Disappearing fish.....

[FooManChoo]

If anybody can shed any light...
I picked up some live sand for my 29 gal a few days ago, and after the silt cleared, I was down 1 green chromis. 2 days later, my lawnmower blenny AND my 3-stripe damsel have also disappeared. They seem to have...vanished. I've checked the floor and they're nowhere to be found. Here's what I have in the tank: yellow-tail damsel, 2 ocellaris clowns, 12lbs live rock, about 11 blue-legged hermit crabs, an emerald crab, a turbo and an astrea. Anything that could make fish disappear?
-Jay
P.S. Prizm skimmer, maxijet 600 and aquaclear 70 powerheads for flow, biowheel filter.....

 

[agent6473]

Jay,
Have you been snacking on your fish? Possible that they died and were eaten by the crabs... Did you find any bodies or hints of bodies at all?

Chris

 

[FooManChoo]

Nothing at all. No trace. Vanished... Everybody is way healthy, no signs of sickness.... sucks.
-Jay

 

[Liam]

Adding live sand may have caused an amonia spike

 

[testhead1313]

I'd check your water parameters... If left unchecked, those decaying bodies (as they're most likely still in the tank) can continue to pollute the tank and kill the other fish. Your hermit crabs will help to dispose of the tissue, but three fish in a week are way too much food for them to handle. Depending on how intricate your rockwork is, you may want to pull everything apart to find the remnants. Definately check your ammonia and nitrates and be prepared to do some good size water changes. Good luck!
Chris

 

[BarkingCrab]

I had a similar thing happen to one of my clowns. Doing great for about six months and then one night up and disappeared. I checked the rockwork, intakes, sump, overflow - everywhere - and no fish. No ammonia spike either, so I'm assuming it didn't die in the tank. Also, none of the other inhabitants have been bothered, so I don't think it was a mantis. Makes me crazy to this day. Please keep us posted if you find the body.

 

[denvig]

How long has the tank been up? How old is the rock and where did it come from. Maybe you have an uninvited guest that came with the rock.

 

[FooManChoo]

My tank is only a 29gal with about 12lbs live rock...so not too many places an uninvited guest or dead fish bodies could be hanging out. No funk coming from around the tank either... I still have no idea where they went. I checked my water parameters, no ammonia, no nitrite, crystal clear water, happy crabs and snails, healthy fish..... It's like the 3 went AWOL. I don't think I'm ever going to know what really happened to them. This is driving me insane! The tank's been up for about 5 months and no problem before, ever.

-Jay

 

[FooManChoo]

sounds just like what happened to barking crab....

-jay

 

[FooManChoo]

Well, the mystery is over.... I found skeletal remains in my (unprefiltered) powerhead. I guess some of us have to learn the hard way. Damnit. Oh well.... Now I know....And Knowing's Half the Battle!

-Jay