fish disappearing

Wiz · May 13, 2015

over the past month I have had 3 fish disappear without a trace. I cannot for the life of me understand where they are going. First about a month ago my 3 and a half inch purple fire fish went missing. My rock work is pretty open with 1 or 2 hiding spots which I checked.then 2 weeks later my 3 inch Anthia went missing. and 2 days ago my small yellow watchman goby. there are no fish in the tank capable of this. there is one large serpent star but I do not think he is big enough to make my Anthia disappear overnight without noticeably bulging. so it must be a coral or an anemone.. the only ones that I can think of that are capable are as follows. possibly my elegance coral although I would think I would have noticed a bulge. I don't think any other coral could have done it. which leaves the anemones. I have 3 bubble tips and a peach tube anemone. the bubble tips are on the rock work and it is possible that I would not have noticed the bulge. the peach tube anemone is kind of small and I do not think that it would have been able to hold on to them. definitely not the anthia. really there is nothing in the tank that I would think could make them disappear overnight. literally I see them the night before and the next morning they are gone without a trace. the anthia was 3 inches long and about an inch to an inch and a half thick. I don't get it. No body, no bones, no fish. Any ideas?

redfishbluefish · May 13, 2015

Assuming you did a carpet surfing inspection, I'd be looking at a rogue hitchhiking crab.

Wiz · May 13, 2015

yes I did a carpet inspection not to mention I have a net cover over the tank. and my rock work is so open I have no idea where a crab of that size would hide. it's really a dilemma

Humblefish · May 13, 2015

Did your skimmer go nuts after that 3 inch Anthias went missing? If not, something is making quick work of the bodies.

Tahoe61 · May 13, 2015

Serpent star, it's a learned behavior.

Squid · May 13, 2015

Wiz said:
yes I did a carpet inspection not to mention I have a net cover over the tank. and my rock work is so open I have no idea where a crab of that size would hide. it's really a dilemma

They could have died and been devoured by your cuc over night. I watched 4 blue leg hermits eat a dead clownfish :( in about 3-4 hours 2 days ago.

Seth fhy · May 14, 2015

When my tank was newer that happened to me with 3 different fish. My CUC was very small so they couldn't have eaten the dead fish that quickly. I had a condy anemone that I suspected, once I removed it that hasn't happened since.

Miketc17 · May 14, 2015

I've had 3 firefish gobies go MIA in the past two weeks...I still haven't seen them nor any remains. They don't even come out during feeding so I know for a fact they are dead. It's been blowing my mind and I don't have the slightest clue what it could be.

Humblefish · May 14, 2015

Squid said:
They could have died and been devoured by your cuc over night. I watched 4 blue leg hermits eat a dead clownfish :( in about 3-4 hours 2 days ago.

Nassarius snails can make quick work out of a dead fish, as well.