Hi guys, yesterday I lost 5 firefish and 4 banggai. Both groups were fairly new additions. They were healthy and happy on Saturday. Notably missing Sunday. And today I went looking and shook rocks. I'd think with 9 missing fish I'd find some carnage but nope. No trace. Anyone care to take a guess what happened to them. My biggest fish is a 3 inch tang and my largest coral is a 4-5inch mushroom. Nothing in the tank is particularly large or carnivorous. All other fish are fine.
Vanishing fish
- Thread starter AllieBdot
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vetteguy53081
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Take a CLEAN stick or rod and sweep gently through your gravel bed and see if either a work or large shrimp pops out. Either theyre jumping one by one or you may have a predator as pictured below:
Michael Gray
Valuable Member
Dam that many missing. Something is eating or they are jumping. Overflow? Sump? Or u got a murder
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AllieBdot
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Gross. We did a tank transfer a couple months ago and cleaned the sand bed of all creepy crawlTake a CLEAN stick or rod and sweep gently through your gravel bed and see if either a work or large shrimp pops out. Either theyre jumping one by one or you may have a predator as pictured below:
ys. The weird part to me is the banggai hung out at the top corner of the tank between the overflow and the glass and the fire fish stayed together and hung out lower but in the rock work. So the same thing getting to them is blowing my mind.
Michael Gray
Valuable Member
My fire fish vanished and I haven't found a body or or anything either. It's been 7 months. He's toast. Lol. Sucks some times. But that's one fish. Missing multiple within 1 night. Suspicious
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AllieBdot
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Its 180 gallons we have:
Kole tang
Lemon peel angel
Copperband
Lyretail anthias
Gold cap goby
Yellow tail damsel
2 little blue damsels
3 little clowns
2 green chromis
Bi color chromis
Purple dottyback
Neon dottyback
Cuc is a couple emerald crabs, assorted snails, hermits and a couple of small cleaner shrimp.
We added 5 banggai and 6 fire fish (added separately and purchased at different stores) recently and have 1 of each left as of today.
Everybody is little and and we have plenty of hiding spaces. We haven't had bullying issues other than the occasional chase by the nasty little blue damsels.
The dottybacks are newer but the rest of the crew has been together for at least 6 months, many more than a year.
Kole tang
Lemon peel angel
Copperband
Lyretail anthias
Gold cap goby
Yellow tail damsel
2 little blue damsels
3 little clowns
2 green chromis
Bi color chromis
Purple dottyback
Neon dottyback
Cuc is a couple emerald crabs, assorted snails, hermits and a couple of small cleaner shrimp.
We added 5 banggai and 6 fire fish (added separately and purchased at different stores) recently and have 1 of each left as of today.
Everybody is little and and we have plenty of hiding spaces. We haven't had bullying issues other than the occasional chase by the nasty little blue damsels.
The dottybacks are newer but the rest of the crew has been together for at least 6 months, many more than a year.
Gup
Active Member
I just had a similar problem two fish turning up missing. 2 days ago, I lost a six line wrasse. 2 days earlier, I lost a very small clown. There's no carcass, no nothing. They were speeding nicely am I the only thing they did at night that was similar, they slept close to the rocks. I'm suspecting it has to be the emerald crab.
Does that sound possible? Because I am at a total loss and it would be impossible to get that crap out
Does that sound possible? Because I am at a total loss and it would be impossible to get that crap out
JayA
Active Member
I had disappearing fish that were getting cleaned up quickly by the cuc. Honestly don't know who kills them - other fish in the tank or my crab, but I only twice caught the crab eating the dead fish. If I didn't view those moments, I wouldn't know where they went either...
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
I feel like a mantis or Bobbit would have made itself known by now.
But those seem likely.
Unlikely that normal cuc wouldn’t leave at least something.
But those seem likely.
Unlikely that normal cuc wouldn’t leave at least something.
Suohhen
Well-Known Member
Damsels and dottybacks can be a true terror. Obv they wouldn't kill the fish directly but for new additions to be hiding, jumping, or going into the overflow is common when harassed. Have you thoroughly checked these places? I would highly recommend you set up a qt asap and toss any fish you do find in and any new addition in the future because adding peaceful fish to an established community always has its challenges.
ying yang
2500 Club Member
This critter went unnoticed for 2 years according to the subtitles and found it when stripped tank down at a lfs in england.
Said did little damage before found it so lucky them.
What amazes me is it split into 3 pieces when removed and put into empty tank.i am new to saltwater so my experience limited but i would say splitting into 3 is some kind of survival mechanism to save/ replicate itself probably.
Interesting to see but defo wouldnt like one in my tank ^_^
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
This is a good point.
Aggressive fish will quickly remove any newcomers if it is a really mean one.
