corals disappearing

[shrwud94]

I have a 220 gal reef tank. I have had a xenia, orange ricordea, and a button polyp disappear. I have a torch and hairy mushroom that are doing fine.

I have a powder brown tang, yellow tang, black bar squirrel fish, foxface, black and white clown, 2 clowns, green mandarin dragenet, dwarf angel, and an diamond goby. I also have 6 cleaner shrimp, snails, banded coral shrimp. I have 2 crabs that I'm not sure what are. One is black with big front claws and hairy back legs. The other is stone color. I haven't caught any of the fish picking at the coral, except I did see the black and white clown trying to get brine shrimp out of the torch.

My mag is 1170, PH 8.2, Calcium 400, Alk 12, Nitrate 0, amnonia 0, iodine .06.

I feed the fish seaweed, brine shrimp and pellets.

Anyone know what could be causing the corals to disappear?

 

[melosu58]

A while back my corals were disapearing also. It ended up being my two drawf angels. They have since been removed. I`ll bet it`s the same for you. Mine were model citizens for 4 yrs before they started munching.

 

[pat8you]

+1 on the angel. Some of them really develop a taste for soft coral. I'm not sure what those crabs are but crabs like that are almost never a good thing. I would banish him to your sump where he can't bother anything.

 

[shrwud94]

the angel is a Centropyge argi " cherub pygmy angel" is this the angel you are talking about?

 

[pat8you]

Almost all dwarf angels have been known to "turn to the dark side" and start eating coral. It is actually on a fish to fish basis. Two people can have the same kind of dwarf angel and one will live happily in a reef its whole life and another will just start munching one day and take out coral left and right. It is a really unfortunate quality of the whole dwarf angel group. Such a shame because they are beautiful fish.

 

[melosu58]

Not what I was talking about but those are not reef safe IMO. LA says with caution. I would say he`s a good canidate. I would keep a close eye out on him.

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Pygmy (Cherub) Angelfish

 

[Jimbo7]

The dwarf is my prime suspect as well, though the coral banded shrimp is a close second, they have been known to do weird things and eat anything they can get their claws on.

 

[shrwud94]

Have you heard of a saddleback clown eating soft corals?

 

[Jimbo7]

No, I don't think I have heard of a clown of any sorts eating soft coral.

 

[shrwud94]

How often with the fish I have do you feed them and what?

 

[Jimbo7]

every other day mysis and a veggie of some sort, or leave some nori for them to graze on. only what they can eat in 2 minutes, its best to turn some pumps off and feed so the excess doesn't get everywhere.

 

[Aquaman99]

I've got dibs on the Dwarf Angel to.

I added my first open brain coral and within minutes the angel was pecking at it.

I thought maybe it was just exploring the new tank inhabitant.

I put a cover over the brain for a while thinking maybe the angle would get used it being in the tank.

A couple days later I took the cover off the brain and the angel was instantly pecking at it.

 

[melosu58]

I lost two brain corals from mine.