Caught the cranky culprit eating another one of my new fish tonight - long time "pet" CBS named Neptune. He's in a bucket on my kitchen counter and NOT VERY HAPPY. I'm heading to Little Rock Friday and dropping him off "somewhere" (Norman!) He's lucky he's not becoming the god of the porcelain sea!!! His expensive feasts have consisted of 3 red chromis and a brand new bangai cardinal in the past two weeks. grrrrrr.
I remember reading (somewhere) that some will catch & eat live fish when they get large, tho this is the first one that I have known "personally". Sorry to hear about Neptune, I know he was "part" of the family and will be missed. He will find a good home tho I'm sure.
I won't miss him as much as I miss the money I spent on his "snacks"!!! I'm really, really mad at him!
I am afraid that I am very skeptical that your shrimp caused the death of you fish. Ornamental shrimp are scavengers and opportunists, so if a fish is ailing or has died from some other reason they are quick to take advantage of the meal. I hope that you find a good home for Neptune but I would still be very cautious and not consider you problem solved just yet.
Not that I know of... what would that mean? Something is getting my fish! I got 3 red chromis over a week ago and the next day two of them were gone. The other one seemed to be doing fine, but when I got home yesterday it had disappeared. I never found any of them. I added 3 fish yesterday - two bangai cardinals and a striped fang blenny. One of the bangais did appear very stressed at first - sat on the bottom of the tank for awhile but a little later I saw him swimming with the other one. The next thing I saw was the CBS eating him. The striped fang was doing fine, eating , swimming. Saw him again this morning and by this afternoon he had disappeared. I moved a few rocks around and couldn't find him. The fairy wrasse I bought when I got the chromis is doing great - eating right out of my hand! and he's always out showing off. I love him. The other bangai has seemed to do well today. Ate and does his "floating around" thing. I had also suspected my very large brittle star was eating the small fish. The striped fang disappeared after I removed the CBS, so I know it wasn't him. So what is it??? We've worked this tank over like crazy. Let it sit without fish for 2 months, added a uv filter and jazzed up powerhead. Everything was looking perfect for adding fish. I can NOT keep fish alive and it's driving me stark raving mad!
A clicking noise might indicate the presence of a mantis shrimp. They are fish-killing machines. How do you acclimate your fish?
Well, Neptune went to "Norman's tank for misbehaving pets" last week. On the way home, I stopped and picked up an anthias and a clown. Yesterday, the clown was GONE. This morning, my other bangai cardinal was GONE. I needed to clean the tank so I got in there and moved all the rock around, cleaned up the glass - I see nothing - not even a trace of the dead fish. I don't think I have a mantis shrimp - I've never heard the clicking sound or seen a USO (unidentified swimming object). I'm back to suspecting my really big brittle star. OH, for fun - my great big snail got stuck in the powerhead overnight and it became a nice feast for everyone when I got it out. I float the bags in the tank and change about 20-25% of the water every 10 minutes for about 45 minutes. I pour the water into a container, catch the fish, and release it into the tank. If they are dying from the acclimation, wouldn't they die sooner? They have all been in there for a few days, active & eating and looking great, and then - JUST FREAKIN' GONE! I had a huge problem with ich & bacteria - left the tank fish free for two months and added a bigger powerhead and a UV filter before adding these fish. I really don't see any sign of disease - the fish all look healthy before they disappear. The two remaining fish - anthias and fairy wrasse - are beautiful and seem perfectly happy & healthy. getting sickeningly frustrated again.
Well, Neptune is a huge CBS. I can see him being able to eat a chromis. Have you lost any more fish in his absence?
As a matter of fact - the other bangai cardinal and a clown. I thought the clown was big enough to "survive" but guess not. It looks like the "partner in crime" is the brittle star. He's also quite large - we got him at the same time as the CBS, a little over a year ago. They really grew! Anyway - temporary solution is to not add any small fish to my tank until we find a new home for... "Squidward". Don't know if that new home will be Norman's naughty fish tank or a bigger tank for me!!! I am really enjoying my two remaining fish - an anthias and a fairy wrasse. They are lively and beautiful and big enough to survive the evil Squidward.
