Something is eatting my fish

[dkermitb]

Folks,

I bought a whole bunch of chromis fish and all of them keep dwindling down now over time. I went from about 10 down to 3. Tonight I noticed that one of them had a deep cut near his caudal fin that he didn't have yesterday.

I'm wondering is the culprit is a mantis shrimp? If it is a mantis shrimp, does anyone have a fish net or something to catch this guy with? Thanks for the help.

Kermit

 

[2t2_crash]

I would look for a mantis... I have one in my tank but it eats mysis shrimp from a baster

 

[tylersdad]

I put a piece of ham in a shot glass and trapped the one I had. He went in after the ham and could not climb back out.

 

[dkermitb]

I'm trying Tylersdad's idea. But as of tonight, I'm less one fish. The back half of him was gone, but the bones were still there.

 

[tylersdad]

Do you ever hear a loud "clicking" noise at night?

 

[tylersdad]

Any luck catching that SOB yet?

 

[dkermitb]

Tylersdad,

I've heard the clicking from my mantis shrimp. I never did see him--but I heard him all the time.

Here was my quick fix, I don't have any corals in my aquarium, but I do have a large anemene. I took the rock out and placed it on my back porch for about 36 hours. I placed the rock back in my aquarium and I haven't heard the clicking since. I haven't lost any fish since then either. It was a lucky fix for my aquarium, but the idea of putting a piece of meat in the shot glass never worked. I did catch some hermit crabs, but that was about it. Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.

Kermit

 

[dkermitb]

By the way, I never did find the mantis shrimp in the backyard after I placed the rocks outside for the extended period of time. I did find a small shrimp that was about the size of a quarter, but I don't think it was the culprit. I've seen mantis shrimp before in the tide pools, so I know what they look like.

 

[tylersdad]

Put the rock in a bucket with fresh water, he should crawl out. He probably is still in there even after an extended period of time.

 

[dkermitb]

It's been about three weeks. I haven't heard any more clicking, and I haven't lost any more fish. Something must have worked. Thanks for all the help to everyone!