Where Are My Fish Going

[pandc]

I have had my Marine tank set up for about 5 months now and a few of my fish and shrimps are gone. The 1st to go were the blood red shrimps, we only saw them for about 2 mins before they went into the rocks and never saw them again. I was told that this was normal so thought nothing of it only that I won't buy them again as I've never seen them since and they have been in there for about 3 months.

Next to disappear was my fire fish, it was only in the tank for a day before that disappeared into the rocks never to be seen again. Not even at feeding time but I thought well another shy one so won't buy one of them again.

My 1st fish into the tank were 2 Clown fish and they are the most prominent always swimming about in full view and have been in there since the tank was 1st set up. 2 nights ago one of them never appeared at feeding time and has not been seen since.

There has been no sign of the missing fish / shrimps, not even floating belly up so when the Clown fish disappeared I started to think that something was up.

Where could they have gone ? Do fish sometime wedge themselves under the rocks to die ? do they normally float to the top when they die ? If they are dead in there somewhere should there be tell tale signs with the water quality from the decaying bodies ?


The tank water parameters are OK and all of my fish look very healthy and I've never had a problem, touch wood, but can't understand where they have gone

The tank has about 20kg of base rock and 20kg of live rock. It also has 4 soft corals as I have only just started to build the collection up.

What should I do next, empty all the rocks to see if their dead bodies are in there somewhere ? Think that's enough questions for now.

Paul

 

[demonmagus]

you could unbury the rocks, it'll show what's been happening I suppose

 

[pandc]

Also forgot to ask do hermit crabs eat each other or just steal each others shells as they are dwindling too.

 

[demonmagus]

both I think

 

[N1z]

m8 ive had same problem went away came back to have no shrimp!
prehaps a mantis hate to scare u but when u loose that many with ok parameter, it gets u thinking...

 

[SkiFletch]

m8 ive had same problem went away came back to have no shrimp!
prehaps a mantis hate to scare u but when u loose that many with ok parameter, it gets u thinking...

Agreed, could be a mantis. Do you hear clicking noises coming from your tank ever? Also, can you post pictures of your rock setup? Is it really compact, are there big open areas to swim in, is it up against the glass, that sort of thing. And did you checck the carpet for the missing fish?

 

[crazyelece]

Also check your overflows if you have them, sometimes they jump in there.

If they did happen to die and you have a sufficient cleaning crew, typically you won't see a body as it will be cleaned up by the crew before you can find it.

 

[pandc]

I've checked all power heads, filter pump etc but no sign of any of the missing fish or shrimp. I tried taking a photo but it comes out rubbish with the flash on as it just reflects the flash and if I turn it off then they come out blurd.

I have a 275 litre corner style tank with a pyramid style rock formation in the centre, there is plenty of space around the rock and is enough gaps for the Yellow Tangs and the Urchin to swim / move through. I do hear the occasional click but I think it's the Banggi Cardinal as they are supposed to make a clicking noise when annoyed by the other fish.

Only clean up crew I have put in are 2 x Blood shrimp, 12 x hermit crabs and 6 x Turbo snails. I never saw the shrimp as they disappeared as soon as I put them in, not even an occasional glimps so never bought any more. The crabs just go around attaching each other so their numbers have dwindled but the snails are still there. The Firefish was only seen for about a day or so then disappearance of the Clown fish was strange. Don't think I have enough of a clean up crew to eat a whole fish in one go.

I would of thought I'd see a body though, very strange indeed.

How would I know if I've got one of these Mantis Shrimps, I take it they are wee buggers and eat your fish. Must be quite big to get a fish so how big are they and what do they look like. Will go and do some research on them.

Cheers

Paul

 

[SkiFletch]

bout the same size as a blood shrimp. look l ike underwater praying mantises

 

[PaulEbs]

Surely you'd know if you had one of these..

Sorry to hear about the missing fish, but if you do have one of those ^ buggars, then atleast they look pretty funky.

 

[Aquascaper]

The picture above is of a Peacock Mantis, a rare find, more often than not it is the more drab species that are found hitch-hiking on live rock, being dull they are harder to spot as they can wedge themselves into small crevices and are coloured the same as the rock.

The reason you have not seen your blood shrimps is either that they have died due to bad acclimatisation, predators, ilness, etc. or, the more likely reason, they are a social shrimp and will not feel safe in numbers less than three and threfore will hide away.

The firefish is much the same, another social animal that prefers a group environment, and thus will tend to shy away and stay in rockwork rather than free-swimming if kept singularly or with the wrong tankmates.

As for the clownfish, aside from predators, a likely reason could be that the fish was sick or injured (possibly due to being in the tank during a cycle - you mentioned that they were in the tank from day one). If a fish gets sick or injured its natural instinct is to find a safe place to hide, this is usually in the rockwork or in the lee of a coral or rock so that the current is less. Unfortunately this is where preadators lurk and there are plenty in any aquarium with live rock from day one.

Its not just shrimps, hermit crabs and snails that devour dead or dying animals - there is a whole host of detritivores ready to cleanup after a death - bristleworms to name but one. It is very unusual to see a dead body in a reef tank, I myself have only seen one in just over 2 years.

The best advice I can give is to stake-out the tank after lights out with a small lamp on away from the tank giving just enough light for you to see by, drop in a little food and see what appears.
Whatever you do don't pull down the reef just to try and find bodies, for a start you won't fnd anything but what you will do is destroy a still very fragile ecosystem - one possibility is that you disturb a pocket of gas under a piece of rock that could crash your tank.

HTH

 

[pandc]

I meant the clown fish were the 1st fish we bought, the tank was left to cycle with just water, base rock and coral sand for 4 weeks then the live rock was added and it was another 4 weeks before any fish were added when the water tests showed that it was steady.

Think my Flame Angel is now going the same way, I have had it for 3 weeks now and it was shy but still quite prominent till a few days ago when it just started to hide in the rocks. It never came out at feeding time last night or tonight so i think it may be on it's way out

The fish I have in the tank are as follows :

2 x clown fish (just bought another one)
1 x Banggai Cardinal (was a mating pair but the male popped it's clogs while caring the eggs)
2 x Yellow tangs
1 x Orchid Dottyback
2 x Gobies (the white ones, sorry don't know their proper name )
1 x Striped Slimefish
1 x Fire fish (probably dead)
1 x Flame Angel (about to die I think)

The 2 yellow tangs were introduced together but are they too aggressive for the other fish ?

Sorry if some of these questions seem a bit dumb but I'm learning as I go here.

 

[reefrhoder]

Whats a slimefish???
are they predatory?
keith

 

[SkiFletch]

Lets back the truc up here. I just realized, we're missing a host of info . Starting from the top, What are your following water stats?

Temp
pH
Salinity/specific gravity
ammonia, nitrite, nitrate
phosphate
alkalinity (kH)
calcium
magnesium

You might not know some of the above. If you can't test for them, and have an LFS who can, please bring them a sample and have them do it asap. We may be looking at an underlying chemistry issue here.


Second, some info on the tank's maintenance would be helpful:

Sump, canister, ugf, or other mechanical filtrations used?
Sand or crushed coral for substrate? How deep?
How often and what volume are water changes performed?
IF you have crushed coral, is the substrate vaccumed during water changes?
Is carbon, phosphate media, or nitrate media used anywhere in the tank?
What lighting is on the tank, and what is its photoperiod?
Is the tank treated with any chemicals ever?


And last but not least, some questions about the livestock:

Any aggression between fish, corals, or inverts?
What do you feed, how often, and how much?
Do the corals appear healthy (fully extended polyps, healthy colors, etc)?


I know thats a lot of questions, but answering them all should help pin down the nature of your problem. I hope its an easy fix for your sake.