Fish murder!

[Naiad]

I have just lost my fourth wrasse in the past four weeks. Something is killing them! I am completely heart broken. I will be attempting to remove all crabs from my system in hopes they are the culprits. I have lost my 7 year old yellow wrasse, both my leopards and a flasher. I find their bodies with brand new wounds and the hermits feasting on them. They are in perfect health otherwise. I am soo done right now.

 

[Wiz]

Wow! Really awful. :-( 7 year old fish. Soo sry naiad. How long ago did this start?

 

[Naiad]

About a month ago I just moved my old wrasses into the new 220. The yellow just disappeared. As did one leopard. I found the flasher missing his tail and he died soon after. This morning I found the last leopard wrasse.

 

[Naiad]

 

[Wiz]

220. Gonna be hard to find the culprit. New rock? What kind of cran are you thinkin it is?

 

[Naiad]

New rock. I have had issues with my red emeralds eating coral already and have removed one rock crab. I thought I got all the bad guys out before putting these guys in...

 

[Wiz]

Holy cow. Thats a nice chunk. Looks clean like a bite too. Uh oh. Doesnt look like scavenging to me. I'd say you got a beast in there.

 

[Wiz]

I had to remove a ruby mythrax that was eating my duncan. Doesnt look like a mythrax did it. I don't know about rock crabs. That looks like a pretty clean bite to me though

 

[Naiad]

I know. The most agressive fish I have is a purple tang and the fish with the largest mouth is my clown so they are out as far as culprits. I am very worried.

 

[Naiad]

This guy was so active and ate everything. What chance do my smaller fish have if they ate unlucky to encounter it

 

[4FordFamily]

One common issue is that people blame the clean up crew when in reality water parameters, disease, or something else kills them. When we find them, the clean up crew has done damage and we blame them. 9/10 times the culprit was not a critter that killed them, rather it is who took advantage of the easy, free meal (which is actually to a degree what we employ them for)

Do you quarantine and treat all incoming fish preventatively? Have you tested the water? Have any other fish shown any symptoms?

Purple tangs are very very hardy but they may be able to clue you towards a parasite if that is the culprit.

I would put any more fish that die quickly in a dark bucket of freshwater and wait 5-10 minutes and then look for small white worms. Could be flukes. Could also be a bunch of other parasites as well.

 

[XsBones]

You have a Loch Ness hidden in there for sure.

 

[Naiad]

I would normally think that but none of these fish are new and all were doing great up until they died. I know the hermits were not to blame but I am at a loss as to what else could take him out so fast. I have had these wrasse for years. No fish show signs of disease.

 

[Naiad]

One common issue is that people blame the clean up crew when in reality water parameters, disease, or something else kills them. When we find them, the clean up crew has done damage and we blame them. 9/10 times the culprit was not a critter that killed them, rather it is who took advantage of the easy, free meal (which is actually to a degree what we employ them for)

Do you quarantine and treat all incoming fish preventatively? Have you tested the water? Have any other fish shown any symptoms?

Purple tangs are very very hardy but they may be able to clue you towards a parasite if that is the culprit.

I would put any more fish that die quickly in a dark bucket of freshwater and wait 5-10 minutes and then look for small white worms. Could be flukes. Could also be a bunch of other parasites as well.

All my new fish are qt for at least 30 days and treated for flukes/worms at the very least. All other fish seem perfectly normal. I can run out and check my parameters a little later today at the lfs to compare. My tests show nothing strange. Temp 79, zero ammonia and nitrite. Nitrate is at 10-20. I am not proud of it but I'll be honest these fish have delt with higher in the past.

 

[Naiad]

I did not qt some pipes I brought in. Big mistake but the fish they were with showed no signs of what killed them and I waited a month after before putting in fish again.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

What other wrasses where in the 220 before you add the old ones ?

 

[Naiad]

What other wrasses where in the 220 before you add the old ones ?

None. I haven't added any new wrasses yet.

 

[Naiad]

So parameters are fine but I think I may have a mixture of some sort of illness, saw some rock scratching and a predator taking advantage of the situation. None of the fish look on their death bed prior to death/disappearance so i don't think they die before being grabbed but if are weak in any way... I have caught another mantis and seen at least 7 non reef safe crabs in the past few nights. None seem big enough to be the culprit but the sheer number is troubling.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

Just wondering, where did you get your live rock?

 

[Wiz]

Right.... I want a mantis!!! Where is the rock from??