Missing Fish

[ledzilla]

So, this past weekend I purchased a half dozen barbs for my aquarium. They seem to be happy in there, and tend to school out in the middle of the aquarium. But oddly enough for several mornings in a row I've gone to feed them and found a barb missing. There are only three in there right now, and as I said, I started with six. The other residents include a gourami and pike cichlid. The pike is quite bigger than the rest, and I've been told that they'll eat anything that will fit in their mouths. But he doesn't appear interested in the barbs, and only interacts with them to shoo them away from some of the food when he wants to eat. I give them mini sinking pellets that they just suck down, and the pike eats flakes. The barbs also like the flakes once they start to sink. But other than the pike ensuring the barbs don't touch what it wants to eat, I don't see it as being the cause of the disappearances. I mean, I know the pike did eat some crawfish I added some time ago, but they were itty bitty babies, so that was a mistake on my behalf. And I know the gourami isn't to blame as it's the same size as the barbs.

But this is only happening at night. I go to bed, all the fish are there. I wake up in the morning, there's another one missing. And no evidence of what have happened.

 

[Freakgecko91]

I'd all but guarantee its the pike, no matter what species. Mine used to pick off lemon tetras like it was his job


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[KingKoopa512]

Pike?

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[2xEcho]

Pike cichlids are born predators...even if you don't see him actively hunting while you are watching him, it is in his nature to lie in ambush and when something that fits in his mouth swims by - it's dinner.
Here's a good page with pictures showing even very young (2 inches and under) they are predators of whatever they can fit in their mouths: How to keep your pike cichlid with pictures

My guess is that during the night your barbs got too close and the pike had a midnight snack. Sorry...

 

[Freakgecko91]

Duplicate

 

[ledzilla]

Hmm... Methinks you all are correct. He is quite big compared to the others, but still doesn't seem big enough to fit them in his mouth. I was told when I got him that pikes tend to eat anything that'll fit. The barbs don't seem that small, but I suppose if they look fit for a meal to him, he's gonna have himself a snack.

I guess maybe I should just stick to gouramis and other cichlids for now. He got along great with the other gouramis I've had, and he was pretty chummy with the parrot cichlids I used to have.

Ok, so given all of this, I think I'm going to have some difficulty in finding some invertebrates for helping keep the aquarium clean. Unless I get some decently grown crawfish, he'll probably eat them like he did the tiny ones I mistakenly added. I did have crawfish in the tank before he was added, and he kept away from them, but I screwed up and put algea remover in the water. Didn't see the warning that's on ALL of them that they are bad for invertebrates. I was thinking of adding some nerite snails, but he'll probably just eat them.

Funny thing, looking through that linked article, it says pikes don't typically eat flake food. I had no trouble trouble getting this guy to eat them. He's all over them, but really, REALLY likes bloodworms.

 

[ledzilla]

Ok, so it's confirmed. My pike is eating the barbs. I finally found a half-eaten one floating this morning. So I won't be adding any more barbs to the aquarium while the pike is still around. Guess I'll get myself a couple blood parrots, then.

But I could still use some bottom feeders and maybe something that will help keep algae under control. I don't want to keep using an algae-fix product, but I think I get bits of algae coming in with every water change, so I need to control it. Anyway, I don't want to get something that will be eaten by the pike or the parrots, and I know they'll eat baby crawfish. Any suggestions?