a mystery wrasse mystery

mess7777 · 09/26/2012, 05:59 PM

It would appear my favorite fish has gone to fishy heaven.

It pulled a disappearing act, which is has done before for 1-2 days, but this time is different. Today I am seeing little pinky blue scales on the bottom of the tank. Surely this is not a good sign.

I have had this fish over a year, and haven't added anything to the tank in a couple months. Even then, it was only corals, no new fish.

There is no aggression between the inhabitants, occasionally the clowns got a little peeved that the wrasse would go near their spot, but nothing major or dangerous.

The day before it went missing, it ate a one eighth cube of cyclop-eze that was still frozen. It was a big pig so I didn't think anything of it. However, is it possible that the frozen chunk got inside it's belly and killed it from being overfed or too much crazy red cyclops at one time? That is about the only explanation I can come up with....but it seems far fetched at best.

The worst part is that I can't find the body, and am not about to take apart all the rock work. I have unfortunately lost a couple other fish that were never found (yellow tang, exquisite wrasse, blue chromis), and have never had problems with nutrient spikes after the fact.

This is the first fish that didn't show any signs of being ill or stressed and just simply went away.

It's really too bad, as I am not in a mindset to shell out the kind of cash it takes for a mystery wrasse just to have this happen.

kingfisher62 · 09/26/2012, 06:13 PM

Could it have gone carpet surfing? Check the floors.
could it have made it in to the sump?

Fretfreak13 · 09/26/2012, 06:13 PM

Sorry about your loss.

Sometimes these things just happen though. I don't know and even doubt that eating frozen food could have hurt him/her so badly, my fish eat off of the cube while its thawing and I've never seen any bad results. You've had him/her for quite awhile, but there is no way to know how old it was when you bought it either.

You seem very knowledgeable and it probably had a wonderful home to live in. In fact, who knows, he might still be in there!

mess7777 · 09/26/2012, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingfisher62

Could it have gone carpet surfing? Check the floors.
could it have made it in to the sump?

nothing on the floor, nothing found it the sump. the scales on the bottom of the tank are what makes me think it is gone for good this time.

kingfisher62 · 09/26/2012, 06:39 PM

Sorry , I missed the pink scale part in that paragraph. You are right that is not a good sign.

Could anything have been harrasing it. I have never seen scales in my tank unless there was a struggle with another fish or sraping it self on a rock to try to get away. If it was injured it could be hiding and trying to recover.

swcc · 09/26/2012, 09:25 PM

HMM..maybe a killer crab in the tank hidden so well ya never have seen it...I doubt the frozen nature of the cyclopese would have killed it..Over the years I have had many a fish take a chunk of frozen food and never the worse for wear.

r-balljunkie · 09/27/2012, 01:24 AM

Rogue crabs are often the culprit.

09/26/2012, 05:59 PM	#1
mess7777 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: QC,QC Posts: 987	a mystery wrasse mystery It would appear my favorite fish has gone to fishy heaven. It pulled a disappearing act, which is has done before for 1-2 days, but this time is different. Today I am seeing little pinky blue scales on the bottom of the tank. Surely this is not a good sign. I have had this fish over a year, and haven't added anything to the tank in a couple months. Even then, it was only corals, no new fish. There is no aggression between the inhabitants, occasionally the clowns got a little peeved that the wrasse would go near their spot, but nothing major or dangerous. The day before it went missing, it ate a one eighth cube of cyclop-eze that was still frozen. It was a big pig so I didn't think anything of it. However, is it possible that the frozen chunk got inside it's belly and killed it from being overfed or too much crazy red cyclops at one time? That is about the only explanation I can come up with....but it seems far fetched at best. The worst part is that I can't find the body, and am not about to take apart all the rock work. I have unfortunately lost a couple other fish that were never found (yellow tang, exquisite wrasse, blue chromis), and have never had problems with nutrient spikes after the fact. This is the first fish that didn't show any signs of being ill or stressed and just simply went away. It's really too bad, as I am not in a mindset to shell out the kind of cash it takes for a mystery wrasse just to have this happen.

09/26/2012, 06:13 PM	#2
kingfisher62 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: massachusetts Posts: 4,972	Could it have gone carpet surfing? Check the floors. could it have made it in to the sump? __________________ 55g Tank - 216W T5's Foxface, tomato clown, yellow tailed damsel, Starrie Blennie, LPS and softies 29G Biocube- 120W LED's 2 percular clown, Six line Wrasse , LPS and softies Current Tank Info: 55 gl. Reef tank ,29g biocube Reef

09/26/2012, 06:13 PM	#3
Fretfreak13 I am not a boy! Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,114	Sorry about your loss. Sometimes these things just happen though. I don't know and even doubt that eating frozen food could have hurt him/her so badly, my fish eat off of the cube while its thawing and I've never seen any bad results. You've had him/her for quite awhile, but there is no way to know how old it was when you bought it either. You seem very knowledgeable and it probably had a wonderful home to live in. In fact, who knows, he might still be in there! __________________ ~Kali Just keep swimmin'

09/26/2012, 06:39 PM	#5
kingfisher62 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: massachusetts Posts: 4,972	Sorry , I missed the pink scale part in that paragraph. You are right that is not a good sign. Could anything have been harrasing it. I have never seen scales in my tank unless there was a struggle with another fish or sraping it self on a rock to try to get away. If it was injured it could be hiding and trying to recover. __________________ 55g Tank - 216W T5's Foxface, tomato clown, yellow tailed damsel, Starrie Blennie, LPS and softies 29G Biocube- 120W LED's 2 percular clown, Six line Wrasse , LPS and softies Current Tank Info: 55 gl. Reef tank ,29g biocube Reef

09/26/2012, 09:25 PM	#6
swcc Moved On Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Tampa Fl Posts: 1,659	HMM..maybe a killer crab in the tank hidden so well ya never have seen it...I doubt the frozen nature of the cyclopese would have killed it..Over the years I have had many a fish take a chunk of frozen food and never the worse for wear.

09/27/2012, 01:24 AM	#7
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	Rogue crabs are often the culprit.