Something is killing my new fish help

[Macsreefs]

Hi so i have a problem with my newly purchased fish just disappearing… I CANT FIGURE OUT WHY OR HOW, HELP! It’s been up and running for over a year almost two years. I have a 22 gallon tank with 2 separate 20 gallon filters. One is being used to hold a lot of carbon and the other has all the other goodies. I have a surface slimmer and 2 wave makers. As you can see I just completely lifted every rock and pushed my hand all thru where my pistol shrimp (I think it’s him) is and grabbed all his Little Rock’s out and found a bunch of hermit crab and snail shells of course…. But not the fish … about a month ago I bought a new fish my girlfriend picked out and within two hours it was gone. I lifted all the rocks and went through the filters wave makers and skimmer again and again and searched but it was no where to be found so I gave up… I just went to get my girlfriend a royal gramma because she wanted a “pretty fish” and what do you know…. Within half an hour it was gone. I left for 5 minutes once the clown fish left him alone, and came back and pooof what do you know gone…. So I take apart the tank dig through the sand, filters, wavemakers, skimmer and search the floor in case he jumped out but nope….Nowhere to be found … I don’t think my corals are eating him that fast and I don’t think my pistol shrimp can consume a fish that fast … I checked in case he was hiding it or buried it and no… the only things in my tank that I know of are 2 clownfish, 3 peppermint shrimp, 1pistol shrimp, 3 turbo snails, 1 sea hair, buncha little hermits and 1 emerald crab and no he didn’t have it. I have a buncha corals torches, rock flowers, hammers Duncan’s and etc. …. Any ideas on what’s going on please help and thanks for taking time out of your day to help.

 

[jabberwock]

Do you have any other pets? Cat? Dog?

 

[bluemon]

Do you have any other pets? Cat? Dog?

seconding this

It probably jumped and something either ate it, or it is stuck behind some furniture still

 

[Macsreefs]

seconding this

It probably jumped and something either ate it, or it is stuck behind some furniture still

Do you have any other pets? Cat? Dog?

No I do not have any other pets…I pulled out the tanks stand and looked around as well as my girlfriend and she didn’t find anything either… I also have one of the “egg crate” lids that I made to cover the top

 

[bluemon]

No I do not have any other pets…I pulled out the tanks stand and looked around as well as my girlfriend and she didn’t find anything either… I also have one of the “egg crate” lids that I made to cover the top

That egg crate lid has a LOT of jumpable holes in it. If you ABSOLUTELY cannot find him, he probably jumped out.

But how long has the fish been missing for? Some fish hide for the first week+ to settle in. It sounds like you just went digging immediately after he hid? If you did, and broke apart the rockscape to look for him, you did more harm than good and will set the fish back in acclimating.

 

[Macsreefs]

That egg crate lid has a LOT of jumpable holes in it. If you ABSOLUTELY cannot find him, he probably jumped out.

But how long has the fish been missing for? Some fish hide for the first week+ to settle in. It sounds like you just went digging immediately after he hid? If you did, and broke apart the rockscape to look for him, you did more harm than good and will set the fish back in acclimating.

He was in there for 30 minutes … I have a small tank that I can see virtually every crevice besides the pistol shrimps cave, which is why I broke it apart because I assumed he had ahold of him because I couldn’t see in there. I have caught him killing other fish before who ventured into his cave and found them stunned after he shot them but this one i can’t find … also the egg crate holes are small on the outside towards the rim smaller than my pinky if you look at the new photo … only in the middle i opened it up some for my light .

 

[bluemon]

He was in there for 30 minutes … I have a small tank that I can see virtually every crevice besides the pistol shrimps cave, which is why I broke it apart because I assumed he had ahold of him because I couldn’t see in there. I have caught him killing other fish before who ventured into his cave and found them stunned after he shot them but this one i can’t find … also the egg crate holes are small on the outside towards the rim smaller than my pinky if you look at the new photo … only in the middle i opened it up some for my light .

If you went diving to find him by breaking apart the rockwork after 30 minutes, you probably stressed out the fish A LOT. (which could have led to it jumping or dying)

Plus, if you had a known fish killer pistol shrimp, why did you introduce another small fish while the pistol was in there (I personally have not heard of a pistol shrimp killing fish, btw.)

 

[Macsreefs]

If you went diving to find him by breaking apart the rockwork after 30 minutes, you probably stressed out the fish A LOT. (which could have led to it jumping or dying)

Plus, if you had a known fish killer pistol shrimp, why did you introduce another small fish while the pistol was in there (I personally have not heard of a pistol shrimp killing fish, btw.)

I don’t think he jumped or dived bc I pulled the tank out and searched the floor ,next to furniture and everything … the shrimp only does it when a fish goes into his cave they are very territorial, he doesn’t leave his cave to kill fish , my clownfish know to stay away . And again my tank is very small! I can see around and through the whole thing so I opened it up once I I was sure the only other place he could be was in the pistol shrimps cave and he wasn’t. And if that were the case that they were jumping out carpet surfing I would have found my other one from a month ago by now or at least smelled him.

 

[ZachDemitro]

I don’t think he jumped or dived bc I pulled the tank out and searched the floor ,next to furniture and everything … the shrimp only does it when a fish goes into his cave they are very territorial, he doesn’t leave his cave to kill fish , my clownfish know to stay away . And again my tank is very small! I can see around and through the whole thing so I opened it up once I I was sure the only other place he could be was in the pistol shrimps cave and he wasn’t. And if that were the case that they were jumping out carpet surfing I would have found my other one from a month ago by now or at least smelled him.

I've been told if your temperature is on the higher side and a fish dies the body can deteriorate very quickly. I've had fish go missing and I couldn't find them for the life of me to this day. I just assumed they died and my goby buried them in the sand. Other fish also help to eat them when they die. Have you checked your parameters of the water?

 

[Macsreefs]

I've been told if your temperature is on the higher side and a fish dies the body can deteriorate very quickly. I've had fish go missing and I couldn't find them for the life of me to this day. I just assumed they died and my goby buried them in the sand. Other fish also help to eat them when they die. Have you checked your parameters of the water?

Yup have my own parameter kit as well as go to the fish store weekly for their test and input … everything good tanks 79/80 degrees . It makes sense I could believe he got chased into the pistol shrimps hole then got shot and stunned then the hermit crabs and emerald crab and shrimps went and had a feast … but man they would have to eat really quick bc he disappeared within 10 minutes. The goby must hide the bodies really well lol

 

[ZachDemitro]

Yup have my own parameter kit as well as go to the fish store weekly for their test and input … everything good tanks 79/80 degrees . It makes sense I could believe he got chased into the pistol shrimps hole then got shot and stunned then the hermit crabs and emerald crab and shrimps went and had a feast … but man they would have to eat really quick bc he disappeared within 10 minutes. The goby must hide the bodies really well lol

that definitely is on the higher temp side i was told by some LFS that sometimes a fish doesnt make it at night and by the time the workers arrive in the morning the fish are already in the white phase of decay.

 

[Macsreefs]

that definitely is on the higher temp side i was told by some LFS that sometimes a fish doesnt make it at night and by the time the workers arrive in the morning the fish are already in the white phase of decay.

Yup have my own parameter kit as well as go to the fish store weekly for their test and input … everything good tanks 79/80 degrees . It makes sense I could believe he got chased into the pistol shrimps hole then got shot and stunned then the hermit crabs and emerald crab and shrimps went and had a feast … but man they would have to eat really quick bc he disappeared within 10 minutes. The goby must hide the bodies really well lol

If you went diving to find him by breaking apart the rockwork after 30 minutes, you probably stressed out the fish A LOT. (which could have led to it jumping or dying)

Plus, if you had a known fish killer pistol shrimp, why did you introduce another small fish while the pistol was in there (I personally have not heard of a pistol shrimp killing fish, btw.)

well I found him, I went to feed after work and he showed up, I barely saw him coming out of a little hole I never have seen . One of my live rocks have a tiny hole that goes thru the whole rock that must open up inside of the rock like a cave … guessing my other one went in there and got stuck and couldn’t get out…. Well thanks for all your replies and taking time out of your days! I appreciate it a lot! Next time I’m just gonna leave it be for a week or two till he gets happy

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Did you check in the overflows of your tank ? Lots of time fish get sucked in and love back there for weeks or months before found

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Sorry just looked again and realize you have no overflows. But the egg crate does look escapable

 

[Lavey29]

I agree with the posts above. Small fish like grammas typically dive into a small hole and hide for days or even a week in a new tank before they come out. You should not take the rock out of water or move it around because that just makes them hide longer or die from stress. Check out Clearview lids for your tank

 

[Kmst80]

I wouldn't write off the Rock flower. Seen pictures of mushrooms eating bangaii cardinals and I saw my mini maxi eating 2 sexy shrimp in minutes so maybe the rfa ate it. What size was the fish?

 

[Lavey29]

I wouldn't write off the Rock flower. Seen pictures of mushrooms eating bangaii cardinals and I saw my mini maxi eating 2 sexy shrimp in minutes so maybe the rfa ate it. What size was the fish?

It would take an RFA quite awhile to consume a small fish even if they could catch it which I doubt unless it was injured and unable to swim. OP would have seen the action most likely. I have large RFA s and never any fish issues.

 

[Sleepingtiger]

very very unlikely. bobbit worm?

 

[Acroconut]

Possible Bobbit worm or really stealthy Gorilla Crab, even a small Mantis. I know that if you feed enough the gorillas might not attack your fish, but if they get hungry all bets are off. Have you checked your tank at night with a red flash light? Gorillas are very good at hiding in very small spaces in your live rock. Sometimes checking at night is a good way to see if you have a nocturnal or not so nocturnal predator.