Fish disappear...

[enseng]

Hi, my fishes keep disappearing...dunno whether still alive or not? firegoby used to come out during feeding but havent seen it for 3 days...blue tang was eating well yesterday but today also gone missing...wondering whether still alive??

My yellow tang also went missing last time and i found it hiding behind the rocks (at a gap between the rock and my tank's wall), its tail and fin was torn and doesn't looks heathly.

This time I suspect my blue tang is also hiding there or already dead.Are all the fishes that sick or dying always went hiding and preparing to die in the secluded area?

I am thinking to buy some coral chips to fill out the gap between the rocks and tank's wall so that the fish can't hide and die inside? I am still puzzling why the fish which is still feeding and looks heathly (althought got a bit of white spot) gone missing suddenly? could it be some worm hiding inside my tank and attack the fish at night?

Anyone who has the experience? Can share?

[teebs]

What fishes do you have in your aquarium? Are your fish healthy? And have you checked your water parameters?

[Marineman]

Hi, my fishes keep disappearing...dunno whether still alive or not? firegoby used to come out during feeding but havent seen it for 3 days...blue tang was eating well yesterday but today also gone missing...wondering whether still alive??

My yellow tang also went missing last time and i found it hiding behind the rocks (at a gap between the rock and my tank's wall), its tail and fin was torn and doesn't looks heathly.

This time I suspect my blue tang is also hiding there or already dead.Are all the fishes that sick or dying always went hiding and preparing to die in the secluded area?

I am thinking to buy some coral chips to fill out the gap between the rocks and tank's wall so that the fish can't hide and die inside? I am still puzzling why the fish which is still feeding and looks heathly (althought got a bit of white spot) gone missing suddenly? could it be some worm hiding inside my tank and attack the fish at night?

Anyone who has the experience? Can share?

Chances are they are dead if you dun see them for a while.

Depending on what fishes you are keeping, some fishes likes to hide by nature but not the fishes (tangs) u mentioned. If they hide, the signs are that they are stressed becos they are bullied by other fishes. When they hide, the signs are not good and they will generally starve to death.

Fish dies for many reasons, some fishes have high mortality rate i.e they do not survive well in capitivity (like cleaner wrasse, most butterfly fishes etc), if hardy fishes to die, a few reasons are that they are stressed becos they have not been properly acclimatise, if they are caught using cynide, they will die over a few weeks. So do some research on fishes before buying to see if they are the hardy type (easier to keep), some fishes find it hard to survive in new aquariums, preferring matured ones (>9thhs) with some algae for them to peck on.

Most fishes can tolerate imperfect water parameters unless it is way off. Do you now that some fishes release ttoxis when they die? If u dun, pls check out.

[richhang]

Hi, my fishes keep disappearing...dunno whether still alive or not? firegoby used to come out during feeding but havent seen it for 3 days...blue tang was eating well yesterday but today also gone missing...wondering whether still alive??

My yellow tang also went missing last time and i found it hiding behind the rocks (at a gap between the rock and my tank's wall), its tail and fin was torn and doesn't looks heathly.

This time I suspect my blue tang is also hiding there or already dead.Are all the fishes that sick or dying always went hiding and preparing to die in the secluded area?

I am thinking to buy some coral chips to fill out the gap between the rocks and tank's wall so that the fish can't hide and die inside? I am still puzzling why the fish which is still feeding and looks heathly (althought got a bit of white spot) gone missing suddenly? could it be some worm hiding inside my tank and attack the fish at night?

Anyone who has the experience? Can share?

hi enseng,i've this same problem once(flame angel,rockbeauty gone 4 no reason).Search ur rock crevices,cos i found out there is a big harry crab dat eat my fishes in the night.

[ranchuboy]

How old is your tank ? It will be useful for you to state some basic information about your tank. If your tank is less than 3 months old, chances are it had not been properly cycled. Your fish may be poisoned by high ammonia or nitrite. If this is the case, please do not add anymore fish. Wait for 1 month before you add your first fish. Let this fish stablise (meaning eating well and not dying) before adding the next one. It is a bad idea to add many fishes at the same time. This hobby needs alot of patience. If you do not have this pre-requisite, it is unlikely you will be able to sustain this hobby for long.

[stevenkoh08]

The main point is during ur cycle of the new tank how long is the process and did u add anything in during this point of time.

If u did add any LS or LR during the cycle half way most likely that the cycle is not done cause LR also alive it have lots of living thing inside and will die also and cause ur water to be polluted pls input to let others reefer to help u see weather what should be done next??

Worse come to Worrse re-set up is needed cause ur water maybe poison by now chk the water parameter

And also did u ever add in like oct, squird, box fish or even a animoni that die in ur tank this will also cause water to be poison and can't be tested also..

[cdckjn]

If you are discovering that fishes are disappearing without a dead body - then most probably something is in your tank killing and then eating up the dead bodies of the fishes. Try to put some prawn meat into a glass jar at a 45 degress angle, then try to trap what ever is in your tank, else wake up at night with a torchlight to see if you can see everything.

[enseng]

hi all bros, thanks for all the advice!

Currently having 2 true percula clown, 1 yellow tang, 1 brown tang and 2 blue tang at my tank...my water parameter all fine. NH4 and NO2 zero, nitrate around 5PPM, PH 8.4 KH 9.

Today i found that the blue tang (which went missing) is stuck in between 2 glasses at overflow, the gap is so thin that only blue tang can get in ....wondering how it can get in and stuck there coz i use all the PVC wire mesh for fencing...manage to pull it out, it looks shocked but still eating...

but the 2 blue tangs doesnt swim too much, whenever got ppl walk pass the tank, they will "zoom" and hide behind the rocks....wondering my rocks formation not good for them or not...coz quite a big empty space at the center...

My tank is close to 2 months old..all fishes r eating well...my cycling took 3 weeks....added a prawn to speed up nitrogen process and used NSW and dose bacteria weekly ...never added any LS/LR during cycling....only add LS when i check that the NH4, NO2 back to zero.....

So far, the parameters looks ok, i will keep monitoring again....now i m wondering whether my rocks are enuff or not....coz i see all the LFS's tank r packed with rocks and the their fishes can swim happily in between rocks...

There's quite a lot of empty space at the front of the tank, purposely leave it empty so that fishes can swim there ...but they choose to swim at 2 side instead...haha

[teebs]

How big is your tank?

[comycus]

I believe your tank is 3ft?

4 tangs could be problematic in your tank. Sounds like Ich magnet to me. I think the lack of swimming space can contribute to the stress, not to mention the high bioload. Pls watch your nitrate and phosphate levels.

Were the fishes acclimatized properly? That can be another contributing factor. Anyway, tangs generally take some time to get used to the tank before swimming in open view.

[ranchuboy]

Your parameter readings sounds too good to be true. You may want to use another brand to measure. Regardless of what your readings are, your life stock tells you the most accurate picture. If they are not swimming happily then they are telling you your water condition is far from ideal.

You cycled your tank without the LR. Your tank is no where near cycled. We normally include the LR with or without sand when we are cycling our tanks. I suggest you continue to do 20% water change and add bacteria on a weekly basis. Do not add anymore fish. Feed your fish once a day. You need to give time for the bacteria population to grow. After 1 to 2 months you can resume normal feeding regime if your fish are swimming about happily.

Please note, it normally takes 3 to 6 months for a tank to mature. During this time you should refrain from adding new fish. Your tank is too small to accommodate 4 tangs. You will need to add more flows if you want to keep tangs.

[enseng]

yup..my tank is 3ft.....i cycled with the LR and sand for 3 weeks...what i mean is i din add anymore LR during cycling period...

Now all the fishes all feeding well......

wat brand of test kits that give more acurate result?...

the test kit brang i am currently using are:

KH - tetra

NH4 - API

NO2 - red sea

NO3 - API

PO4 - API

Now i am feeding the fish once a day...usually you guys feed how many times a day? currently i keep my brown tang in the betta box coz it chase the yellow tang tat i added...both are same size...should i release the brown tang back? will they fight again? or i should sell away one just in case they fight again?

[comycus]

yup..my tank is 3ft.....i cycled with the LR and sand for 3 weeks...what i mean is i din add anymore LR during cycling period...

Now all the fishes all feeding well......

wat brand of test kits that give more acurate result?...

the test kit brang i am currently using are:

KH - tetra

NH4 - API

NO2 - red sea

NO3 - API

PO4 - API

Now i am feeding the fish once a day...usually you guys feed how many times a day? currently i keep my brown tang in the betta box coz it chase the yellow tang tat i added...both are same size...should i release the brown tang back? will they fight again? or i should sell away one just in case they fight again?

You can't keep the brown tang in the beta box forever... and I think 4 tangs are definitely too much for your 3ft. It would be a good idea to sell it away. Can consider selling away 1 of your blue tangs too. I think 2 is prob the max you wanna squeeze in your tank. Some reefers will go as far as saying no tang should be kept in a tank smaller than 4 ft.

[stevenkoh08]

ya agreed nvr try to attemp to keep more then 2 tang in a 3ft which i used to it'll only stress them more and agression towards each other

worse thing is it'll kill each other so if u wanna keep a tang kingdom try to keep all small one but one day it'll still grow but at least they already get used to each others

[[V]tEc]

i m keepin 5 tangs in my 3ft tank......no fighting except for brown n yellow tang....lol....

[Jameshong]

For 2 months tank, I think i's too fast to add so many tangs... !