RIP

[Saith]

I came home today and went to feed my sixline wrasse, usually he is there to greet me, but I didn't see him anywhere. As I began to get really worried I noticed it floating next to my skimmer return pipe. Now I'm completely bummed out. Upon closer examination I saw that he was missing a chunk out of his upper back.
I added a Banggai Cardinal on Saturday. The had been avoiding each other and I didn't see any signs of aggresion, assuming there would be some. I am wondering if the cardinal attacked him, or if maybe he tried to swim through too small of a hole in the rocks (which I doubt). Its a pretty deep chunk. I was under the impression that cardinal fish weren't aggressive. Man this really sucks, he was an awesome fish. If anyone has any thoughts, I would like to hear them. TIA

 

[clowninround]

aww, my six line is one of my favorites also. I have two of those cardinals myself and they don't seem to bother eachother. In fact my six line attacks my chromis occasionally. Though I do notice that the sixline steers clear of the cardinals. what else do you have in your tank?

 

[Saith]

I have a crocea clam, 3 peppermint shrimp, sea hare, porcelain crab, a hitch-hicker crab or two, star polyps, and 2 pieces of sps. I can't imagine a crab getting ahold if it.
I had the sixline for about two months, and I could spend hours watching him. I'm not sure if I could bring myself to get another one.

 

[i have crabs]

cant see the cardinal doing it unless you just added it some adults are territorial when alone but i still doubt it if it was over night i would guess a rock crab grabed him while he was sleeping in the rocks but im shure he would have been eatin completly
mean powerhead mabey

 

[melosu58]

I dont believe the cardinal fish did it either. Hard to say though what did.

 

[clowninround]

Wow, if the corals are doing ok I can't imagine it being a water quality issue. And if something did take a bite out of him, I guess it's possible it could be the cardinal. It's odd though because when my cardinals get territorial they wip their tails around and the fish back off.

 

[clowninround]

Thats a thought too, the powerhead. Seems more likely.

 

[Saith]

One of my friends pointed out that something may have taken a piece out after he died. I just put in a new powerhead, Seio m620, but I think that is safe. All his fins looked in good shape so I don't think it was the cardinal terrorizing him or a powerhead. Well I guess I'll have to go crab hunting again.
I just put the sps corals in last night, so they aren't a good measure of water quality. Here are my water test results:

ammonia ~ 0
nitrite ~ 0
Alkalinity - 3.2
Calcium - 360
Specific gravity - 1.022