Why are my wrasses disappearing?
- Thread starter Reeferhead
- Start date
Already checked he's not there
I suppose its possible but I highly doubt it. The is very little natural LR in the tank. Most of it started as dry Marco Rock. The small amount of natural LR I do have has been with me for 6-10 years. However, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for me to observe my tank more at night anyway
See above, plus neither of these species bury in sand
That's not very encouraging information.
Thanks everyone for your help so far
I don't buy the "they just disappear" explanation. It has to be either parasites, a crab, or some other issue, possibly nutrition. What do you feed? They could be fat and still unhealthy, just like people.
Typically, I feed the fish once a day. I rotate a bunch of things: Formula I flake, PE and hikari mysis, Rod's Food, chopped raw tuna and shrimp, 5 different kinds of nori, etc
Flaring Afro
Puffer Geek
Even so there could be something that likes to stay buried in the sand during the day but comes out at night sometimes. Otherwise, why aren't you finding any dead bodies? I'm still guessing it's a sand dweller since there isn't much lr.
Do those wrasses sleep in the rock at night or are they still active?
I've never considered this as an issue. I suppose its possible. I never noticed any choking but both fish disappeared while I was away for a couple days and my wife was taking care of the tank.... hmm... wait... you don't think she had anything to do with it??? :lol:
I assume there were no bodies because I have a very large and active cleanup crew. I've been keeping reefs for over a decade and I rarely find fish remains. Both of the wrasses I lost sleep in the rock.
sanchoy
New member
You answered your own answer..
You have a large CUC.. your fish died and they devoured it.. I also have a large CUC and large bristleworms.. They can devour a fish overnight with only a few remains left, or in some cases none..
Fish died.. clean up crew did their job..:wave:
JuliusJames
ReefB4H**s
Do you have any tongan nassarius snails. One of my expensive wrasses was devoured by them while it was sleeping in the sand. Saw it with my own eyes. Those snails are notorious.
The mystery and mccoskers were never in the tank together. I added the mystery first and it lasted about 5 weeks then about 2 months later added the mccoskers which lasted about 4 weeks. These are just times in the display, they both spent 3-4 weeks in qt as well.
Thank you captain obvious! J/K :lol: Yes, I suppose the original question posed as the thread title has been answered. The question we're trying to answer now is: why did they die?
Really? I've never heard that before. Regardless, the only Nassarius snails I have are the little ones, Nassarius vibex and neither of the wrasses I lost sleep in the sand.
I had a perfectly healthy Lubbock's wrasse going on 2 years, and one day something (I don't know if it was another fish or a dog banging into the tank or what) must have spooked it, because I couldn't find it at its usually "wake up" time. I looked everywhere, inside and out, of that tank. Hours after I had given up I found my wrasse wedged between live rock and the glass of the tank, like it had driven itself between the two in a state of panic. The CUC hadn't even gotten to it yet. Maybe that is what happened to yours?
ezhoops
New member
I feel your pain. I had a pink velvet wrasse and it was fat happy, had a great sleeping spot, no illness, was QT'd and yes it up and disappeared.
It did jump out once and I got it in time to save it and three days later it was gone.
I do have a dog that I might suspect ate it but my dog is the biggest baby so it would probably run away from a flopping fish.
It did jump out once and I got it in time to save it and three days later it was gone.
I do have a dog that I might suspect ate it but my dog is the biggest baby so it would probably run away from a flopping fish.
Well, I recently lost my last two wrasses. The red headed solon I had for about two months just disappeared like the others. It did show a bit of a tattered fin the last day I saw it.
I also just lost a red velvet fairy wrasse. This fish I've had for over a year and transferred from my old tank. It was actually the first fish I added to my 150 so this is very discouraging. This wrasse actually showed symptoms. For the last few weeks of its life, it swam at the surface during all daylight hours and jumped a lot. It looked like it almost had trouble keeping its head underwater. After a couple weeks of this, the fish looked consistently more and more beat up (tattered fins, etc). The last day I saw it alive in was swimming around almost vertically and I knew it was a goner. Any ideas?
A bicolor blenny also recently went missing but may have just been its time (5+ years)
I also just lost a red velvet fairy wrasse. This fish I've had for over a year and transferred from my old tank. It was actually the first fish I added to my 150 so this is very discouraging. This wrasse actually showed symptoms. For the last few weeks of its life, it swam at the surface during all daylight hours and jumped a lot. It looked like it almost had trouble keeping its head underwater. After a couple weeks of this, the fish looked consistently more and more beat up (tattered fins, etc). The last day I saw it alive in was swimming around almost vertically and I knew it was a goner. Any ideas?
A bicolor blenny also recently went missing but may have just been its time (5+ years)
Your fish having trouble keeping its head under water could be a sign of aggression. I have added a leopard wrasse to my DT a week's back and for the first 4 to 5 days it keeps swimming at the surface and at times tries to swim out of the water!
It was actually trying to swim away from aggressors that is swimming right underneath it. And yesterday most of the aggression subsided and it's started to swim around the rocks and near the lower half of the tank again. HTH.
It was actually trying to swim away from aggressors that is swimming right underneath it. And yesterday most of the aggression subsided and it's started to swim around the rocks and near the lower half of the tank again. HTH.
They couldn't have jumped completely out of the tank but do you think they just injured themselves enough by hitting the hood, lights, etc? The only one I ever witnessed actually jumping was the velvet fairy wrasse. And if this is the case why did it just start happening now. The Red velvet has been in the tank since January and only recently started hanging out at the surface and jumping repeatedly???
I have two pretty dominant tangs in the tank but I never saw any aggression issues after the usual acclimation period. I did have a couple small emerald crabs but I think the hawkfish killed them off.
Is there any common disease in wrasses that can cause buoyancy issues?
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