what is eating my fish

bward9876

New member
i have a 400 gal. tank newley setup.my fish keep disapearing??

the olny things i can guees are the coral banded shrimp or the emarld crabs ????????????
 
I bet you have a Mantis Shrimp in there somewhere. You hear any loud clicking sounds coming from it at night? If you do then thats a sign that it is striking at something.
 
no loud noies or clicking sounds. the coral banded shrimp never comes out, then when you see him the next day a fish is gone and no signs of a dead fish at all.the fish is heathley then gone?????????????????
 
I would think that they would be able to swim away from a CBS. I had a CBS that liked to clean my tangs. Kinda weird thou aint it to have things missing? I really dont think emerald crabs will eat fish unless they are already dead.
 
A Banded Coral Shrimp, or Emerals Crab, either one, cannot dispose of that much food in one day. What size were the fish anyway, and how long has your tank been set-up? Has your tank cycled yet? Live rock, caves, brittle star, arrow crab, etc. ?

Keep asking, you'll find out.

> barryhc :)
 
400 gal/750 pounds live rock/lots of caves/set up about 4 months now/stocking hermit crabs,snails,4 emarld crabs small,4 skunk cleaner shrimp,1 coral banded shrimp,3 blue+yellow damsels left/it takes about 4 to 5 days between fish disappearing,they are healthy then gone
 
Are your damsels disappearing to? If not, there might be a chance that the damsels are killing the other fish.

With 750 pounds of LR, I would be willing to bet the chances that some type of unwanted hitchhiker is in your tank.
 
Yeah Damsels are aggressive. I have a 3 stripped one in my tank and it nips at my arms or hands if I got into the tank. If they aint killing each other then you more then likely have a hitchhiker (Mantis) taking them into their holes. Soon as fish hit the bottom then the hermits and emeralds will eat the left overs.. LOL and serpent stars.
 
bward9876 said:
400 gal/750 pounds live rock/lots of caves/set up about 4 months now/stocking hermit crabs,snails,4 emarld crabs small,4 skunk cleaner shrimp,1 coral banded shrimp,3 blue+yellow damsels left/it takes about 4 to 5 days between fish disappearing,they are healthy then gone

The blue + yellow damsels, are much less agressive than some other damsels like the "Three stripe", or "Domino" types. With that much live rock, and depending where it came from, Mantis shrimp remain a possibility. That's a large tank, and it might muffle the sounds, more than otherwise, and it could occur when you're not in the room as well.

Shrimp traps cost less than dead fish "by a longshot", So . . . .

> barryhc :)
 
Every 4 or 5 days huh?

With tha much live rock I wouldn't rule out a small rogue octo that hitchhiked in and is picking things off. Silent, yet amazingly efficient predators they are.

However, as cool as that would be......

My vote goes towards natural causes. I'd look carefully for signs if disease on your remaining fish.

Brett
 
I still think mantis shrimp maybe it... I hear one in my tank but nothing comes up missing... Not for sure but a possibility I have one. None of my fish have disappeared. A small Octo maybe another one that hitchhiked on your rock. have you dipped in hypersaline to rid of any unwanted creatures before you put that rock in your tank?
 
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