I got a male and two female Lyretail Anthias about 2.5 months ago. They have been really great fish, very good eaters, no problems at all. All of them were quarantined and medicated before being added to the DT. All of a sudden I couldn't find one of the females. I assumed it was just hiding, but after 4 days I finally started pulling out rocks and found it wedged very deeply inside one of my rocks. It was seriously STUCK. I could see his head just barely through the other side of the rock, and tried to lightly tug his back and VERY lightly push his head back so he could free himself. Eventually he came loose but had a clear indent on his head where he was wedged, and the scales were rubbed off badly. When I freed her, she immediately went under a rock on her side and just laid there, gasping. I assumed she would die, but sure enough a few hours later she was out and about, seemingly fine. She was even eating that same afternoon.
The next day, all 3 lyretails were out, but I noticed some two spots on the male where his scales were rubbed off. He'd clearly been trying to wedge himself somewhere as well. I figured that he just wanted to try a new sleeping spot and it was a bit too tight so some scales came off.
The next day, the non-damaged female lyretail disappeared. The male and the previously damaged female were still swimming around like normal and eating just fine.
The next day, the next female lyretail disappeared. No signs of either of them anywhere.
Fastforward a week. The male lyretail's scales were almost entirely healed. I saw a small fish vertebrae stuck to a rock, so I assumed that one or both of the female lyretails had died.
Two days later, I wake up to find my male lyretail wedged between two very large rocks being eaten by the CUC. I can't imagine how he got there, as I couldn't even pull him out by grabbing him pretty hard (maybe he would have gone through if I pushed him?). He was absolutely stuck, though, and I feel like he must have been wedged so hard that it crushed some of his internal organs or something because he was doing great the night before.
I can't understand what could possibly be happening. I've never had Anthias before, and I know that occasionally a female will just vanish never to be seen again, but two females and the male over a relatively short period of time, all of which seemingly get themselves stuck in the rockwork? Seems totally unusual.
I highly doubt that this is the result of bullying. The male was a real grump and would flash at anything if it got in his way. In fact, I assumed that he was the reason why the first female got stuck.
Any thoughts on what could be going on? I would love to try these fish again, but not if they keep killing themselves
The next day, all 3 lyretails were out, but I noticed some two spots on the male where his scales were rubbed off. He'd clearly been trying to wedge himself somewhere as well. I figured that he just wanted to try a new sleeping spot and it was a bit too tight so some scales came off.
The next day, the non-damaged female lyretail disappeared. The male and the previously damaged female were still swimming around like normal and eating just fine.
The next day, the next female lyretail disappeared. No signs of either of them anywhere.
Fastforward a week. The male lyretail's scales were almost entirely healed. I saw a small fish vertebrae stuck to a rock, so I assumed that one or both of the female lyretails had died.
Two days later, I wake up to find my male lyretail wedged between two very large rocks being eaten by the CUC. I can't imagine how he got there, as I couldn't even pull him out by grabbing him pretty hard (maybe he would have gone through if I pushed him?). He was absolutely stuck, though, and I feel like he must have been wedged so hard that it crushed some of his internal organs or something because he was doing great the night before.
I can't understand what could possibly be happening. I've never had Anthias before, and I know that occasionally a female will just vanish never to be seen again, but two females and the male over a relatively short period of time, all of which seemingly get themselves stuck in the rockwork? Seems totally unusual.
I highly doubt that this is the result of bullying. The male was a real grump and would flash at anything if it got in his way. In fact, I assumed that he was the reason why the first female got stuck.
Any thoughts on what could be going on? I would love to try these fish again, but not if they keep killing themselves