Help, newbie losing fish

[mveale]

Hi, I've been running a tropical freshwater tank for nearly two years now, a fluval 240. I have various kinds of freshwater tropical in there, mostly tetras and the like but do have one silver shark and two angel fish that are quite large. I added 8 little platties two weeks ago and they have gradually disappeared without a trace, is it likely that the big fish are eating them ?

 

[Harryhorse]

Yes I would say the angels are eating them

 

[Wilkes]

Sharks can be a nightmare in that scenario also have you not noticed any harassing behaviour?

 

[mveale]

Thanks for the replies guys, I suspected as much. I haven't noticed any aggressive behaviour but the platties never really settled, they stayed at the top of the tank. Also the tetras tend to hang around at the bottom, except for feeding time !

 

[Rivercats]

Just a tip for if you decide to try to add any new fish again down the road. With fish like Angels and Sharks that are large and have been in a tank for awhile they get the "this tank is mine" attitude. So when adding any new fish you want to remove the Angels and Sharks to a bucket temporarily. Then totally rearrange the tank and add the new fish in. Lastly add the Angels and Shark back in. What this does is makes the 3 aggressors "think" they are now in a new tank, which means they have no established territory, making them the new kids to the fish that are already in there. It also helps to add fish that are as large as possible for the species. Most of the time this tactic works. I have a 220g heavily planted with 12 adult breeding angels and I keep mostly smaller fish with them without problems.