dead and/or missing fish, what to do?

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jworth

jworth

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2008
3,287
3
36
Indianapolis
I have had some stone crab problems. Havent noticed any inverts missing but there could be without me noticing. However, the problem lies in the fish. Any fish that runs into the rocks, seems to stay there and not resurface. This has happened with a diamond goby, which I found, and now a lawnmower blenny which is still MIA. I moved all the rocks to find it to no avail. Something could be snacking on it in the rocks, which wouldnt bother me as much as the fact that it is probably KILLING my water quality. What would you guys do? Nitrates are high right now about 20 ppm, but nothing fatal, no ammonia or nitrite. Protein skimmer gets here tomorrow so that will help. Current inhabitants are 2 x ocellaris clowns, clarkii clown, mccoskers wrasse, 3 x green chromis, and a six line wrasse that got a fin/side injury about the same time i was moving rocks around and now is hiding (though I did see it today) raised the temp to 83 from 78 but my house is freezing and will take it a bit to get there.
 
jworth;4739193; said:
I have had some stone crab problems. Havent noticed any inverts missing but there could be without me noticing. However, the problem lies in the fish. Any fish that runs into the rocks, seems to stay there and not resurface. This has happened with a diamond goby, which I found, and now a lawnmower blenny which is still MIA. I moved all the rocks to find it to no avail. Something could be snacking on it in the rocks, which wouldnt bother me as much as the fact that it is probably KILLING my water quality. What would you guys do? Nitrates are high right now about 20 ppm, but nothing fatal, no ammonia or nitrite. Protein skimmer gets here tomorrow so that will help. Current inhabitants are 2 x ocellaris clowns, clarkii clown, mccoskers wrasse, 3 x green chromis, and a six line wrasse that got a fin/side injury about the same time i was moving rocks around and now is hiding (though I did see it today) raised the temp to 83 from 78 but my house is freezing and will take it a bit to get there.
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You may want to remove the rock and give it a freshwater bath(with RODI water or at least dechlorinated) for a few minutes to rid the rock of any inverts living within. I know it sounds like a big chore, but otherwise you may end up with all your livestock dead over time. You can then place anything you want in the tank back in and remove the bad guys.

Can I ask why you raise the tank temp?

Did the dead 6 line show any other new signs of abuse?

Also, what size tank do you have? You may run into problems eventually with the Clarkii being aggressive towards the Ocellaris'
 
..another trick would be to place a silverside on a clip and drop it to the sand bed. Turn off the lights and watch inverts emerge from the rocks and sand. You can then find your culprit.
 
Pazzoman;4740291; said:
..another trick would be to place a silverside on a clip and drop it to the sand bed. Turn off the lights and watch inverts emerge from the rocks and sand. You can then find your culprit.
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I agree, proly a better option to try first before what I suggested. I would do it when your lights naturally turn off rather than manually doing it. Should better the chance they will come out as it is natural feeding time.
 
I had removed all pests until my last batch of about 30 lbs of rock and obviously brought in a bunch more.

six line showed no further signs of abuse than i described but was happy and eating yesterday. I raised the temp to help his wounds.

will try a glass cup to avoid dismantling the tank.

Tank is a standard 125 with about that many lbs in live rock
 
FLESHY;4741159; said:
GL, let us know what happens.

The silverside clip is a pretty good idea btw
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...I feel special....no wonder my mom say's I'm special every morning...and puts a helmet on me:ROFL::screwy::ROFL:

Well back to reality, I figured out this idea by feeding my calico crab....i was like how I'm gonna get him to eat...badda bing!

Also my aunt does it to, to feed her numerous carnivorus crabs, shrimps and snails. Where planning on recording it and title it "Dawn Of The Crustations"...snails pop out of the ground....crabs fight....shrimps rides damsel long story lol
 
how do you guys retrieve fish that have gone missing? No way its feasible to move all the rocks everytime.
 
....well when you do deep cleaning once a month (what I do) I first take out the rocks in an specific order from top rocks, middle rocks and bottom rocks. I lay it on a towel so I know how I will be placing it back in the tank. Fish will usually swim out of the crevices and holes the second the rock hit's the surface of the water. If your looking to see what critters lie in the rocks...i think you have to make a high salt solution...which will send the inverts rushing out of the rocks. After all is done take what you want and throw everything else away.

As for the fish missing....most likely dead...you will want a good clean up crew because my hermits (40) and a calico crab will strip meat of the bones of the dead fish so nothing will decay. Hope that helps good luck if your interested in buying lots of inverts for cheap go to www.reefs2go.com their priced very nicely.
 
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