disappearing fish?

[dawgs]

ok 1 by 1 my fish vanish. i put in a copper banded and a pearlscale not too long ago. the copperband vanishes within 3 days.....pearlscale 2 weeks later....yes its possible they dies and fell behind the rocks but i dont think so. anyone have any ideas? all that i have in the tank is LR and hermit crabs

[Loverotties]

Do you have a green Brittle star?Mantis shrimp?can't think of the other one.

[dawgs]

no...nothing but hermits....and ALOT of bristle worms

[DarthOcellaris]

How big is your tank and how intricate the rockwork? Maybe it's time to tear down and inspect

I'm sure you've looked on the floor to look for any jumpers?

[dawgs]

rockwork is pretty "rocky" lots of places to hide....maybe it will be a good idea ....is it possible i just havent seen them in 3 weeks? oh 55 gal

[JennM]

Please list all your tank particulars. We know now it's a 55-g with lots of rock. What are your parameters? What inverts do you have and what other inhabitants?

It's possible that you have some sort of predator that hitched in on the live rock... but those are pretty big fish to take down without a trace.

They're somewhat fragile fish too.

If you are loaded with bristleworms you could be feeding too much. Most tanks have some bristleworms and generally they aren't harmful (some species notwithstanding) but if you have tons of worms, there's too much for them to eat so they reproduce quickly.

If the fish died on their own, the worms would consume them post haste. Question is - did they die on their own or did something kill them?

Posting your parameters will rule water quality in or out.

What are you feeding your fish, how much and how often?

Jenn

[dawgs]

just checked the water...
ammonia = 0
nitrite=0
ph=8.2
nitrate=25-30

is that ok?
no other inverts except hermits

[JennM]

Nitrate is pretty high. Fish can usually tolerate nitrates higher than we'd like to think but those are kind of delicate fish. That could have contributed to their demise.

The manner in which they were collected from the ocean could have something to do with it too - not your fault... you said you had the CBB for 3 months? That's longer than the life expectancy of a fish that was improperly caught... usually they go belly up within about 3 weeks... so not sure whether to rule that in or out as a possibility.

Were the fish behaving normally and free of any spots/lesions before they vanished? Were they eating well?

Typically if there's a predator, they'll take a new fish down faster than that too.

What other fish do you have?

Jenn

[DarthOcellaris]

possible that the trates are high due to decomposed/ing fish...

[dawgs]

no i didnt have the fish for 3 months....3 days and the copper band went missing....pearlscale 3 weeks

[ckusnierek]

Bristle worms can make quick work of a carcus.