I must have something bad in my tank......

[bsu20r6]

Over the past 8 months I have lost many fish, and a lot of them disappeared without a trace. Lost fish include: 2 molly's, 1 firefish, 1 cleaner wrasse, 1 yellow tang, 1 sleeper goby, 1 blue hippo, 4 blue-green chromis, and 6 banggais, 5 turbo snails and many small snails from my cuc.

Out of this list, there have been many fish that when gone, there was no trace. My latest 2 poor fish that fell to whatever it is that are killing them are my 2 original blue-green chromis. They disappeared 2 days ago and there has been absolutely no trace of them. I am worried that I have a bad hitchhiker, but have no idea what to look for. I posted a few months back about one of my snails that died and was covered by what looked to be cobwebs. When I pulled it out, it was a clear jelly like substance. Would this be something that could be killing and consuming my fish? I thought I had a mantis shrimp, but all I have found so far is a small brownish crab that is maybe 3/4" wide. Could someone give me some suggestions as to what could be taking all of these fish out?

Thanks everyone for all the great information on this site.
Sean

 

[carey]

How big is your tank? How much live rock did you get? To take out two tangs that would have to be a heck of a hitchhiker.

 

[bsu20r6]

it is a 75g, and I think I have @ 35 lbs of LR

 

[brian242pa]

are there any loud clicking noises in your tank?

 

[bsu20r6]

I have heard some on occasion. That is why I wondered about the mantis. After I spent one night up until 3 am, trying to catch what I thought was the mantis, it turned out to just be a crab, and since then, I haven't really noticed the clicking. One night my GF did witness one of the larger hermits clicking the glass.

 

[bsu20r6]

Oh and I also lost one female anthias, and 2 peppermint shrimp.

For further clarification, out of all of these that have gone, the smaller fish, (with the exception of my latest chromis that was about 2 1/2" long) one molly, the firefish, the anthias, the cleaner wrasse, one small chromis are all that have disappeared with no trace. The goby and one molly carcasses wound up in my sump, and the larger fish on the sand.

 

[carey]

I have to say it, so forgive me, but tangs shouldnt have been in that tank.

They need a six foot tank, especically the blue hippo.

What kind of cleanup crew do you have? If something died what is there in there to eat the carcass?

Another thought, you probably already did this, but have you checked ALL the filter parts and hoses? As well as around the tank? Gobies and wrasses are notorious jumpers. Do you have a sump or regular hob filter? Do you check your water parameters? have you noticed any spikes in parameters?

 

[Ricksreef]

Do a bottle trap a few nights and see what you catch.

 

[bsu20r6]

Carey, the CUC is about 25 hermits, now down to 15-20 baja snails and 25 margarita snails. I have a 20 gallon sump with my reef octopus skimmer in it. I do check the sump when fish go missing like this. I have glass tops, but have still checked the floor around the tank for jumpers. and I do check my water and have not found any spikes through any of these losses. I have also taken my water in to my LFS and had them double check my tests.

Rick, so is there a good way to do the bottle trap and not have it completely filled up with hermits? when i do catch 10-15 hermits in it, should i release them in the sump or would they crawl out of it?

 

[carey]

Well you do have a large enough crew to make short work of a smaller fish in just a few hours. That could be the solution to those guys. I'm just baffled how they are dying off, from small and timid to large and aggressive.

C'mon guys, post some ideas here. lol

 

[Ricksreef]

Carey, the CUC is about 25 hermits, now down to 15-20 baja snails and 25 margarita snails. I have a 20 gallon sump with my reef octopus skimmer in it. I do check the sump when fish go missing like this. I have glass tops, but have still checked the floor around the tank for jumpers.

Rick, so is there a good way to do the bottle trap and not have it completely filled up with hermits? when i do catch 10-15 hermits in it, should i release them in the sump or would they crawl out of it?

I would put them in the sump temporarily just to keep them from interfering again.

 

[brian242pa]

umm well when i had a six lined rasse it was mean i thought and after a while like 4 months of being in tank it eats 2 of my peperment shrimp and 1 of my cleaner. 1 week later he jumps out of my tank. lands behind tank i threw in sump 1hr later he died. doesnt song like ur problem tough because ur losing fish :/ do your fish lose there color befor they disapear?

 

[rambler67]

It sounds like the cuc is taking care of them nut whhy are they dieing to start with. how is your water quality?