Fish and inverts disapering?? help!!

Guygettnby

New member
hello, i am new to saltwater tanks and have a 30g reef tank. so far i have the following fish in my tank.

1-dixy hawk fish
2-percula clowns
1-scooter blenny
1-green mandrin goby
1-royal gamma
1-decerator crab
1-porcelin crab
2- small serpent stars
1-brittle star
4-emerald crabs
1-purple urchin
4-blue leg hermits
3-jade hermits
2-zebra hermits
1-horseshoe crab

now my problem is some of the inhabitants of my tank have come up missing or i find some of them with pieces missing or dead. everything i read on the fish and such i have in my tank the only fish i could think doing this would be the dixy/spotted hawk fish? is there anything else you could think of that is eating my other tank inhabitants?

thanks for all the help!
 
i dont hear any clicking sound at night, but what is a mantis?

here is a list of stuff that went missing.

1-cleaner shrimp
2-snails
3-zebra hermits
2-blue leg hermits
4-jade hermits
1-small brittle star
1-queen conch

and here is a list of stuff that is still alive but missing parts..

1- serpent star, missing half of his actual body (not legs)
1- green mandrin goby has some holes in its fins
1- serpent star missing 3 legs
 
again thanks for any help you can give. i dont have this problem in my other 2 tanks. but there is also living in 1 of my larger live rocks that i can not see and the only time i see anything is when i turn the tank light on and i see a puff of stuff come outa the rock?
 
My first guess would be a mantis shrimp in the tank and then I would go with the horseshoe crab---it is a meat eater
Plus it is interesting that it is the only one that has not disappeared from your list or is injured-hmmm??
 
Don't overlook your Emerald crabs..All crabs are opportunistic ..they will and can eat all of what's on your list if they are hungry and these are easy prey.
Many Hermit crabs will fight for each others shells if they have outgrown their own..Or they may just leave in search of a new one and die if a larger one is not available.
Cleaner shrimp can die during a molt..they are also very vulnerable at this time and easy prey.
Crabs will also go after snails for their shells.
I wouldn't keep a Horseshoe crab in a 30 gallon.
Yes the Pixie Hawkfish could have gone after the shrimp, depending on the size of the fish and the size of the shrimp..I have an Arc Eye Hawk with Cleaners and have no problems but I feed twice a day.
Your Mandrin really needs a larger tank with more live rock to sustain him for the long run..I know that wasn't a question but I had to say it:D
A Mantis Shrimp is possible also but look to the creatures you know are there..A lot of what you describe is fairly common .
 
I agree with Kim--it could have been a chain of events;--the hermit killed the snails---the emeralds and the hermits killed each other or the horse shoe----etc etc.
For more compatible reef crews check out the links on the inverts page on my web site:
www.yags.net
 
What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? Since those are all inverts elevated levels of N and P could be killing them.
 
It's probably either the emerald crabs or another hitchhiker crab that you haven't seen because it's nocturnal. I doubt that a mantis would eat half of a starfish.

While horseshoe crabs are meat eaters, they eat microfauna and I don't think they would eat what's on your list. However, they really aren't good to keep in a home aquarium at all, as someone else has mentioned.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9876684#post9876684 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jda
What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? Since those are all inverts elevated levels of N and P could be killing them.

good point---with all the death---have you been able to remove all the casulties---if not your ammonia and nitrates levels could be really high

Have you been doing weekly water changes?
Scott
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9876684#post9876684 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jda
What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? Since those are all inverts elevated levels of N and P could be killing them.

I've not heard of phosphates killing inverts.

But I agree that testing for ammonia (NH4), nitrite (NO2), and nitrates (NO3) is imperative. Ammonia and nitrite should measure zero. Ideally you should not have any nitrates either, but unless nitrates are >20 then they probably aren't causing the problem.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9876684#post9876684 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jda
What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? Since those are all inverts elevated levels of N and P could be killing them.

I second that. Its bad water quality. The starfish are melting, and the goby has fin rot.
 
thank you all for the responces. i am a pretty hard sleeper so i probably wouldnt hear any clicking noises in the middle of the night, so if i have a mantis shrimp how else would i know besides stuff just disapering?

i also do regular water tests once a week and i do partial water changes once a week. all my levels seem to be were they are supposed to be.

i bought the horseshoe crab without really even researching it, i just remember playing around with them as a child when we went to the ocean and thougt it would be cool to have a miniture one in my tank... but now i am not so sure about it as it moves everything around in my tank and actually seems to be kinda aggressive towards its tank mates at times. so i am getting ride of that from my tank here shortly.
 
the pasat couple of days i have really been trying to pay more attention to my tank so i can try and see things i havent seen before. i noticed 1 thing today hiding in my live rock that kinda resembles the legs of a star fish, or a plant with no leaves but all i see is the legs.... any clue as to what this could be? i doubt my digital camera will take a good picture of it for me to post but i will try.

i also notice a new little red crab that i never noticed before. it basicly looks like a smale emerald crab but red in color. looks too small to cause any damage to a fish or a star.
 
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