Newer peaceful tank - killer fish?

lmhb · 05/09/2014, 11:02 AM

I have a 200 gallon tank that is set up for around 3 months.

For a while it was just 4 yellow tangs, 2 Ocellaris clownfish, 2 fire shrimp, 2 snails & 1 hermit crab living very peacefully with one unknown anemone type thing that we haven't identified but must have been on the live rock & grew.

We recently added: a mated pair of red head solon fairy wrasses, a midas blenny, a very small bicolor blenny, 3 zebra barred dartfish & 1 blue dot jawfish.

And then the saga began;

the male wrasse died of some fungal thing,

the bi color blenny is MIA for a week now,

one of the fire shrimp was eaten for dinner, we found the legs and shell floating.

Is there a killer fish in our tank ? What would you think it is?

Cymonous · 05/09/2014, 11:10 AM

Are you sure the legs and shell was not a molt? The blenny could be hiding. You have quite a large tank and would assume a lot of rockwork.

Any serpent starfish?

Tsancho82 · 05/09/2014, 11:40 AM

Shrimp shed so it might still be alive and what you are seeing is its casing. The jawfish tends to be aggressive towards similar looking fish like your blenny's, might be an answer to your MIA bi color but like Cymonous said, your tank is pretty large and could be hard to find burrowers like that. Its also big enough that they all should be able to burrow on their own turf with out confrontation.

I have a 90 gal and cant find my lawnmower blenny for days sometimes, they are good and disguising themselves and hiding within the rocks. Good luck, hope they are all alright.

lmhb · 05/21/2014, 09:03 AM

Thanks for you help & replies. You were right about the shrimp. It was just molting. Unfortunately I think it is safe to say the blenny is gone, never saw him again, not in the tank and not in the filter or overflows.

But we added a dozen snails and someone in the tank thinks they are snack food. Ate through half of them in a week. Can that be because the snails are no good and dead or some fish likes fine dining?

Cymonous · 05/21/2014, 09:21 AM

Your hermit may be on a killing spree. Or you have another predator in your tank.

Dangleflow9 · 05/21/2014, 11:40 AM

I'm gonna go ahead and guess the shrimp molted with the rest of these guys.

05/09/2014, 11:02 AM	#1
lmhb Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 2	Newer peaceful tank - killer fish? I have a 200 gallon tank that is set up for around 3 months. For a while it was just 4 yellow tangs, 2 Ocellaris clownfish, 2 fire shrimp, 2 snails & 1 hermit crab living very peacefully with one unknown anemone type thing that we haven't identified but must have been on the live rock & grew. We recently added: a mated pair of red head solon fairy wrasses, a midas blenny, a very small bicolor blenny, 3 zebra barred dartfish & 1 blue dot jawfish. And then the saga began; the male wrasse died of some fungal thing, the bi color blenny is MIA for a week now, one of the fire shrimp was eaten for dinner, we found the legs and shell floating. Is there a killer fish in our tank ? What would you think it is?

05/09/2014, 11:10 AM	#2
Cymonous My Clown Attacks Me Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 2,105	Are you sure the legs and shell was not a molt? The blenny could be hiding. You have quite a large tank and would assume a lot of rockwork. Any serpent starfish? __________________ 100 Gallon Long with 20L sump 10 Gallon Office Tank Current Tank Info: 2 False Percula Clowns, One Spot Foxface, Diamond Watchman Goby, Yellow Tail Damsel, Engineer Goby

05/09/2014, 11:40 AM	#3
Tsancho82 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Tempe AZ Posts: 102	Shrimp shed so it might still be alive and what you are seeing is its casing. The jawfish tends to be aggressive towards similar looking fish like your blenny's, might be an answer to your MIA bi color but like Cymonous said, your tank is pretty large and could be hard to find burrowers like that. Its also big enough that they all should be able to burrow on their own turf with out confrontation. I have a 90 gal and cant find my lawnmower blenny for days sometimes, they are good and disguising themselves and hiding within the rocks. Good luck, hope they are all alright. __________________ If at first you don't succeed... so much for skydiving. Current Tank Info: 90 gallon tank, 20 gal sump, Reef Octopus 1000 & ESHOPPS S-150 Protein Skimmers, Blueline HD 40x return pump, 48 inch 8x54W Sunlight Supply Tek Light

05/21/2014, 09:21 AM	#5
Cymonous My Clown Attacks Me Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 2,105	Your hermit may be on a killing spree. Or you have another predator in your tank. __________________ 100 Gallon Long with 20L sump 10 Gallon Office Tank Current Tank Info: 2 False Percula Clowns, One Spot Foxface, Diamond Watchman Goby, Yellow Tail Damsel, Engineer Goby

05/21/2014, 09:03 AM	#4
lmhb Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 2	Thanks for you help & replies. You were right about the shrimp. It was just molting. Unfortunately I think it is safe to say the blenny is gone, never saw him again, not in the tank and not in the filter or overflows. But we added a dozen snails and someone in the tank thinks they are snack food. Ate through half of them in a week. Can that be because the snails are no good and dead or some fish likes fine dining?

05/21/2014, 11:40 AM	#6
Dangleflow9 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Central VA/ Western MA Posts: 63	I'm gonna go ahead and guess the shrimp molted with the rest of these guys.