Can fish actually disappear?

[bmaher1212]

OK, so this will sound weird... but have to ask. I keep losing fish! I started my tank in Sep / Oct, cycled the water for two months (with live rock from three weeks, coral from six weeks). Put in eight damsels in early Dec. No problem for two weeks... added more livestock. All good. In Jan added some larger fish, naso tang, yellow tang, Foxfaces (three), mature clown fish (tomato, zebra). They have all disappeared. Some are fine one day, completely gone the other. I lost five fish in one evening with only one actual body ever found!

I have a crab, hairy fella about the size of my palm, that hitched a lift on my live rock. Could it be eating the fish after they die? Could it be killing them?

Or is it that my water isn't mature enough? The tank is 8ft long x 2ft x 2ft, about 30% rock and coral. Thing is, my coral is doing great! Healthy, full of life... and the fish that live are also really healthy. All very confusing... any thoughts are most welcome!

[bmaher1212]

OH... and all the damsels are still alive. They are unbreakable those fish, they'd survive a nuclear war...

[jyoon]

Check your overflow compartment. I do have fishes jump into the overflow compartment due to 3 kingdom.....

[nwyk153]

yeah... could be the crab... or other hicthikers chewing ur fishes. Like mantis shrimp. U should check ur overflow compartment too. my wrasse went missing for a couple of day until i check at the overflow. Its a pain to get him out! LOL.

[chtan23]

I'm sick of seeing my fishes jump into the overflow and the worst is, it's a pain in the ###### to catch them out. I bought a acrylic board, cut into shape and cover it. Problem solved!

[yikai]

dude. 8ft tank, anything lost inside is very hard to find. my tank is only 3ft, and occasionally i have missing fish like gobies and wat not....and just cannot find. my thought is that PALM SIZED CRAB. omg palm sized?? thats huge!! most likely ur fishes died and melted away inside the liverock. could be the crab ate the carcass too.

i suggesst u find a way to get rid of that crab...if its really palm sized, it can do quite alot of damage. can topple ur corals too

[bmaher1212]

that's funny LemonLemon, was going ask. Some mornings it looks like a bomb went off in my tank. Corals toppled everywhere... maybe that's when the big fella (as I've now named him) goes for his nightly walk?! Any ideas on how to catch him?

Side question, is it true that for the first year the water is always more unstable? Maybe I just haven't run my tank for long enough? If so, how come my coral seems to be ok?

I'm enjoying having the aquarium, lots to learn! Love the idea about covering the overflow... new task for this weekend!

[yikai]

that's funny LemonLemon, was going ask. Some mornings it looks like a bomb went off in my tank. Corals toppled everywhere... maybe that's when the big fella (as I've now named him) goes for his nightly walk?! Any ideas on how to catch him?

Side question, is it true that for the first year the water is always more unstable? Maybe I just haven't run my tank for long enough? If so, how come my coral seems to be ok?

I'm enjoying having the aquarium, lots to learn! Love the idea about covering the overflow... new task for this weekend!

yes. ur crab is the one toppling ur corals at night. even small 2" sized crabs can be a pain in the bum! u might want to trap it. it will be too troublesome to tear down ur 8ft tank to catch it..for more ideas on traps, u can search the forum. most of the conventional crab traps are suited for small ones, since urs is so big, u need to improvise and bigger ur trap (:

yes. the tank will need to mature. usually a matured tank is around 8 months to 1 year. I THINK. but yea. need a matured tank. adding too much lviestock too fast will cause an imbalance. sometimes corals seem ok, but over many many months they will start to deteriorate and die. keep a close on on them. as u said, they are doing very well. most likely they really are doing well (: if they are dying, very fast one. few days to a week and all dead liao. unless they are dying a slow death.

[Vlamingi_cont]

OK, so this will sound weird... but have to ask. I keep losing fish! I started my tank in Sep / Oct, cycled the water for two months (with live rock from three weeks, coral from six weeks). Put in eight damsels in early Dec. No problem for two weeks... added more livestock. All good. In Jan added some larger fish, naso tang, yellow tang, Foxfaces (three), mature clown fish (tomato, zebra). They have all disappeared. Some are fine one day, completely gone the other. I lost five fish in one evening with only one actual body ever found!

I have a crab, hairy fella about the size of my palm, that hitched a lift on my live rock. Could it be eating the fish after they die? Could it be killing them?

Or is it that my water isn't mature enough? The tank is 8ft long x 2ft x 2ft, about 30% rock and coral. Thing is, my coral is doing great! Healthy, full of life... and the fish that live are also really healthy. All very confusing... any thoughts are most welcome!

That's ur tank?? I dun think any fishes will go MIA... Like wad bro Jyoon suggested check ur overflow compartments... btw bice set up...