Mysterious Clownfish Disapearances

[1entra]

hello...

 

[sophos9]

You got a webcam?

Film the tank and see what happens....

 

[dilbert]

Or a new IP camera starts here from GBP 40. We got such one and it delivers suitable images. Generally connected with an Ethernet cable to your PC or home network (i.e. your router) you can watch what's going on with your PC's Web browser.

Another hint I've read is to use a red light. I haven't tried it out but I will definitely get a red light torch and a fixed red light, too. In my opinion, just the reef tanks invites to sit very near to the tank and spot the little details (whereas the common fish tank is to look at from a distance).

 

[littleme1969]

If it where me I would remove the suspect picece of rock hold over a bucket and pour carbonated spring water through the hole, if nothing happens get some bendy wire of some sort and give it a good poke!..lol If its a crab they will hang on for dear life, if its a matis it will come out with no issues what so ever with RO or carbonated spring water. Some large aggressive crabs will burrow through pourous live rock, and as they grow they dig bigger holes.
If no look with that piece of rock I would take drastic action Try the dipping and carbonated water method on all rock with no coral on it. Dont worry about mini feather dusters etc, as these are quite hardly and all mine survived an original 30 min dip when my rock came in. The bits with coral attached I would use the carbonated water running through the wholes method. Most coral will be OK out of the water for a few minutes while you do this. I had zoos and evn some hard corals that where attached to my live rock survive a 30 min dip with no ill effects.
Your at a turning point now where you have to find out whats going on, and i'm afraid tearing down the tank is the only way to go to be sure.
It could be just that you have been unlucky and the fish have died from something in the water and have been eaten by your clean up crew or any pest crabs you have.
At least you dont have too many attached corals to worry about, 90% of my rock work now has stuff attached but if I started loosing fish at that rate I would still do a strip down.
Hope you catch the little bugger soonnnnn, so you can move forward with your tank

 

[chrissaysyes]

Sorry you're going through all of this. Littleme is right, you're going to have to sacrafice some for the greater good. Dip any suspicious rocks and then place the rocks in a quarantine tank. Good luck to ya.

 

[1entra]

I can swear this whole ordeal is getting me right paranoid as every time I look at my tank I swear I am seeing more holes and current the holes seem to be getting bigger each day I look at them! I think the concept of having a "preying" mantis is really doing my head in and I'm sure I'm just noticing previous holes in more detail now that I'm on the constant look out for them! I would not be surprised if there is more than just one perpertrator!!

I am going to be so glad when I catch whatever is responsible so I can be at peace of mind again!!

Thank you all for the advice you have been posting!

By the way for future referance do you think I should carry out a freshwater or carbonated water dip with every new pieces of LR I get? Which one will work best and how long should I do the dip for? As I never want this sequence of events occuring again!!!!

 

[littleme1969]

I dip all my new rock in fresh RO for 30 mins, as I mentioned above it will remove mantis with no problems what so ever, the crabs on the other hand are harder to get rid of. Just have a large container of some fort that you can leave the rock in for a while, then take each piece out at a time and give it a close inspection, poke any holes you can see to encourage anything to come out. It wont affect any nitrate spike at all, in fact it will help as it will remove more dead and dying material before you add it to your tank. Carbonated water is best for crabs so I hear, so any larger holes should be run through with this and given a good prod!..lol

Good luck and let us know what you catch

 

[1entra]

Capturing the predator - Method 1​

I made myself a bottle trap earlier and have placed it into my tank with a prawn inside it as bait about 45mins ago. So far I have managed to attract/trap my cleaner shrimp, 1 small hermit and 2 snails into the bottle but no mantis, although I have heard several clicks come out of my tank already. I am very sceptical this will work but but it is Plan A on my course of action!

I know my cleaner, hermit and snails are at risk in the trap as they have now also become bait, but there is no way I am taking it out, and wrecking the hole plan! I know it may sound horrible but I am willing to risk losing them as long as I manage to capture the one(s) responsible for the deaths of my fish!

I really hope the shrimp/crab takes the bait and this works! (fingers crossed!)

 

[chrissaysyes]

just pray that mantis doesnt decide to burrow and punch through the bottom of your tank

oops, just noticed you have acrylic nevermind

 

[Allen]

I lost a lot of clowns overnight too when I first started.

All of mine were taken out by a false gramma overnight and ended up mashed in the powerhead intakes.

 

[fishstick]

This is a cliffhanger thread.... we are all hoping that you are successful and the bu**er takes the bait. I think you are wise to wait a day or so for the THING to be really hungry.
I have a similar problem in that I have seen (once) in my tank a 1" crab and this morning there was a small crab dead with its stomach ripped open - I don't think the cause was the blenny or the Rainford's goby or the peppermint shrimp.

 

[Lynden]

I could be wrong but I think you may be on a wild goose chase. A smashing mantis shrimp would much sooner take down any of your inverts over your fish. A spearer would eat fish, but they can't dig rock burrows. Secondly it takes more than a day for a smasher to make burrows, they can't simply "drill" instantly into the rock and if they did you would hear it constantly.

I cannot recommend dipping live rock into RO water. It will kill many of the smaller organisms (bacteria included) and if you dip all your rock at once you will have a re-cycle. Pouring CO2 water into the holes seems a better option.

Lastly, there is more to predation and death than mantis shrimp. A dead fish can be consumed very quickly by your cleaner crew, and many smaller fish can be very delicate. You wouldn't be alone in having small pomacentrids die "for no reason".

If you do find a mantis, try not to kill it. Besides the morality there are many aquarists looking for these things.

 

[littleme1969]

I only reccomended the dipping as a last resort. The 30 min dip I only use on new live rock, and have had no issue with a mini cycle even adding 10kg to 5kg of already established rock.
At this point with no fish to worry about I would think its his only option for piece of mind, you sometimes have to bite the bullet and go back a few steps inorder to go forward. Yes it may result in a small mini cycle and kill off some inhabitants, but its far better doing that, than throwing in more expensive fish just to have them meet the same fate.
I too think its just been bad luck, as there would have been evidence of a crab or mantis. But As ive read before crabs especially can be fanatstic at never been seen, Ive seen people on here have a tank up for 6 months and never see a thing, the first issue they have is when fish start dissapearing. So its best to cover as many bases as you can in trying to track down the probelm. In the end it may well just be bad luck, but better to be safe than sorry IMO

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok well I've never tried this, but it's the method Anthony Calfo uses to rid his rock of shrimps and crabs... Take a bucket just big enough to fit the LR in, and add around 3-5 cups of magnesium chloride or magnesium sulfate per gallon of RO water added to the bucket. According to Calfo, rediculously high magnesium will cause shrimps/crabs to run screaming from the rock. It will also of course stress corals and other life on the rock but apparently doesn't kill them. Like I said, never tried it, only heard it from Calfo himself.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Anthony Calfo, as in Calfo Overflow Calfo?