[jtravapd]

hello all, my tank has been up an running for about 9 weeks...its 180 gallons...have about 250lbs of live rock...a couple of corals.....2 cleaner shrimp......fish are : one hippo tang, one sailfin tang, one naso tang, one cardinal, one 6line wrasse, one goobie, and i had 12 green chromis...they are all doing great...i slowly added them over time, added two tangs and the cardinal ..ect..anyway...2 weeks ago i added the 5 chromis and then last week another 7.....3 days ago...they were all out...then the next morning i noticed two were missing..they have been gone ever since...then last nite...one more is missing...no floating bodies or nothing...im wondering if something is going wrong with my tank...all my levels are perfect..i checked and re checked...the other fish and coral seem healthy and are all over the place...i usually use the hippo tang as my reference for fish health since in the past they have been the weakest fish...anyway..this is my first tang with chromis which i have heard are a hearty fish, im wondering what is going on...just curious if anyone else had similar incidents with chromis....they are all tiny probablly less then an inch..wondering if just the tranfer to the tank killed them, even though they were properly accilmated

[glampka]

250 lbs of LR may have had a few hitchiker crabs or mantis shrimp that may be killing them off at night.

[jtravapd]

Originally Posted by glampka

250 lbs of LR may have had a few hitchiker crabs or mantis shrimp that may be killing them off at night.

should i worry about the other fish?..they seem to be doing just fine...or is it just because the chromis are so tiny..?

[glampka]

I'd want to get it out of there. The chromis just might be easy pickings. Get a flashlight with a red bulb/filter. Look into the tank after all the lights in the tank & room have been out for a bit. You should be able to see then if something is going after them.

[jtravapd]

i have been looking in the tank at nite with a flashlight, pretty much every nite..lol..since i had the tank...and i haven't seen any mantis shrimp....nor anything chasing the fish...im actually only missing two chromis...the 3 missing guy appeared today at feeding time..

[marciemp]

I have been having the same problem. We got 5 Chromis and this morning 3 of them are gone. I saw one way in the back being eaten by a peppermint shrimp, but I assumed he died first then the shrimp ate him. We also lost a Domino Damsel a month or 2 ago, found him a few days later being eaten by a hermit crab. I don't think we have a mantis shrimp but there is a crab of unknown identity, he seems so small and slow though.

[1sleeper]

I have seen my chromis hanging on the bottom at night and then one got nabbed by my banded shrimp. I thnk it was predation and easy pickins. You definitely have something in there with a taste for sushi. Make a trap.

[barbra]

Originally Posted by jtravapd

....tank has been up an running for about 9 weeks...ia couple of corals.....2 cleaner shrimp......fish are : one hippo tang, one sailfin tang, one naso tang, one cardinal, one 6line wrasse, one goobie, and i had 12 green chromis...they are all doing great...i slowly added them over time, added two tangs and the cardinal ..ect..anyway...2 weeks ago i added the 5 chromis and then last week another 7.....

I am amazed. How could you not have problems?

[jtravapd]

Originally Posted by barbra

I am amazed. How could you not have problems?

i will admit that, while this is my first time with saltwater , my friend who set the tank up, and is showing me the ropes, owns his own aquascaping business..lol...so basically im going on everything he is telling me right now, from what species to put in, to what to worry about, to everything...hes been in the business for awhile and i trust him.....

im just curious what you think is bad in my tank?....too many fish too soon?...thats what i was thinking..but all the fish are babies, and seem to be doing well....other then the missing chromis stuff has been doign well.....i feed them every other day, maybe thats why the water quality is still good?...i dont know..im new to this whole saltwater thing..im used to freshwater....lol..i used to throw lunch meat into my tank when i had OSCARs and they would eat it just fine.hahahhaha....boy what a difference saltwater is...