So what ate my fish??????

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kimberly

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
574
Location
Michigan
I now think that the serpent star was just doing his job and eating a fish that was already dead, but could he have eaten the whole fish in just a few hours? It was a decent sized fish, probably 3 inches long, and the serpent star, of course, has a little central disk. I saw the dead fish and the ss's tentacles touching it, but the ss was under a rock so I couldn't get a great view. I watched the dead fish go more and more under the rock and within a couple of hours it was half eaten. Then a couple of hours later it was totally gone, not a sign of it anywhere. I tested the water and our ammonia is still low, so I am sure that the fish has been devoured. But could a serpent star actually eat a fish that size that quickly? Or did something else eat it? Would baby serpent stars eat it, we saw our ss mating a little over a week ago, but no babies have been spotted yet.

Thanks,
Kimberly
husband has a 92 gallon reef tank
 
You would be surprised by what a serpent star can eat! Absolutely it could have consumed a 3" fish.
tested the water and our ammonia is still low
This caught my attention. Ammonia should ALWAYS be zero. Are you using a test kit for SW? If so what brand.
 
With all of our recent missing fish (presumed dead) I wasn't surprised to see a small amount of ammonia in our tank. It is a Red Sea Marine test kit.

Where would the serpent star put the fish? It's disk didn't seem to get any bigger like a snake's body would. But that is an impressive appetite!

Thanks,
Kimberly
 
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