Need a detective - 2 fish mysteriously missing....

[mwm5461]

Hello all,

I have a 14 gallon Nuvo reef tank with 2 clownfish, a cleaner shrimp, various snails, some hermits, and corals. In the past two months I've added a rainsfordi goby and a tailspot blenny. The rainsfordi goby I had for about 5 weeks or so before adding the tailspot. About a week into owning the tailspot the rainsfordi goby went mysteriously missing...no where to be found. Originally I thought the goby was just hiding somewhere in the rock work but then I became concerned when I didn't see him for about a 4-5 days straight. After that first 4-5 days I began to come to the realization that he was dead or just gone...that's when the blenny went missing as well. All my parameters have been fine and really the only notable thing was that I used aiptasia-x to kill some aiptasia. My understanding is that that's reef safe, so it should've have killed my fish, right? At this point I guess there's nothing to do but I'm just kind of discouraged and wondering if anyone can ease my mind on what happened (maybe it could prevent further things from happening since now I don't really want to spend more money to add more fish). I've searched the forums for some ideas on what could have happened.
1. The fish jumped out -> I highly doubt this although some can correct me maybe, but as pictured below I only have about an inch gap in the back of my tank for room to jump out...Also I feel like I would've smelled a dead fish eventually and the chances that two fish made that jump seem low. I do have a dog so it would explain that maybe he ate them while they were on the ground...but the second fish disappeared while I was away for a couple days with my dog so he wouldn't have eaten the second missing fish.
2. They got stuck in the rock work and died. I guess this seems to be the most plausible answer. Would my hermits really have gotten rid of the bodies that quickly though?
3. Is there any chance my clownfish ate them overnight or something? Just seems strange the other two went missing and the clowns are fine.

I've had a breakout of some hair algae on the rockwork and sandbed, is this maybe from the excess nutrients of the dead fish (pictured below). I appreciate any clarity on this. Thanks!

 

[rkpetersen]

Sorry about your missing fish! I suspect they just died and were consumed. Rainford's Goby, in particular, is a delicate little thing that sometimes doesn't eat well. If it died it would be consumed by the hermit, snails and cleaner shrimp very quickly. Tailspot Blenny can also sometimes die of starvation. If you didn't witness any aggression from the clowns toward either of these fish before they went missing, I doubt that was the cause.

Can't entirely rule out the possibility that they died of some infectious disease like crypto/ich. Assuming you didn't see any white spots or other problems with the fish before they vanished? Clowns are relatively resistant to some diseases because of their thick mucus coats.

Algae outbreak could relate to increased nutrients from a dead fish. Check your nitrate and phosphate levels and see if you need to take action to lower them.

 

[mwm5461]

Sorry about your missing fish! I suspect they just died and were consumed. Rainford's Goby, in particular, is a delicate little thing that sometimes doesn't eat well. If it died it would be consumed by the hermit, snails and cleaner shrimp very quickly. Tailspot Blenny can also sometimes die of starvation. If you didn't witness any aggression from the clowns toward either of these fish before they went missing, I doubt that was the cause.

Can't entirely rule out the possibility that they died of some infectious disease like crypto/ich. Assuming you didn't see any white spots or other problems with the fish before they vanished? Clowns are relatively resistant to some diseases because of their thick mucus coats.

Algae outbreak could relate to increased nutrients from a dead fish. Check your nitrate and phosphate levels and see if you need to take action to lower them.

Apologies for the delayed response...its been a hectic New Year. Thank you for the response rkpetersen. There wasn't any aggression noticed by the clowns prior to their death. I also didn't notice any signs of disease such as itch. I've only been measuring nitrates so I decided to get a phosphate hanna checker. The algae was definitely due to the spike in nutrients from the dead fish although I'm trying to lower them with water changes and once I measure the phosphate Friday, possibly using Red Sea No3 PO4-X reducer.

I've been feeding the fish every other day and around the time of the missing Rainsfords goby I missed a day or two because I had a friend feeding them while I was away for a couple days. He didn't always come out to eat so I'm guessing he missed some feedings and then with the couple day break that's what really affected him? For the blenny I wasn't providing any supplemental feeding since I understood he ate algae which I had at the time. Should I also have been providing seaweed or some other feeding?

Thank you again for the help. I'd still like to have these fish in my tank but don't want to introduce new fish until I learn from my mistakes and stabilize my tank. Sad situation losing fish...:(

 

[GSnake]

1 inch is WAY more than enough... trust me I can tell you from my experience earlier this week.. (diamond head goby) .

and yours was a goby too? no kidding lol

my other bad experience I had with a goby was he hid under the rock till he starved. if you've checked under rocks already-- he def jumped.!

 

[GSnake]

the smell is negligible … he will dry so fast in the air. he wont smell like anything.

that's what I thought too.

mine was dry as a twig lol

 

[rkpetersen]

Apologies for the delayed response...its been a hectic New Year. Thank you for the response rkpetersen. There wasn't any aggression noticed by the clowns prior to their death. I also didn't notice any signs of disease such as itch. I've only been measuring nitrates so I decided to get a phosphate hanna checker. The algae was definitely due to the spike in nutrients from the dead fish although I'm trying to lower them with water changes and once I measure the phosphate Friday, possibly using Red Sea No3 PO4-X reducer.

I've been feeding the fish every other day and around the time of the missing Rainsfords goby I missed a day or two because I had a friend feeding them while I was away for a couple days. He didn't always come out to eat so I'm guessing he missed some feedings and then with the couple day break that's what really affected him? For the blenny I wasn't providing any supplemental feeding since I understood he ate algae which I had at the time. Should I also have been providing seaweed or some other feeding?

Thank you again for the help. I'd still like to have these fish in my tank but don't want to introduce new fish until I learn from my mistakes and stabilize my tank. Sad situation losing fish...:(

It's hard to really know what happened, after the fact. If your other fish are doing well and continue to do well, it wouldn't be unreasonable to try the same fish again in a few months when there's more algae and microscopic life on the rocks, glass and sand. However if it's a really active tank then a Rainford's may simply not work out in that environment.

 

[mwm5461]

It's hard to really know what happened, after the fact. If your other fish are doing well and continue to do well, it wouldn't be unreasonable to try the same fish again in a few months when there's more algae and microscopic life on the rocks, glass and sand. However if it's a really active tank then a Rainford's may simply not work out in that environment.

What exactly do you mean by active? I have 2 clownfish, a cleaner shrimp and some hermits/snails. Ideally, I would like to add some fish to the tank but after the tailspot blenny and rainsfordis goby disaster are there other fish anyone recommends to add to the tank? I would like something that doesn't hide all day. In addition, to another fish or two would I be able to add another cleaner shrimp? I think they're really fun to watch. I'm looking to add more to my tank but want to make the right choices. I also think I'm starting to get coralline algae on my rocks since purple spots are appearing everywhere...that means my tank is maturing right?

 

[Technewb]

I had my tail spot blenny in 29g qt, with a glass top with about an inch spacing because of the hob filter and he was dried up when i found him the next morning. He was one day away from finishing treatment. Also lost a diamond goby the same way.

 

[rkpetersen]

What exactly do you mean by active? I have 2 clownfish, a cleaner shrimp and some hermits/snails. Ideally, I would like to add some fish to the tank but after the tailspot blenny and rainsfordis goby disaster are there other fish anyone recommends to add to the tank? I would like something that doesn't hide all day. In addition, to another fish or two would I be able to add another cleaner shrimp? I think they're really fun to watch. I'm looking to add more to my tank but want to make the right choices. I also think I'm starting to get coralline algae on my rocks since purple spots are appearing everywhere...that means my tank is maturing right?

For sure, coralline algae starting to appear is a good sign.
By active, I mean a tank with high flow and fast-moving curious fish such as tangs and wrasses; not a good environment for timid fish, but this won't be an issue for you in this tank.
You could definitely add another cleaner shrimp at any time, they generally get along with each other fine.
Lots of other fish that might work there too. Maybe an Azure Damsel for a bit of blue?
You could also post in this ongoing thread for suggestions.

 

[davocean]

That gap is easily big enough for either of those fish to get through.

It's possible they jumped on their own or were chased by clowns.

That tank is on the small side just for 2 clowns, so they could easily become territorial and chase anything added.

I do agree a small damsel may hold their own if you do add anything else, but I'd stop there, other than maybe a cleaner shrimp.

 

[mwm5461]

Thank you guys very much for the insight! I REALLY like that azure damsel, so I'm going to look into that. The only thing that makes me think they didn't jump was the GHA outbreak I had. Oh well...guess I'll never know for sure. Well I've been doing frequent water changes and get my phosphate test kit and GFO today so hopefully my tank will be perfect for a new fish and cleaner shrimp soon.

 

[davocean]

I doubt the HA has much anything to do w/ the missing fish, it just happens, especially newer tanks.

 

[GSnake]

Thank you guys very much for the insight! I REALLY like that azure damsel, so I'm going to look into that. The only thing that makes me think they didn't jump was the GHA outbreak I had. Oh well...guess I'll never know for sure. Well I've been doing frequent water changes and get my phosphate test kit and GFO today so hopefully my tank will be perfect for a new fish and cleaner shrimp soon.

Look into green chromis too. It's a dsmsel without aggression. Nice blue green too

 

[mwm5461]

Look into green chromis too. It's a dsmsel without aggression. Nice blue green too

Will do, thanks!

I got the phosphate hanna checker and it read 0.00ppm....does that just mean that my GHA is consuming all the nutrients? My nitrates are 5ppm. I did do a water change on Monday and Wednesday this week. I have an intank media basket and have been running filter floss in the top and nano chemipure blue in the middle and bottom but was thinking to switch to GFO in the middle to lower nutrients to fight the GHA, but would like advice on that...I did already purchase the GFO... ;Facepalm. Is there still reason to use Red Sea NO3: PO4-X?

Sorry I know this thread has gone off topic but just trying to understand my tank as I'm new (tank is 5 months old).

 

[mwm5461]

Just wanted to follow-up on whether anyone had thoughts on my above questions. Today is reef tank day so ideally I'd like to potentially make moves on some of my questions.

 

[rkpetersen]

Will do, thanks!

I got the phosphate hanna checker and it read 0.00ppm....does that just mean that my GHA is consuming all the nutrients? My nitrates are 5ppm. I did do a water change on Monday and Wednesday this week. I have an intank media basket and have been running filter floss in the top and nano chemipure blue in the middle and bottom but was thinking to switch to GFO in the middle to lower nutrients to fight the GHA, but would like advice on that...I did already purchase the GFO... ;Facepalm. Is there still reason to use Red Sea NO3: PO4-X?

Sorry I know this thread has gone off topic but just trying to understand my tank as I'm new (tank is 5 months old).

Right now I would say that you have no reason to run either GFO or NPX. Especially not GFO, if your phosphate is unmeasurable.

For the algae I'd continue manually removing it and also augment the cleanup crew with some turbo, trochus, and fighting conch snails.

 

[mwm5461]

Right now I would say that you have no reason to run either GFO or NPX. Especially not GFO, if your phosphate is unmeasurable.

For the algae I'd continue manually removing it and also augment the cleanup crew with some turbo, trochus, and fighting conch snails.

But don't I have to have phosphate since I'm dealing with GHA and bubble algae? From what I've read it's a false positive type situation since algae is consuming all my excess nutrients. That isn't true?

I upped on some blue leg hermits my LFS recommended and am continuing manual removal. Hopefully I'll win this fight someday :) . Thanks for all the help!

 

[rkpetersen]

But don't I have to have phosphate since I'm dealing with GHA and bubble algae? From what I've read it's a false positive type situation since algae is consuming all my excess nutrients. That isn't true?

Probably true in some situations, not all. If you run a lot of GFO such that every last bit of phosphate is being taken up by either the hair algae or the GFO, you can create an actual persistent hard 0 phosphate level which can kill off the algae living in your corals, causing them to bleach. That's been my experience anyway, each tank is different.

 

[mwm5461]

Probably true in some situations, not all. If you run a lot of GFO such that every last bit of phosphate is being taken up by either the hair algae or the GFO, you can create an actual persistent hard 0 phosphate level which can kill off the algae living in your corals, causing them to bleach. That's been my experience anyway, each tank is different.

Gotcha. I retested the phosphate today and I think I might be dealing with a false reading or my hanna checker is going crazy. I remeasured and got .46ppm and then measured again and got .1ppm. Seems that my tank is dealing with some phosphate issues I guess though. Should I use GFO now or the NOPOX?

 

[rkpetersen]

That's crazy, not sure what to recommend. :confused: But if your nitrate is only 5 and phos is very high, then gfo would be appropriate. :)