Help Please. Fish Dead.

[Angler7]

Scenario: Woke up Monday to find a hole dug in my sandbed in the front right corner of my tank about 4'' deep. Sandbed is only 2'' so this was very strange as I don't have any sand dwelling fish or inverts. Yesterday I wake up to another hole hole just like the first in the back right corner of my tank. the sand has been thrown up onto the rocks. At 3:00pm my wife texts me telling me that the smaller of our 2 clowns has been bitten and is dying. the clowns pelvic fins had been bitten off. The clown started swimming late last night but i woke up today to find a huge section of his belly missing. Also my larger clowns anal fin has been bitten. Most recent addition was the foxface on Saturday. Could he do this? Especially to the sand? My first thought was a pistol shrimp hitchhiker. I will try to post pics later. thanks for all suggestions. Ammon-0 N03-0 N04-0 PH-8.2 SG-1.025

[crobattt]

I doubt it's the foxface, they seem to be very timid, and only hurt the other fish if in order to defend themselves.

[disc1]

Sounds like a mantis.

[tymon]

+1 mantis

[Angler7]

how do i figure out if it is a mantis? is there any type of trap or time i could get a look at it?

[ReeferBill]

You have to find which rock he is in and take it out and pour soda wter on it to make it come out .

[tymon]

i would put food near the hole to see if anything comes out. it could come out or not. but its worth a shot to try to ID what it is. If it is a mantis i would post this on the mantis shrimp forum. i know it can be a mission to catch one tho because they are pretty smart.

[bigmikey]

Also if it is a mantis dont put your hand in the tank to try to catch them. You may have a spear class mantis which will definitely split your hand open. You can also look into the diy department and see if you can make a trap for it.

[briankmarsh1980]

Do you happen to hear loud clicking? If you have a mantis you will hear a strange clicking noise

[Angler7]

no loud clicking noises. Wife said she saw the larger clown make the holes. he was carrying the sand with his mouth. yesterday i saw him and the domino chasing each other. any chance it could be the domino?

[Sk8r]

Domino is a distinct possibility. They are all damselfish, and require a lot of room to behave well. If too crowded they can get to fighting, and nest-building is one of those activities that will sometimes spark a fight with other fish. A 150 should be large enough for clowns and several damsels, but---unless you have other damsels besides the clowns and one domino, you may have set up too much stress on that two-sided relationship: adding a yellowtail or two might get the domino's mind off clowns. A mantis remains a possibility, especially if the nest was near its lair: they would have defended it, a bad move against a mantis.

[charleneatkins]

I can not say mantis or fish. I have a marron clown for over a year and he is such a wimp. I got a foxface and it bullied my clown to no end.

[Angler7]

well what is the next best course of action? get rid of the domino? add a damsel? try to find a mantis that i have yet to see?

[tymon]

dominos are so mean. i had one and it picked on everything i put into my tank. finally i just got rid of it. if you add another damsels it may keep his mind off the clowns or not but that will not last forever because one of the damsels with try to kill eachother. i would get rid of the domino. if the mantis was in the tank you would most likely hear clicking or it would come out when you feed the tank. my guess would be the domino they are really mean.

[SwampyBill]

My vote is for the domino, too...esp. if you're not hearing any clicking sounds sounds from a mantis shrimp. Good luck catching it...

[MattAndKim]

there is a good article on damsel selection on advanced aquarist.
the domino is quite aggressive and will get significantly larger than the clowns.

[Angel*Fish]

It's not like a mantis will click constantly - it's something you might need to be listening for. And if you have a spearer type mantis you wouldn't be hearing the clicking sounds. In my limited experience stomatopods don't nibble on live fish. Please note I've only had 3. But nightly attacks until the fish is killed does sound like what I had going on in my tank..

In a 150g tank, assuming you have plenty of rock, it sure seems like these few fish would all coexist.

On a side note a lot of people don't like anemones, but in my opinion you'll have better behaved less problematic clowns if they have something to use as a host. An anemone at the top of a bommie helps keep them away from the sand.

The way to find a mantis is to hunt for him at night with a flashlight. A red light helps keep the animals from running from the light. If you see something shrimp-like with amazing looking eyes staring back at you, that's a mantis.

[Angler7]

thanks for all the replies. i went ahead and removed the domino. just netted him at feeding time. hopefully the attacks will cease. will definitely be getting an anemone for my clown and her new mate. Just hope she pairs up again.

[Angel*Fish]

Good luck, maybe that will solve the problem.

[1st timer]

I don't think rushing out for an anemone is a good idea. They can be difficult to keep, and 1 dying in your tank could kill all fish. My Percula hosted Frogspawn, then Xenia when I moved him to other tank, he was irritating frogspawn to death. I tried a bubbletip anemone that he wouldn't go near... then my skimmer died as did the anemone.
I'm just saying anemones aren't needed /worth the potential risk if you are a beginner. I love looking at my tank after lights out, maybe look and listen for a few nights for signs of a mantis...

[Angel*Fish]

Somehow I missed this before -- you have a niger trigger? While these are typically the most well behaved of the triggers, they are not 100% trustworthy.

And of course you should typically wait 6-12 months before adding anemones.