Help, I think I have a fish-napper!

[kmacartney]

In the last month I have had town fish completely vanish. Both fish are in the 3-4" range. The critters I have added since this started is a large black long spine urchin (who I think eats zoos) and a banded coral shrimp. Any suggestions before I spend more money on fish food (literally).

[kar93]

Mantis?

[kmacartney]

They click right? I have not heard any of that.

[kar93]

Not always.

[kmacartney]

hmmm, I have had this setup for years and have not added any live rock lately. The first fish to vanish was a rabbit fish. I saw it when I got home from work later that day it was gone.

[RichConley]

Originally posted by kar93
Mantis?

Mantis eating fish is a lot more rare than people think it is. Almost all mantis that come in as hitchhikers are smashers (spearers live in mud bottoms, not live rock), and they're simply not equipped to catch fish.


I had a friend who kept a mantis in a 20L. He had a couple of chromis in there, and the mantis never bothered with them.


Might be the shrimp. Might be jumpers. Might be water quality.

[kmacartney]

If they jumped they both jumped to where they are impossible to find.

Honestly my coral health is as good as its ever been. I hope its not the water quality.

[RichConley]

Originally posted by kmacartney
If they jumped they both jumped to where they are impossible to find.

It can happen.



Sometimes something (maybe the coral banded) gets added, and makes the fish jumpy.

[jimwat]

Got Crabs? Probably not the culprit, but very good a getting rid of the bodies.

[kmacartney]

I do have some hermits I'm sure they helped get rid of the evidence.

What a P.I.A.!!!!

[Amoore311]

It wasn't the urchin. They don't eat Zoo's Either.

At 3-4" I doubt it was the CBS either.

[MSU Fan]

Curious, what kind of fish were they? And I can vouch for the fish jumping thing - I had an ocellaris jump out of a tank onto a concrete floor...and then flop 3 feet ( ) over to under a cart. If my dog didn't notice it, I probably wouldn't have found the body for months...

[Capt_Cully]

any anemone's? could be a sting and run. fish died later, crabs cleaned em up? I'm reaching I know, but, just a thought.....

[kar93]

Or maybe they just died. The first thing I assumed was a Mantis but perhaps it was just there time to die.

[jilet]

Urchins do eat zoos, I had one, long spine urchin that ate mine. I saw him in action.

[kmacartney]

Originally posted by MSU Fan
Curious, what kind of fish were they? And I can vouch for the fish jumping thing - I had an ocellaris jump out of a tank onto a concrete floor...and then flop 3 feet ( ) over to under a cart. If my dog didn't notice it, I probably wouldn't have found the body for months...

One fish was a blue lined rabbit fish, the other was yellow tang.

[kmacartney]

I could see how the tang might have been stressed. Three days ago I found him sucked to my power head. Other than that they both have been robust healthy fish. I still have a pair of clowns that have been in there for over two years.

I assume the urchin has been having zoanthid snacks because where ever it hangs out the zoos vanish from tops of the rocks.

[plateboy3293]

I have a long spined urchin hasn't killed my zoa's lives on top of my cuc all day its pretty funny to watch. I don't think you had a long spined urchin maybe a urchin that looked like a long spined urchin.

Maybe the fish died and your clean up crew ate em.
I have a serpent star that I feed silvers to about 5in long and it fits it into its 2in body (juyst the center disc starfish is 8in with arms) and hides for a week.

[plateboy3293]

I also have an arrow crab that eats the silvers very slow so you propably would have seen him unless the nassarius snails join the frenzy and eat with the arrow.
Urchin could have eaten it. I feed mine which is about 1in center with spines 6in a silver about 3IN and takes it away to eat in his cave.

OR THE LONG SHOT they all had an evil plot against the rabbitfish so they started the great attack planting traps over every overhang, ditch or ravine and then they struck with a great force killing the rabbitfish in seconds. Waiting for a good time to eat it they buried it in the sand to save it for later. But the yellow tang couldn't wait he unburied the rabbitfish and took off the cbs jumped on the yellow tang crashed right into the powerhead and died the rabbitfish was buried again with the yellow tang to save for a later date. The End.

What do you guys think?

[RichConley]

Originally posted by kmacartney
I could see how the tang might have been stressed. Three days ago I found him sucked to my power head. Other than that they both have been robust healthy fish. I still have a pair of clowns that have been in there for over two years..

healthy robust fish dont get sucked to powerheads.

[kmacartney]

It's a 2500 gph maxi jet mod.

[kmacartney]

urchin:

[plateboy3293]

Yep thats a long spined urchin eats coraline and algae harmless unless provoked.

[kmacartney]

I guess my fish just were not that healthy. Last time I checked pH 8.1 AM 0, N02 0, N03 0

[Froggy]

Originally posted by kmacartney
It's a 2500 gph maxi jet mod.

I agree. A healthy fish will not get stuck to the draw of a powerhead, especially a MJ Mod. The draw from the shroud is not that strong as it is open and a prop design. If the tang got stuck to it, he was on the way out. It is possible it just died and got drug under a rock and cleaned up by some other critter(s).