2 fish down

[Douglas Wattier]

I now have lost a Goby and a Mandarin to some mythical creature. Well, thats the only explanation that I can think of. I do have two nems in my tank but they are very picky eaters. I can't even cut up a piece of shrimp and give it to them without it being spit up a few hours later. I stare at my tank every day, so I would like to think I know the day that they end up missing. I haven't noticed that the nems are overly "fat" that day so that leads me to believe the fish are sitting in their stomachs, plus my mandarin was a pretty good sized fish, there would be a visible bulge. Now thats 2 fish, no evidence of the body, no skeletal structures, no pieces of meat being dragged around by my crabs. I guess my only true explanation is that both fish found some hole beneath my rock that they swam into and couldn't make it out.

 

[kashman100]

Where did your live rock come from? Mantis shrimp is a possibility

 

[Diesel]

Any new additions to the tank in the last few weeks?
What kind of nems we talking here?

 

[Douglas Wattier]

I lost the goby a couple months ago, and only got the mandarin a few weeks ago and he was only in the tank maybe a week and a half before the disappearance. Other than that, nothing new for a month or so and that was just a few coral frags. I have a RBTA and a Black Widow bubble tip. Here is a current picture...
in regards to the mantis shrimp... 90% of the rock was carrib sea life rock, 10% live from the LFS. If it is a mantis shrimp, how would I go about and check? I have a peppermint that has been in there since the beginning.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Do you have netting or a lid? Have you ruled out carpet surfing?

 

[Douglas Wattier]

Do you have netting or a lid? Have you ruled out carpet surfing?

I didn't find their bodies on the floor. I do not have a lid or mesh of some type covering the top.. I didn't think gobies left the sand bed, and mandarins stay close to the rock or substrate. Now i am a little worried my clowns might try the same thing.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Gobies will jump. I wasn't sure about a Mandarin, but I searched thereads before I posted and there have been reports of Mandarins jumping out of the tank. In any case, I was sorry to hear that you've lost your fish, especially to an unknown cause. Frustrating to not know what happened, I'm sure.