Help me track down a murderer!
I run a 300g total (250 display, 50g sump) mature tank (okay, several years mature, not paulb mature…) that’s primarily SPS. My corals are all in good shape, everyone’s happy, but for the life of me I can’t add in any new fish without them dying.
Some context: A little over a year ago, I added some new livestock to my tank. That group did fine. Since that time, I can’t add anything without it dying. But it’s not obvious what’s happening. When someone gets picked on, I can see that. But usually a fish just disappears. Seems to be getting along well, healthy for 1-2 weeks, eating, and then just suddenly…gone. No body. Didn’t jump, I’d be able to find it.
But none of my “old” fish have become victims. So anyone who is stable is being ignored (or is too healthy for whatever is causing this to pick off). That makes me think it’s new fish aggression, but again, I’m not seeing any aggression when I’m around, and often the fish will be in there a couple of weeks before disappearing. Which makes me think maybe it’s an invert on the hunt, taking advantage of scared/stressed new fish to spring an ambush.
I even rearranged the entire tank (no small feat, with 300 lb of live rock, some of which is epoxied together, more of which is stuck together by coral growth!) before introducing new fish to try to shake up territorialism. No dice.
My stock list:
Fish: Blue/green chromis x3
Yellow tang
Kole tang
Ocellaris clown x2
Royal gramma
Purple orchid dottyback
Citron goby
Prawn goby
Spotted mandarin
Red cardinalfish
Flame angel
Sixline wrasse
Inverts: Emerald crab x3
Strawberry crab x2
Coral banded shrimp
Various hermits
Pincushion urchin x2
Smails: trochus, astrea, cerith, dwarf cerith, nassarius, nerite, fighting conch
and one very industrious fuzzy chiton
Suspect list:
Coral banded shrimp. I’ve seen him stalking and lunging at fish, but never close to successfully. He also lost an arm at one point, meaning he’s been in at least one major tussle. This would explain why I never see a body; he ambushes the new fish and then drags them into his cave. He was one of the last guys I’ve added without issue.
Purple orchid dottyback: I’ve heard a lot of stories of introducing these guys and then livestock mysteriously disappearing. Shortly after his introduction all three of my cleaner shrimp went missing. I’ve seen him pick on new guys a bit. He was one of the last fish I added without issue.
Kole tang: He’s very low on the suspect list. He’s the biggest fish and will bully a little here and there, but generally it’s just a half-hearted swipe at someone to establish dominance then he quickly moves on and minds his own business. The only fish I’ve introduced that really pissed him off was a coral beauty. That one I know what happed. The Kole and Flame angel combined to destroy him.
Any other thoughts, suspects, conspiracy theories?
I run a 300g total (250 display, 50g sump) mature tank (okay, several years mature, not paulb mature…) that’s primarily SPS. My corals are all in good shape, everyone’s happy, but for the life of me I can’t add in any new fish without them dying.
Some context: A little over a year ago, I added some new livestock to my tank. That group did fine. Since that time, I can’t add anything without it dying. But it’s not obvious what’s happening. When someone gets picked on, I can see that. But usually a fish just disappears. Seems to be getting along well, healthy for 1-2 weeks, eating, and then just suddenly…gone. No body. Didn’t jump, I’d be able to find it.
But none of my “old” fish have become victims. So anyone who is stable is being ignored (or is too healthy for whatever is causing this to pick off). That makes me think it’s new fish aggression, but again, I’m not seeing any aggression when I’m around, and often the fish will be in there a couple of weeks before disappearing. Which makes me think maybe it’s an invert on the hunt, taking advantage of scared/stressed new fish to spring an ambush.
I even rearranged the entire tank (no small feat, with 300 lb of live rock, some of which is epoxied together, more of which is stuck together by coral growth!) before introducing new fish to try to shake up territorialism. No dice.
My stock list:
Fish: Blue/green chromis x3
Yellow tang
Kole tang
Ocellaris clown x2
Royal gramma
Purple orchid dottyback
Citron goby
Prawn goby
Spotted mandarin
Red cardinalfish
Flame angel
Sixline wrasse
Inverts: Emerald crab x3
Strawberry crab x2
Coral banded shrimp
Various hermits
Pincushion urchin x2
Smails: trochus, astrea, cerith, dwarf cerith, nassarius, nerite, fighting conch
and one very industrious fuzzy chiton
Suspect list:
Coral banded shrimp. I’ve seen him stalking and lunging at fish, but never close to successfully. He also lost an arm at one point, meaning he’s been in at least one major tussle. This would explain why I never see a body; he ambushes the new fish and then drags them into his cave. He was one of the last guys I’ve added without issue.
Purple orchid dottyback: I’ve heard a lot of stories of introducing these guys and then livestock mysteriously disappearing. Shortly after his introduction all three of my cleaner shrimp went missing. I’ve seen him pick on new guys a bit. He was one of the last fish I added without issue.
Kole tang: He’s very low on the suspect list. He’s the biggest fish and will bully a little here and there, but generally it’s just a half-hearted swipe at someone to establish dominance then he quickly moves on and minds his own business. The only fish I’ve introduced that really pissed him off was a coral beauty. That one I know what happed. The Kole and Flame angel combined to destroy him.
Any other thoughts, suspects, conspiracy theories?
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