Poor little thing..

Sisterlimonpot · 02/05/2009, 04:27 PM

The other night our domino damsels wasnâ€™t looking too well, he was pale and looking completely stressed, the wife and I teamed up with a couple nets and tried to get him out and into our quarantine tank. After about 20 minutes of trying different approaches, he ended up retreating into a cave in the live rock and thatâ€™s where he stayed.

After waiting patiently for a couple hours, we knew he wasnâ€™t coming out. Then, the wife and I concluded it was getting late so we decided to abort the attempt and wait until morning, that way we can remove some of the obstacles and have a better shot at getting him.

The next morning we searched the area of the tank where he was last seen and we couldnâ€™t find him. So now it turned into a search and rescue mission, bracing ourselves of the possibility that the outcome wasnâ€™t going to be too positive. We donned our shoulder high gloves and got the stools ready, when my wife saw something out of the ordinary on the bottom of the tank in the far back left corner. After pointing it out to me, it appeared to be the skeletal structure of a fish and immediately we came to the realization that this was our domino damsel.

I grabbed my claws and carefully removed him. We examined him and to our surprise there was nothing left but bone. Shocked and amazed at the same time to think that this could happen overnight. After accepting the outcome we started to make a short list of suspects: the fire shrimp, the emerald crabs or the copepods/isopods. But we have no evidence to exonerate or convict the actual culprit.

So folks, I turn to you here at reef central for your opinions. Any idea what couldâ€™ve done that?

aalhait · 02/05/2009, 04:31 PM

It would be the Fire shrimp or any other crabs you might have!

Even Snails will feed on dead fish... So my guess it died at night and the critters finished him off.

cubsFAN · 02/05/2009, 04:44 PM

second that. just your clean up crew doing their job sir.

Arati · 02/05/2009, 04:45 PM

worms,pods,snails,crabs,shrimp and other fish. like aalhait said it died in the night and the cuc got to work. imo your lucky to find anythign a healthy tank makes short work of a dead fish.

CIGDAZE · 02/05/2009, 04:46 PM

Not surprising. Those janitors really clean up! I had a sleeper goby disappear on me not too long ago...within a half day, there was no trace of him. Literally, not one shred of evidence. Between the hermits, emeralds and shrimp I have, they made quick work of it.

fasteddie99 · 02/05/2009, 05:06 PM

Sorry for your loss if you had an atatchment to your domino damsel. I had one for about 2 months and couldnt wait to get him out of my tank. He was a terror. He chased, taunted, and nipped at every other living thing in the tank. It was like a vacation for the other fish in the tank when I finally removed him.

Like everyone else said, your cleanup crew is doing a great job. You probably have a few bristle worms in there as well, they are usually the first to smell something dead.

Sisterlimonpot · 02/05/2009, 05:19 PM

He was at the bottom of the tanks hierarchy. He spent 2 months in a QT and survived 3 weeks in the DT. He was making a great transition until the clowns started laying eggs and whenever he got close to the eggs they chased him all over the tank (stressing him out)

snorvich · 02/05/2009, 05:46 PM

Clowns laying eggs are very territorial and aggressive. That is one of the downsides to clowns.

jener8tionx · 02/05/2009, 06:00 PM

My money is on the emerald crab. Mine ate a sixline wrase one night. The wrasse was just fine the day before. In the morning, the emerald was dining on his prize.

02/05/2009, 04:27 PM	#1
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	Poor little thing.. The other night our domino damsels wasnâ€™t looking too well, he was pale and looking completely stressed, the wife and I teamed up with a couple nets and tried to get him out and into our quarantine tank. After about 20 minutes of trying different approaches, he ended up retreating into a cave in the live rock and thatâ€™s where he stayed. After waiting patiently for a couple hours, we knew he wasnâ€™t coming out. Then, the wife and I concluded it was getting late so we decided to abort the attempt and wait until morning, that way we can remove some of the obstacles and have a better shot at getting him. The next morning we searched the area of the tank where he was last seen and we couldnâ€™t find him. So now it turned into a search and rescue mission, bracing ourselves of the possibility that the outcome wasnâ€™t going to be too positive. We donned our shoulder high gloves and got the stools ready, when my wife saw something out of the ordinary on the bottom of the tank in the far back left corner. After pointing it out to me, it appeared to be the skeletal structure of a fish and immediately we came to the realization that this was our domino damsel. I grabbed my claws and carefully removed him. We examined him and to our surprise there was nothing left but bone. Shocked and amazed at the same time to think that this could happen overnight. After accepting the outcome we started to make a short list of suspects: the fire shrimp, the emerald crabs or the copepods/isopods. But we have no evidence to exonerate or convict the actual culprit. So folks, I turn to you here at reef central for your opinions. Any idea what couldâ€™ve done that?

02/05/2009, 04:45 PM	#4
Arati Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: LI,NY Posts: 722	worms,pods,snails,crabs,shrimp and other fish. like aalhait said it died in the night and the cuc got to work. imo your lucky to find anythign a healthy tank makes short work of a dead fish. __________________ I wasn't planning on keeping the turtle until it could pull me around under water. ~RV7AFlyer Current Tank Info: 150 ish gallons of Reef

02/05/2009, 05:06 PM	#6
fasteddie99 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Delaware Posts: 1,028	Sorry for your loss if you had an atatchment to your domino damsel. I had one for about 2 months and couldnt wait to get him out of my tank. He was a terror. He chased, taunted, and nipped at every other living thing in the tank. It was like a vacation for the other fish in the tank when I finally removed him. Like everyone else said, your cleanup crew is doing a great job. You probably have a few bristle worms in there as well, they are usually the first to smell something dead. __________________ 125 gal LED lighting Super Reef Octopus XP-3000 SSS Current Tank Info: 125

02/05/2009, 05:19 PM	#7
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	He was at the bottom of the tanks hierarchy. He spent 2 months in a QT and survived 3 weeks in the DT. He was making a great transition until the clowns started laying eggs and whenever he got close to the eggs they chased him all over the tank (stressing him out) __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

02/05/2009, 05:46 PM	#8
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	Clowns laying eggs are very territorial and aggressive. That is one of the downsides to clowns. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

02/05/2009, 04:31 PM	#2
aalhait Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cupertino, CA Posts: 231	It would be the Fire shrimp or any other crabs you might have! Even Snails will feed on dead fish... So my guess it died at night and the critters finished him off.

02/05/2009, 04:44 PM	#3
cubsFAN Moved On Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: South Lake Tahoe Posts: 1,550	second that. just your clean up crew doing their job sir.

02/05/2009, 04:46 PM	#5
CIGDAZE Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: St. Petersburg, FL Posts: 136	Not surprising. Those janitors really clean up! I had a sleeper goby disappear on me not too long ago...within a half day, there was no trace of him. Literally, not one shred of evidence. Between the hermits, emeralds and shrimp I have, they made quick work of it.

02/05/2009, 06:00 PM	#9
jener8tionx Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: N. Mesa, Az Posts: 524	My money is on the emerald crab. Mine ate a sixline wrase one night. The wrasse was just fine the day before. In the morning, the emerald was dining on his prize.