What is killing my fish. Please help

[FreahSaltyGuy]

Hi all,

Need some help figuring out what has eaten my Midas Blenny and 2 clownfish over the last 2 months. Here are the fish and cuc I have in my 220 reef tank:

*Qty 1 -6"inch large blue tang
*Qty 2 -1 small, 1 large 3" or so Clownfish
*Qty 1 - 4"-5" Butterfly fish
*Qty 1 -5" inch Bristletooth tang
*Qty 1 -7" inch Fox Face
*Qty 2 -3" inch pair of Blue chromis
*Qty 1 -5" inch Fox Face
*Qty 1 - 3" inch Sleeper Goby
*Qty 2 - large cleaner shrimp
*Qty 1 large serpent starfish
*A dozen or so Astrea & turbo snails
* A dozen or so hermit crabs with 1 large 3" or so shell hermit
*Qty 1 - Very Large 6"-8" Blue Spotted Sea Urchin
*Qty 1 - small 3" inch fighting conch

All of my fish are healthy and fed 2-3 times a day with heavy feeding. I have never noticed any aggression towards any fish from any other fish. So they are being killed at night. I'm thinking maybe the wrasse since they are night hunters? I have looked inside my overflows already & in my sump and they are NOT there. There is not body what are we left over or bones or anything.

Please help me figure this one out.

Thanks!

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Bristleworms will eat dead and near death fish.
What is the source of your liverock?
Video of ill or dying fish could be helpful

 

[Coral reefer]

Short answer is probably you.
Kind of kidding, but not really.
What is killing them might not be the same as what’s eating them possibly.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Bobbit worm maybe?

 

[FreahSaltyGuy]

Bristleworms will eat dead and near death fish.
What is the source of your liverock?
Video of ill or dying fish could be helpful

I have no dying fish lol. That's the problem they are all happy and healthy. They are there swimming around and eating normal one day and gone the next morning.

 

[FreahSaltyGuy]

Short answer is probably you.
Kind of kidding, but not really.
What is killing them might not be the same as what’s eating them possibly.

Huh? Lol

 

[FreahSaltyGuy]

Bobbit worm maybe?

Wouldn't that kill something like my Blue Tang, Fox Face or Wrasse since they sleep at the bottom of the tank under rocks and the Wrasse lasting under the sand?

 

[Darkxerox]

Anything that dies in my tank is consumed in less than a few hours with all the bristleworms, crabs, nassarius snails, etc. I can count on one hand the number of fish I've seen dead (not carpet surfed) that left behind anything visible. That's probably what's happening here. Those were three tiny fish in a big tank so hard to find anything left behind.

What other animals are in there? You mentioned a wrasse? Were the clowns in a group of 4 or did you buy two more?

 

[derek_SR]

You mention a wrasse but I don’t see a wrasse on your list - seriously doubt that’s what’s killing your fish, just saying.

Does your tank have a lid? Could they be jumping and getting taken by a pet? Midas blennies are jumpers.

I agree with @Coral reefer and @Darkxerox at any rate. They are likely not dying to some mystery predator, they’re dying and being consumed by the tank.

 

[FreahSaltyGuy]

You mention a wrasse but I don’t see a wrasse on your list - seriously doubt that’s what’s killing your fish, just saying.

Does your tank have a lid? Could they be jumping and getting taken by a pet? Midas blennies are jumpers.

I agree with @Coral reefer and @Darkxerox at any rate. They are likely not dying to some mystery predator, they’re dying and being consumed by the tank.

Yes it has a lid all the way across the top. When you say consumed by the tank? what do you mean exactly?

 

[FreahSaltyGuy]

Anything that dies in my tank is consumed in less than a few hours with all the bristleworms, crabs, nassarius snails, etc. I can count on one hand the number of fish I've seen dead (not carpet surfed) that left behind anything visible. That's probably what's happening here. Those were three tiny fish in a big tank so hard to find anything left behind.

What other animals are in there? You mentioned a wrasse? Were the clowns in a group of 4 or did you buy two more?

No they were always in a group of 4 in my smaller 30 gallon before I moved them once I got the larger fish all together.

 

[xcaret]

Wouldn't that kill something like my Blue Tang, Fox Face or Wrasse since they sleep at the bottom of the tank under rocks and the Wrasse lasting under the sand?

Bobbit worms are very stealthy and grow big if unnoticed> I don't know for sure if the worm would kill a larger fish but that it does have a knack for live things, that I'm sure of.

 

[derek_SR]

Yes it has a lid all the way across the top. When you say consumed by the tank? what do you mean exactly?

Eaten by bacteria, hermits, snails, pods, worms, etc.

Like Thomas above, I rarely see the bodies of dead fish. Your tank is about the same size as mine - stuff can also really disappear even if not yet eaten.

 

[FreahSaltyGuy]

Bobbit worms are very stealthy and grow big if unnoticed> I don't know for sure if the worm would kill a larger fish but that it does have a knack for live things, that I'm sure of.

How to I find it or catch is it possible?

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

How to I find it or catch is it possible?

IIRC from the famous bobbitt worm story, the guy used a red light at night to see in the tank since that wavelength was invisible to the worm.

 

[Bruce Spiegelman]

Wrasses that we keep aren't generally night hunters as you say especially those that sleep nights in the sand. What species do you have? I vry much doubt though that a wrasse is your problem. If it was you'd have seen aggression on a daily basis from him.

You note there's no aggression (which is hard to believe with a 3" clown). Have you ever noted any fin nipping, scales missing? changes in behavior ala hiding more near the rocks?

I would also consider your 3" hermit as the culprit as well. ALL crabs are carnivores and will take a fish if they can.

 

[Don.Julio91]

Id go with the carnivorous worm theory (bob or bris). I seen the inappropriate reefer catch a large one that was potentially eating his fish on one of his vlogs.

 

[Coral reefer]

Not sure exactly what a serpent star is. Might be an issue potentially?

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Good point @Coral reefer , missed that. @FreahSaltyGuy Is the serpent star a big green one?

 

[Darkxerox]

Not sure exactly what a serpent star is. Might be an issue potentially?

Big brittle star. Also why you'd never see a body!