Disappearing Fish?

[Linda]

Hi everybody. I was wondering if anybody has ever experienced the disappearing fish trick? My tank is now 8 months old and the corals from the LFS and from Tangster are looking great and growin like weeds. However, the few little fish that I had in the tank disappeared over a period of time. By disappeared, I mean they completely vanished not a carcass, scale, nothin. I had 2 hermit crabs and determined that they must be the culprits so I got rid of em. Oh, the water chemistry is just fine, too. Could it have been the HC's?

[karlas]

have your heard any clicking in the tank or a tapping noise? mantis shrimp are hitchikers that people get in live rock sometimes and there famous for making fish disapear. they might make a noise at night.
The Lurker's Guide to Stomatopods - Mantis Shrimp

hermit crabs usually are not a problem unless you get a very large type of hermit that might take out small fish but most like the blue leg, brown leg, and dwarf hermits are pretty much scavageners. check out the above link and see if you might have noticed anything in your tank similar to anything on that site

[omard]

Fish often mysteriously disappear, often to magically reappear days later.

Jumping is probably the most common reason for disappearance, along with being eaten by something else.

Fish may jump out of stress due to actions of other fish, or unhappiness with general tank conditions.

Usually found somewhere near tank all dried up on carpet...where the reefer term "carpet surfing" comes from.

Of course if you have cats. Like with hermits, there will be little evidence left.


Good Luck!

[amcarrig]

Unless you have a spearing mantis in your tank, I wouldn't blame it on a mantis. It's most likely that your fish are dying and the hermit crabs are cleaning up the carcasses. If the fish that are in your signature line are the ones that are missing, I can almost guaranty that the mandarin died of starvation as they need large, mature tanks with refugiums that are full of pods. How big were the clown and blue tang before they went missing?

[BillyD]

I had this problem aswell in my reef tank, Lost a small Regal and 2 clowns. Took me forever to figure out my mushrooms were eating them.

I've since moved the shrooms to my FOWLR, where the fish are to big for them to eat.

[Reefdiver72]

Mushroom anenomes some corals there are alot of diffrent things that will eat fish but normally just sick fish. I had a 5 inch copperband just vanish 2 days later my little bubble tip spit out the remains I guess I should have fed it more. But I am also missing anthias but I think I found my other bubble ate them also I have some pics I will add when I get everything out of my old computer.

[Reefdiver72]

[Reefdiver72]

this guy wants in the display to eat the rest of them he is in a tank that butts up against a show tank and is trying to figure out how to get in there to eat the rest of them.

[Linda]

I haven't seen anything martian-like in my tank. That green one is scarrry lookin.

[Linda]

My tank is nano and only on rare occasions is there an open lid for them to jump out of. I know it's not the cats -- had a betta sittin on the kitchen counter (no lid). After taking a whiff, I guess the cats decided that seafood's not their thing.