monster in my tank???

[bigford84]

55 gal fowlr .. i am missing 1 yellow watchmen gobby,1 yellow clown gobby,and had a sick butterfly fish. i last saw the butterfly 1 or 2 days ago, and today i found this.....

so after finding this leftover fish, i think i know what happend to the gobbys. but what do you think did it?? i have a few smaller hermit crabs in there, they are about the size of a nickle. but that butterfly was about the size of a tennis ball.

so im now catching all the hermit crabs and moving them out. but im not sure they did it.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just a guess, but I'd say the Butterfly died (you said it was sick, right) and then your cleanup crew just did its job. Crabs and bristleworms can clean things up pretty darn quick. Tested your ammonia levels lately?

 

[cmor1701d]

Hermits don't kill (other than snails and other hermits). Def check Water params and post the numbers.

 

[bigford84]

ok i tested and here it is

ph=7.8
ammo=liquid test says 0-.25 and strip says 0
nitrite=0
nitrate=40 i know its high and im working it down..
phosphates=0

this was just b4 the 30% pwt i did

in the tank i have 2 nemos,1 wrass,1garden eel,1 lm blenny,and a blue tang. and they all look happy and are eating very well.. every other day or later.

so you guys really think the crabs and worms picked that fish to the bone in 1 or 2 days?

and i got all 6 of the crabs out, now what should i use for a cuc? i have 2 turbos and like 3 nessarrius snails. what else can i get for my 55 gal fowlr that will not kill?

 

[David S]

put your hermits back in,they are not the culprits their just doing the cleanup,try to get your nitrates but its ok for fowlr down but I would concentrate on the ammonia this is probably what killed your fish,have you added anything to the tank recently to cause the spike(LR).What type of wrasse?And what do you think happened to the gobby's,if they are dead did you get them out

 

[bigford84]

no i have not added anything to spike ammo.. like i said the liquid test is giving me an off reading,and i have a color defishancy problem,but it is easyer to reat the ammo test strips and they sat 0 ammo. the live rock i started with already came with one crab that has been put in the fuge,thats why i thought there might be somthing else in there. the butterfly fish had a white ring around his eye and i was treating him,my guess is while he was sleeping,somthing got him. and for the gobbys i thought they spend most of ther time on the bottom as well as sleep on the bottom... not an expert on this... if the water perams were close to bad .... not an expert... i thought the first to show signs of ill would be the shrimp,then nems,then tang,or eel. but they are fine. but im am still learning...

 

[iDream]

could it have been the eel? i know gardens are smaller, but its still an eel

 

[cmor1701d]

The ammonia spike may be due to the dead fish. Test strips are fine for a swimming pool but not for an aquarium. They are just too inaccurate. If you see any shading in the liquid test kit then you have detectable ammonia.

It seems to me from your original post that you were way overstocked in this tank. A tang needs to be a 6' long tank at a minimum.

As always, start with a 30% partial water change. Retest a day later and post all the numbers using liquid test kits that are not expired.

How often have you been doing PWCs?
Please list all current tank livestock too.

Put the hermits back in the main tank. You probably will need them in there to clean up in the future.