Mystery - Need Help

[braincoral39]

Have had my reef tank running now for about 5 months and finally started to add fish and shrimp.

I purchased three green chromis and two have mystriously disapeared. I purchased a fire shrimp and he did not last two days.

All my water parameters are great. Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = o
Nitrates = < 1 Salinity 1.025 Phosphate < 1, Silicates = < 1.
Temp = 77 degrees, Calcium = 400

I upgraded tanks a week ago to a 58 gallon show tank and added 60lbs of live sand. Corals are looking great but I seem to be unable to keep any fish. These fish and shrimp have come from the same lfs which makes me wonder if their stock is bad or is it something I am doing wrong.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[esmithiii]

Hitchiker crab or mantis shrimp?

E

 

[Anonymous]

When 3 critters disappear without a trace in a small tank, I'd have to suspect that there is something hungry in the rocks that you haven't yet discovered. Get a flashlight and look for eyes in your rockworks and do a search here for the words "mantis trap."

Ty

 

[danmhippo]

Since you don't have any fish or inverts in your tank as of now, let's not add any more critters and not feed the tank for 2 weeks, whatever that is hungry will come out and be visible pretty soon. Fish/invert killer generally does not attempt to eat corals.

 

[witchdoctor]

Another way to find things at night is to wait until the lights have been out for a while, including room lights. A lot of these predators wait until it has been dark for a couple of hours.

Then, use a flashlight with a red filter on it, you can even use a few layers of red saran wrap. In general, eyes are not as perceptive of red wavelengths, especially in the ocean where there aren't a whole lot of red wavelengths around. You can use that to look around the tank to see if you find something moving around. The light should be pretty dim, but you still be able to see adequately.

I caught a mantis and a crab that way. Put the light right on them, and they didn't even notice.