Condi-VS-Watchman Gobie

[LOWTYD]

Hi all,
Just wanted to post here to start some dialog with some local folks. I'm in Bedford in the SML area. After years of fresh water tanks, I have finally made the commitment to stay in one house for a while and set up a salt water tank. It's been up just over a year, and is doing ok. Although recently, I have lost a couple of fish. 4" Hippo tang (lasted 4 weeks) and a royal gramma that had been in there since start-up. They both went at the same time. The Tang ate revenously the whole time, but displayed white spots after transfering into my tank. I treated the tank with an organic product reccomended by a LFS. It may have prolonged the inevitable, but the tang croaked anyway. Oh yea, the main reason I posted is that now I have a gobie that is MIA and my wife thinks the condi has eaten it. I'm open for any comments or suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help. I'll list some specifics below.

50 gal corner tank (hex shape)
40 to 50 lbs mixed fiji rock
Marineland Reef LED's
CPR backpac skimmer
marineland canister w/ bio balls and chemi-pur changed at 4 month intervals.
1- correlia powerhead
Another powerhead (forgot the name)
4" Maroon/yellow clown (since new)
3" Watchman Gobie w/ pistol shrimp. (10 months)
3" cleaner shrimp (since new)
3.5" Coral banded shrimp (10 months)
Condi anemone (2 weeks)
Bangaii cardinal (2 weeks)
10 turbos
10 Nassarius
6 blue leg hermits
1 large striped hermit from the OBX (6months)
Kent marine H2Ocean salt Change once a month 10 to 20% w/ distilled water.
I also have some assorted mushrooms, Zoa's, Kenyi tree, some green hair moss, etc..
Lost in the last month below:
Royal Gramma (Since new)
med to large Hippo tang - lasted 4 weeks
2 small blk/ wht damsels - one lasted 2 weeks. one dissapeared after intro of the condi.
Everything eats great or ate great, and all except the spots on the tang. Everything looks healthy and the banded shrimp could be a suspect in the dis-appearances too.

 

[LOWTYD]

53 views and no replies.....?????

 

[4adam12]

[welcome]
Anything is possible, sometimes my gobie wont show itself for a day or two but generally comes back out.

 

[dadyoj21]

1 large striped hermit from the outer banks sounds suspicious to me, I watched a xanthid crab hunting and killing fish at night, he was a hitchhiker and it took me a while to get it out of a 120 then a few months later I spotted another. Also a medium to large hippo tang in a tank that small not a very good choice to start out with. You can put a tiny/small hippo in a 50 but they will outgrow it quickly.

also I would not own another maroon clown, they are usually agressive especially when that large and can stress out peacefull fish.

I doubt the condi or the shrimp are the cause. Also check the floor behind the tank for missing fish, I have lost many fish to the carpet over the years.

also welcome to reef central and I would have replied sooner but I checked the post at work and was pretty busy

 

[dlterry85]

most fish seem aware of what a nem is and will stay away. i doubt that the nem is to blame, or the coral banded shrimp unless it was consumed after dying. any fish that dies in a saltwater tank is pretty rapidly consumed by bristleworms and the cuc, so you almost never find a body. hth

 

[ade]

welcome. Even though this group is not what it used to be there are a few hardcore reefers but most of us are working dads and don't get on and reply to ?'s as fast as we would like to so don't be put off. People all over the world look at RC even though your post has been viewed at it might be by people just passing through or hoping to see a video of a condi eating a watchman.

 

[ade]

welcome. Even though this group is not what it used to be there are a few hardcore reefers but most of us are working dads and don't get on and reply to ?'s as fast as we would like to so don't be put off. People all over the world look at RC even though your post has been viewed at it might be by people just passing through or hoping to see a video of a condi eating a watchman.

 

[LOWTYD]

Thanks to all

Thanks to all

I took the Condi out last week right after my initial post, and the Gobie appeared the next morning. You guys are probably right about the condi not being the aggressor. Since then, I've been leaving the blue LED's on at night, because it seemed that bad things were happening when the lights were completely off. Last night, I decided to go "dark" again, and this morning the Bangii is half eaten. I just don't see the striped hermit being fast enough to catch it. The coral banded shrimp has gotten more aggressive even during the day, so I'm guessing that when the tank goes dark, it's game on. I can leave the blue LED's on, but could it cause a problem with algae growth? We've decided not to add anything else until the tank goes several months with no losses. Thank you all again for the replies. I've been looking on here for a while, but like always, when you need help, it's only MY number one priority, so I appreciate the feedback.

 

[4adam12]

Almost sounds to me like you have a critter in there you're not aware of or that hermit is faster than you think. Can you take it out and put in a temp tank for a few days and see what happens?

 

[dadyoj21]

the hermit does not have to be fast at night, most fish go into sleep mode at night and can be easy to catch, I would isolate the hermit like adam suggested, the saying for reefs goes when in doubt pull it out. and the crabs I had were not very large but were amazingly strong.