Fish disappearing

[DI68]

In the past week I have had my scooter blenny disappear and then within 2days of buying 2 bangai cardinals, 1 is missing. I also had a scissortail dart fish disappear shortly after buying a pair. Tonight I saw my coral banded shrimp upside down on a rock and he went after my dotty back which was in between rocks close by. I have a pair of the shrimp and haven't had fish disappear prior to purchasing them. Are they attacking my fish of a night? I am constantly told they are scavengers but am concerned they are killing my fish when they are sleeping. I have researched them too and they are supposed to be peaceful but this one had his claws out and was chasing the dotty back. I can't find signs of my blenny or cardinal anywhere.

 

[tomtom14]

Do you feed your shrimp? When my shrimp wasn't fed it ate one of my hermit crabs. So maybe they where so hungry they had a couple of fish? I would check your filter/ skimmer in case the fish where sucked into. Otherwise I don't have a clue.

 

[DI68]

Thanks. I couldn't imagine they would get sucked through the filter as it only has narrow slits. The shrimp eat pellets and frozen foods along with the fish.Maybe that's not enough? I'll check the care details on them again for feeding. Cheers

 

[DI68]

Ok I googled 'fish disappearing' and have been reading about conus snails which are predatory. My tank came with about 3 or 4 cuc which I think may be these snails. They bury under the sand and come running as soon as food is available. I will have a closer look tomorrow and post a pic. Hopefully someone can ID them for me.

 

[Mebbid]

It's more likely that they went carpet surfing. There aren't a whole lot of predators that you could have that will eat shrimp. Although a mantis shrimp is a possibility.

The snails are very likely nassarius which behave the same way and are common additions to tanks.

 

[DI68]

It's more likely that they went carpet surfing. There aren't a whole lot of predators that you could have that will eat shrimp. Although a mantis shrimp is a possibility.

The snails are very likely nassarius which behave the same way and are common additions to tanks.

Thanks for helping out with the ID- I just googled nassarius and that's what I have. There is a large snail I have which has a high cone on it's back with a spiral pattern. It normally stays on the walls. Is that one safe for my fish too?

 

[DI68]

It's ok- I have found a website with reef snails- it's a trochus

 

[acolotto]

They're dead and prob got eaten by inverts

 

[jeffaquarius]

If it's not your water quality killing the missing fish it could be something that only comes out at night and attack when fish are not active. Try to use a flashlight at night. You might find something unexpected crawling things. Large bristle worms might be one of them.

 

[Redwolf91]

I've always had coral banded shrimp, they get grabby at times, but never actually got a fish. Doubt that's the cause, just imo. You have any anemones by chance?

Sent from my Z750C using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[54seaweed]

don't blame C B shrimp as he is a cleaner shrimp that work like a car wash
if fish just disappear I would lean more towards a mantis shrimp
I wouldn't point my finger in a bristol worm either as they only eat the dead and left overs

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

CBS are not the same as the cleaners and can be nasty as they get big.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Did the OP ever mentioned having a mantis shrimp? May be nobody have seen a large bristol worm eat live fish yet but I have watched them in National Geographic video attacking live shrimp but unsuccessful. When hungry I am sure they will take any opportunity to survive.

 

[54seaweed]

I've had CBS over 5 years never seeing any type of aggressive behavior
no CBS are not tank cleaners in no means but yes they will clean parasites
and what not from a fish working like a car wash

as for has the op mentioned a mantis shrimp the answer is no

It was just suggested as an alternate cause

 

[mwilliams]

I've had CBS over 5 years never seeing any type of aggressive behavior
no CBS are not tank cleaners in no means but yes they will clean parasites
and what not from a fish working like a car wash

as for has the op mentioned a mantis shrimp the answer is no

It was just suggested as an alternate cause

Coral Banded Shrimps do not clean parasites off of fish and indeed they can be mean. I had one and caught him with one of my fish that just happened by him. His claw had grabbed hold of the fishes tail and the fish was trying to shake him off... Needless to say I no longer have that shrimp..

 

[54seaweed]

this Tang and shrimp tend to disagree
Coral Banded Shrimp Cleaning Yellow Tang Fish - YouTube

also a good read
Stenopus hispidus, Banded Coral Shrimp

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

That looked a lot more like a cbs trying to defend it self to me

 

[54seaweed]

MYTH:
Coral Banded Shrimp kill fish.
FACT:
The Coral Banded Shrimp is a scavenger as well as a parasite picker, and may attack other shrimp, but will not normally attack fish. Many people who find their Coral Banded Shrimp consuming a dead fish or invertebrate assume that it was killed by the shrimp. However the shrimp is just doing what it does for a living: Scavenging.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

I never said they attack fish, I just said they get big and mean.....

 

[jeffaquarius]

Well I'd say there are unpredictable behavior on fish and inverts. Who would ever think of a yellow tang would pick on a flower pot coral? I happen to see mine when the coral started to close most of the time. My other nano tank has only 3 small fish, 2 snails and 2 hermit crabs. The blue green chromis was missing with no trace. One night a 4-inch bristol worm was prowling in the rocks but was gone before I can take any action.