Something is Quietly Killing my Fish...

[Kfmmartin19]

Fish Status:

Occy Clown: Alive and Well

Tailspot Blenny: Presumed Dead

Cherub Angelfish: Alive and Well

Purple Firefish: Presumed Dead

Hoeven's Wrasse: Presumed Dead

 

So...something odd is happening with the fish in my BC29...maybe a bit of background can help u guys figure out what the heck is going on! I have had the 29 gal set up for about 15 months. Got my first fish (an occy clown) right after the cycle. 5 months later, I added a Tailspot Blenny. Blenny and clownfish became best friends. 3 months after that, added a cherub angelfish. Clown hated him from the beginning. Tried separating them, reintroducing, breeder nets, and a whole bunch of other things to no avail. Clown would always attack and the cherub would always just swim away. I then decided to add a purple Firefish to see if this would help for any reason. He was very active for a few days, then decided to go live in a back corner behind a rock. I now only see him a couple times a week when feeding the tank. A few months ago, if u remember, I found 2 giant molted crab claws and freaked out. We later decided (N-R and I) that they must have just come dislodged from the rock after nearly a year, and that there was no monster crab in the tank...The attacking of the cherub seemed to subside a bit for a while. About a week ago it picked up again. The cherub is now getting little marks on his sides from diving into the rocks (he got these before, they heal pretty quick). About the same time I notied my Blenny getting skinnier and skinnier, but acting fine. 5 days ago I added a Hoeven's Wrasse, intending it to be my 5th and last fish in the tank. It ate from day one, and at 3" is the biggest fish in my tank. For the first 3 days it swam up front and center, no one bothered it, and he seemed quite comfortable. Yesterday when I went to look at the tank he was no where to be seen. I have a top so I know he didn't jump. All of yesterday he was missing. Today I went to look at the tank and he is still gone. Also, my Blenny is still very skinny, and when I looked at te tank he looked very pale and was breathing rapidly...he was clearly freaked. When I fed the tank, he didn't even eat (he is normally a pig). I am concerned and scared cuz idk what is going on. That wrasse was $50 and I don't want to lose my Blenny! All params are good...I just am very confused and don't want to lose more fish...

 

That was a really long post...

I hope someone can help me figure out what the heck is going on!

Thanks in advance if you took the time to read it.

[gonzalez78]

Have you checked the back chamber for the wrasse? I know my bc29 has the fish guard but still my goby was able to find his way back there. As for the blenny, maybe you don't have enough pods for it to eat.

[Kfmmartin19]

Have you checked the back chamber for the wrasse? I know my bc29 has the fish guard but still my goby was able to find his way back there. As for the blenny, maybe you don't have enough pods for it to eat.

I did check back chambers. Tailspots eat pods? I thought they were mainly veggie eaters?

[gonzalez78]

I did check back chambers. Tailspots eat pods? I thought they were mainly veggie eaters?

Sucks then about your wrasse. I guess I thought wrong about the tailspot hope someone with better experience will chime in. I also now have not seen my orange stripe goby even in the back chambers I just see now my tiger goby.

[doppelganger]

They are omnivores and are know to eat pretty much anything. You should try and supplement his diet with other options like mysis as well as veggie foods.

 

Clowns can be quite territorial. I don't understand, if ur clown is being a jerk and picking on fish, why you add another 2 fish?

[Kfmmartin19]

They are omnivores and are know to eat pretty much anything. You should try and supplement his diet with other options like mysis as well as veggie foods.

 

Clowns can be quite territorial. I don't understand, if ur clown is being a jerk and picking on fish, why you add another 2 fish?

He eats everything.

 

The hope was that by adding more, larger fish that would intimidate him into not being so aggressive. And btw he isn't picking on all the fish, just the cherub, ignores everyone else.

 

I just don't understand how a wrasse that is looking and acting so well suddenly just disappears without a trace in a tank this small...

[albertthiel]

So...something odd is happening with the fish in my BC29...maybe a bit of background can help u guys figure out what the heck is going on! I have had the 29 gal set up for about 15 months. Got my first fish (an occy clown) right after the cycle. 5 months later, I added a Tailspot Blenny. Blenny and clownfish became best friends. 3 months after that, added a cherub angelfish. Clown hated him from the beginning. Tried separating them, reintroducing, breeder nets, and a whole bunch of other things to no avail. Clown would always attack and the cherub would always just swim away. I then decided to add a purple Firefish to see if this would help for any reason. He was very active for a few days, then decided to go live in a back corner behind a rock. I now only see him a couple times a week when feeding the tank. A few months ago, if u remember, I found 2 giant molted crab claws and freaked out. We later decided (N-R and I) that they must have just come dislodged from the rock after nearly a year, and that there was no monster crab in the tank...The attacking of the cherub seemed to subside a bit for a while. About a week ago it picked up again. The cherub is now getting little marks on his sides from diving into the rocks (he got these before, they heal pretty quick). About the same time I notied my Blenny getting skinnier and skinnier, but acting fine. 5 days ago I added a Hoeven's Wrasse, intending it to be my 5th and last fish in the tank. It ate from day one, and at 3" is the biggest fish in my tank. For the first 3 days it swam up front and center, no one bothered it, and he seemed quite comfortable. Yesterday when I went to look at the tank he was no where to be seen. I have a top so I know he didn't jump. All of yesterday he was missing. Today I went to look at the tank and he is still gone. Also, my Blenny is still very skinny, and when I looked at te tank he looked very pale and was breathing rapidly...he was clearly freaked. When I fed the tank, he didn't even eat (he is normally a pig). I am concerned and scared cuz idk what is going on. That wrasse was $50 and I don't want to lose my Blenny! All params are good...I just am very confused and don't want to lose more fish...

 

That was a really long post...

I hope someone can help me figure out what the heck is going on!

Thanks in advance if you took the time to read it.

 

Since you posted a message about this in my thread I will reply there a little later ...

 

Hopefully Kfmmartin1996 I can make some recommendations for you.

[lagunastudio]

I think that crab is in your aquarium and ate it. I just can't imagine how those claws wouldn't have disintegrated over a year of time, they would have. Clowns don't really swim in the rocks that much. Wrasse often burrow in the sand bed at night or in rock caves. This would be the perfect fish for a crab that big, good size meal and accessible. Crabs can be extremely elusive, I NEVER see my porcelain crab. I would think it's dead but I see it's molt about every 3-4 weeks. It's very odd that I never see him because my rockscape doesn't offer many hiding places.

 

But it is possible that the wrasse is hiding. I had a scissor tail goby that disappeared for 16 days and finally came out missing an eye.

 

By the way, I like you had a terrible experience with a cherub angel that i named iggy and my female clown. My clown killed the angel in 24 hours, I was pretty annoyed. But I just got a potter's angel that put her in line. She tried to bully this angel and the potter's quickly took control of the tank. Now my angel is a model citizen.

[Kfmmartin19]

Went to feed the fish today and no sign of the wrasse...or the Blenny...or the Firefish. It appears that something has killed 3 fish in 5 days...before this I have never had a fish die in my tank that has been up for a yr and a half. Something is wrong...idk what. I am afraid for my remaining two fish and don't know what to do. Please help! This is not good...

[gonzalez78]

I'm not an expert nor do I claim to be one but maybe lagunastudio is right and that big crab is alive and in your tank. I hate to suggest this but maybe it's time to turn on the grill and go hunting for crabs. The reason I hate to suggest this is not for the crabs sake but that you will need to take your rock work apart.

[Rollermonkey]

Are you sure these fish are dead, and not just in hiding from your obviously extremely territorial clown fish?

 

Adding more fish to a situation that is already stressed out, is a recipe for problems. How long was the clown in there before you added the next fish?

 

Also, just because the clown and the blenny are "best friends" doesn't mean that the clown is letting the blenny get any food... Maybe he stays close to make sure that it doesn't.

[thegambler26]

u could try a trap and see what gets caught? If you do have a killer crab maybe you can catch him. I know there's various traps out there to buy or u could make one of your own and bait him in with something meaty.

[Kfmmartin19]

I'm not an expert nor do I claim to be one but maybe lagunastudio is right and that big crab is alive and in your tank. I hate to suggest this but maybe it's time to turn on the grill and go hunting for crabs. The reason I hate to suggest this is not for the crabs sake but that you will need to take your rock work apart.

I may have to revive that old thread too...if I can find it haha. U think it wouldn't kill anything for a year and a half and then go on a rampage and kill 3 fish in 5 days? That's what I don't understand. And the funny thing is I just re-aquascaped a couple months ago...saw no crab when I took out individually each rock and put them all back in! I love my aquascape! Ugh this is making me so freakin mad! Any others ways to look for it that wouldn't be as destructive? Any other possibilities u can think of besides a crab killing these fish? Thanks.

[thegambler26]

A trap as posted above.

[Kfmmartin19]

Are you sure these fish are dead, and not just in hiding from your obviously extremely territorial clown fish?

 

Adding more fish to a situation that is already stressed out, is a recipe for problems. How long was the clown in there before you added the next fish?

 

Also, just because the clown and the blenny are "best friends" doesn't mean that the clown is letting the blenny get any food... Maybe he stays close to make sure that it doesn't.

No I'm not 100% sure. But my clownfish is not all that territorial, he just doesn't like the cherub. He could care less about anyone else, and I am sure everyone is getting plenty of food as he is not that aggressive of an eater. I feel fairly confident the wrasse and Blenny are goners cuz I haven't seen the wrasse in 4 days now and the Blenny is always out and about, never hidden...ever. The Firefish is usually hiding tho, so him I am not sure about.

 

u could try a trap and see what gets caught? If you do have a killer crab maybe you can catch him. I know there's various traps out there to buy or u could make one of your own and bait him in with something meaty.

Will probly try this. Any certain trap in particular u know about that would work well? Thanks

[gonzalez78]

yeah try the trap first and hope you get lucky and catch the culprit. when you took out all the rocks did you look carefully at them? i know some crabs stay in caves in the rocks and all you can see is just their claws when they are reaching for food. Maybe king crab got too big for his rock cave that he can't get out so he just sits there and wait for the food to come to him. It is just weird though if its not a crab what is making your fish dissapear just like that out of thin water.

[Kfmmartin19]

yeah try the trap first and hope you get lucky and catch the culprit. when you took out all the rocks did you look carefully at them? i know some crabs stay in caves in the rocks and all you can see is just their claws when they are reaching for food. Maybe king crab got too big for his rock cave that he can't get out so he just sits there and wait for the food to come to him. It is just weird though if its not a crab what is making your fish dissapear just like that out of thin water.

Honestly no, I did not look carefully at the rocks. At that point I think I had dismissed the idea that there had been a monster crab in my tank for over a year without me knowing!

 

I will try the trap. Trying to find a good one...can't believe this haha...in the last 5 days I've lost over $100 of fish...damn...

[gonzalez78]

yeah it does suck to loose so much live stock, i hope you find the cause of what is causing this so you don't loose anymore. Now, if its a giant crab that is stuck in a rock cave somewhere then your trap will be useless against it so i still will suggest taking out the rocks and inspecting them all just to make sure. i know its a pain to have to do that all over again especially since you say you really love your scape now but i think doing this is worth more than having to loose lots more fish in the future. I also would suggest not to add any more until you find the reason for the disappearance of the others or you will be just sending them to their doom.... DOOM I TELL YOU.

[patback]

It is very possible that a crab is in there, but just to rule it out and keep your scape, it wouldn't hurt to throw the clown in a breeder net for a week or two and see if the others emerge. If another fish goes missing in that time, consider it not your clown.

[Kfmmartin19]

yeah it does suck to loose so much live stock, i hope you find the cause of what is causing this so you don't loose anymore. Now, if its a giant crab that is stuck in a rock cave somewhere then your trap will be useless against it so i still will suggest taking out the rocks and inspecting them all just to make sure. i know its a pain to have to do that all over again especially since you say you really love your scape now but i think doing this is worth more than having to loose lots more fish in the future. I also would suggest not to add any more until you find the reason for the disappearance of the others or you will be just sending them to their doom.... DOOM I TELL YOU.

Agreed. 'Specially bout the DOOM

[Captain Hook]

Angelfish in a 30 gallon could cause it to chase the wrasse....mine chases my wrasse into the overflow about bi-weekly and I have a 55gallon. Maybe it jumped out of the tank and your dog of cat ate it? my dog eats minnows when I go fishing....you never know

[patback]

Those after all, are all fish that easily hide.

My goby for instance was out every second of the day, one traumatic incident happened, and now I've seen him twice in the past 2 weeks, and once in double that time.

[Kfmmartin19]

It is very possible that a crab is in there, but just to rule it out and keep your scape, it wouldn't hurt to throw the clown in a breeder net for a week or two and see if the others emerge. If another fish goes missing in that time, consider it not your clown.

I might try this. Just doesn't add up that Blenny has been with him for a year and clown has never been aggressive to him, still isn't, and all of the sudden hes terrified of the clown? Doesn't seem to add up.

 

Then again nor does a giant crab that goes undetected for a yr and a half.

 

Angelfish in a 30 gallon could cause it to chase the wrasse....mine chases my wrasse into the overflow about bi-weekly and I have a 55gallon. Maybe it jumped out of the tank and your dog of cat ate it? my dog eats minnows when I go fishing....you never know

Tank is covered. And I don't think group suicides are common in reef tanks

 

Those after all, are all fish that easily hide.

My goby for instance was out every second of the day, one traumatic incident happened, and now I've seen him twice in the past 2 weeks, and once in double that time.

Will probly still end up removing the clown as he I'd rather keep the angelfish but...not gonna move anyone now, seeing as there are only 2 fish I can verify are alive in my tank!

[patback]

Well... According to Disney

 

Clownfish can get quite large, yet grow slowly enough that maybe you haven't noticed. Maybe it's just large enough to be more assertive towards others? Unlikely, but possible.

[gonzalez78]

Even if your clown is the cause for your fish to run for the hills, or in this case swim for the caves you would still be able to see your fish even if its just for a few seconds when you feed them. I also hate to do this but I need to redo my BC29 so I can look for my orange stripe goby. Hoping its still alive so I can put it in my 40B.