check all around the tank and found no dried up body so I am thinking they did not jump out.

I have gone over all the options in my head over and over both times this has happened. My only question is, is it possible that my Tusk is eating these fish or not?

The one thing I have determined is if there is a hole the fish will find it, and if they can just fit through it they will. Do you have any other pets like a cat or a dog that may have eaten a jumper?

 

[Marco S]

The one thing I have determined is if there is a hole the fish will find it, and if they can just fit through it they will. Do you have any other pets like a cat or a dog that may have eaten a jumper?

I do have a 3 year old Newfoundland. (more like a pony than a dog) and a 3 month old Samoyed that would probably have eaten it if found, so jumping is still not out of the question...

 

[Dragon52]

Other then the other fish eating them that would be my only thought. If the fish did eat them I would think you would see some evidence of a skeleton or parts of one.

 

[Marco S]

Other then the other fish eating them that would be my only thought. If the fish did eat them I would think you would see some evidence of a skeleton or parts of one.

I'm thinking the same. The Tusk is not quite big enough to swallow it whole yet and the way it tears apart the clams I feed would lead me to believe some pieces of the fish would be left behind for me to find either in the tank or in the filter.

 

[ca1ore]

It is quite surprising to most people how quickly all evidence of a dead fish can disappear, even in a QT tank where there are very few places to 'hide' the evidence. Green chromis are akin to flies in their ability to die off certainly, I have a bunch in a 20 gallon QT, and when one died recently, I left the body there just to see how quickly it vanished. Answer: about 24 hours. While I doubt the tusk is killing them, it and the remaining chromis may well be consuming the corpse.

 

[Marco S]

It is quite surprising to most people how quickly all evidence of a dead fish can disappear, even in a QT tank where there are very few places to 'hide' the evidence. Green chromis are akin to flies in their ability to die off certainly, I have a bunch in a 20 gallon QT, and when one died recently, I left the body there just to see how quickly it vanished. Answer: about 24 hours. While I doubt the tusk is killing them, it and the remaining chromis may well be consuming the corpse.

The main thing I wanted to know is if the Tusk was killing them or not because I have already sacrificed my CUC for him and I really want to have a few smaller fish since most of the fish I have will be fairly large. If I have to sacrifice that too I may have to take him back to my LFS as much as I love that fish.

As far as Chromis dropping dead goes, I bought 8 and am down to 2...

 

[Webslinger]

Many Chromis -becomes 1 Chromis. I have never seen a dead fish in my tank. CUC takes care of it in short order.

 

[KrisReef]

That small tank is crowded even if only the tusk were in there. A fish his size, when you are feeding him clams every other day has a large stomach that gets painfully hungry in the off days. The chromis naturally are feeling pinched for swimming room too, so they will be nipping at each other more than likely. Once one of them gets weak and a little tattered that fish is marked as the weakling in the tank and at some point the other chromis and the tusk (and maybe even the tang) will get tired of that little weaklings whimpers and protests and they will jump on him all at once and tear the corpse into a billion shreds of flesh and bone and enjoy a great meal and gain more living room for the strong survivors. Be glad you have these chromis in the tank to take pressure off the tang. They may just be enough distraction to keep the tusk from battling with the tang in that crowded environment. That you don't find any remains only means that the dead were tasty and nutritious.