Missing royal gramma

[pearsont74]

ok....he/she it has gone missing...i really hate to pick up all my LRs to find the lil guy which I assume at this point has gone to fishy heaven
I dont know quite what the problem is...
checked my levels
PH - 8.2-3
Amm - 0.01 if that....hard to get the exact number but the lil sensor didnt change color at all in 30mins
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - less then 1.0 Not liking the seachem test...hard to get an accuract number
Sal is about .025
I have a feeling a crab is the guilty one...I have about 3 huge crabs and i guess i need to remove these guys eventhought they are cool as heck to watch...but i have seen them attackin snails jsut because they were in his way LOL they remind me of stone crabs cause of the size of the claws
I dont want to get another fish until i get this figured out....should i move then to the sump with the LR rubble? (if I can catch them)
Also do I really need to tear the tank apart to get the dead fish out if he is still there...

 

[lando]

Give it a couple weeks. Mine like to hjde in the rocks for days at a time. I actually got one and right after I introduced it to my main it disappeared. I waited a few days and figured it was dead. I went out and bought another one. Right after I got the second one acclimated in QT the first one made an appearnce in my main.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

I second that. My RG does the same drives me nuts looking for it sometimes. It finds all kinds of hiding places in the rocks.

 

[pearsont74]

ok...cause the 3 damsels are doing great...and he was active for about a week or 2 and poof...not in his normal hole
but my shrimp did the same thing and now they are comin out
i almost got a clown but wants sure because of this
any issue i should be aware of with clowns? whats it the best one to get? I like the true pel but the skunks are cool too
later i plan to get anemones....should i get the clowns at the same time of will they be ok without the anemone and possibly host them when i get them

 

[MT79]

Something to keep in mind is the way they wedge themselves into tiny holes/crevices makes them more vulnerable to crab predation. Once the crab enters the hiding place, the fish is basically cornered. I hope it shows up for you, good luck.

 

[pearsont74]

yeah...thats what im afraid of
should i tear my tank apart lookin for the guy....there are alot of holes he could be in plus i have noticed that someone has dug out under the LRs to make alittle cave...this is on quite a few of the LRs

 

[MT79]

should i tear my tank apart lookin for the guy

Assuming the fish is dead, with the amount of rock you have there should be no rise in ammo from a fish that small. Also, if the crabs did not kill him to begin with I'm sure they have taken care of the remains. Run an ammo, nitrite test just to be positive.

i have noticed that someone has dug out under the LRs to make alittle cave...this is on quite a few of the LRs

Sounds like a pistol shrimp, but it is hard to say for sure.

 

[rockkfish]

if you have an overflow you might want to check in there, the fish saver helps some but every once in a while my sixline likes to get too close and goes in there it a pita to get him back out again.

 

[pearsont74]

i will double check that