Stuck Fish; Now There All Stuck and Dead!! HELP!

[Coderad]

Anyone ever had there fish get stuck in the rock work?
At least I think that is what happen, I put some food in my tank and couldent find the coral beauty. Looked for a while and Found it wedged backwards in a hole in the rock. I don't know if it died and the hemit crab pulled him in there or he got stuck and the crab got him.
He looked like he was doing fine yesterday eating fine and swiming normally, I don't know what happend.

Pretty nasty looking but here is a couple of picks:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/CodeRad/PICT0005-1.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/CodeRad/PICT0007-1.jpg

[Kabong]

If he was head first I'd think maybe he got stuck,
But tail first I got to think something's dragged him in.

[Justusfish]

yes, do the damndest thing. I found my hippo tank in my overflow column. It took me 45 minutes to get him out!!!

[bubblepuffer]

I got a fish stuck in a cave that narrow in the end.. the top fin pop up and unable to get the fish out. I even took the rock out and shake it still no luck. After 1hr of fighting it and gave up. Put the rock back upside down....the next day woke up with the fish swimming around

[Chin_Lee]

Unfortunately that fish looks dead. if its not dead, its pretty close to dead.

[bubblepuffer]

actually the fish survived and since that accident happen his behavior changed.. He became very aggresive fish and end Up I need to give it away after 2 months of harrasing Sand shifting goby.. with top of the tail gone from the fish chomping on it and my Porcupine puffer hiding in his cave almost 10hrs a day.

[King of the Sea]

I bought a bamboo shark same day i got it he went head first into a rock got stuck and died i payed 75 bucks waste of money:sad:

[Coderad]

Now all of my fish are dead. The all ended up the same way the coral beauty did pulled in to holes in the rock one clown was in the same hole as the coral beauty and the other clown was in another. I found one ugly looking crab eating one of the clowns. (Picture attached pulled off his pinchers pulling him out of the rock.) I don't know what happend they all seem normal. I had one clown for a little over a year and the other for about 8 months and the coral beauty I had for 4 months. Haven added anything new the last rocks I put in about 6 months ago. All water levels are good. 2 pepermint shrimp, urchant, zebra hermit, zoo's and snails are all fine. I don't know what to do!
Anyone have any suggestions?

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/CodeRad/PICT0002.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/CodeRad/PICT0001.jpg

[marie]

I would suspect a predator that has just discovered how to catch fish and I don't think it is that crab you caught.

I would leave the tank fishless and try to trap...whatever it is when it gets hungry

[Coderad]

What should I be looking for? Should I set a trap?

[04scoobysti]

That looks like an emerald crab, pads on its pinchers, not points. Shouldn't have been killing any fish. Good luck with the hunt!

[Delphinus]

I don't think that's an emerald crab, too fuzzy (emeralds are smooth). It's not a good crab but there's no way it's responsible for a tank of dead fish. You have something else in there. Yes, I would be setting a trap. I'm thinking mantis or larger crab.

[Moogled]

Look for anything.

Scope out the tank at 4am in the morning and use a flashlight.

[Coderad]

Alrighty I 'll give it a try. Thanks everyone

[Reefer Rob]

That sure looks like the work of a Mantis Shrimp to me.

[Psyire]

My bro-inlaw had a crab that would pluck fish right out of the water and it wasn't surprisingly big. It plucked fish that were easily twice his size. Sinister...

[KrazyKuch]

But did he take all the fish in one night...prob not...crabs usually only take what they can eat at the time...so if it was one fish a night I could suspect a small crab....but all at once, definatly a crab thats bigger then a toonie!

[bubblepuffer]

Get a blue or Red LED flash light so you don't scare that predator away.. see you can find anything.. turn the light off at night wait an hour or 2.. and spy inside your tank

[Coderad]

I didn't have any luck finding anything last night. I 'll try again tonight

Here is a couple pick of the claws that I pull off the crab while trying to get him out of the rock. Mabey this will help the ID.

Thanks Cody

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/CodeRad/PICT0003.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/CodeRad/PICT0006.jpg

[Moogled]

Man, that thing is hairy.

[untamed]

My vote would be that some sort of disease wiped out the fish and any number of opportunistic animals pull the bodies into the rocks. If there were some sort of super predator in there, I'm sure it would have taken one fish here and there long before it took out all the fish at one time.

No...that's bacterial or viral or something...

[skylord]

Im with untamed on this....very few animals kill for fun. Most animals kill when they need food or when they are protecting their young.

Scott

[Coderad]

The first dead fish was 3 days before the next 2 But still no luck finding anything else.

[justinl]

+1 on untamed hypothesis.

A very large mantis would be capable of killing that many fish in that short a time but I highly doubt it was a mantis. Pretty much 100% of the hitching mantids are "smashers" which hit with little club like arms.

the other mantids are "spearers" who work pretty much exactly like a preying mantis. but i doubt that one because ive never heard of a hitching spearer. they live in the sand.

any mantis capable of that kind of damage would be very large and would have made its presence known a long time ago.

[Delphinus]

The disease theory, either with or without an opportunistic something-or-other that pulls the fish into the rock, is entirely plausible... I just thought it was odd the fish were pulled tail first into the rock but that's not saying that it means anything. I've never knowingly had a mantis in a tank so I defer to those who have them (or have had them) to know better than I, what makes sense in that case.

[marie]

The disease theory, either with or without an opportunistic something-or-other that pulls the fish into the rock, is entirely plausible... I just thought it was odd the fish were pulled tail first into the rock but that's not saying that it means anything. I've never knowingly had a mantis in a tank so I defer to those who have them (or have had them) to know better than I, what makes sense in that case.
^^^^Exactly what he said ^^^^^ :mrgreen:

not to mention there have been no new livestock added in the last 4 months

[Moogled]

Vote untamed for the world's next best detective.

+1.

[justinl]

maybe you got one of these in there...
http://www.stephenwong.com/divetoto/albums/album03/Eunice_Bobbit_Worm_01.jpg

bobbit worm (eunice)... check out the jaws on this guy. lol joke though. these guys live in the sand. apparently when the feed, they trap fish and do it so forcefully that they often split the prey in two! ouch.

[kwirky]

or maybe you have one of these:

http://www.loobylu.com/journal/images/uglygirl.jpg

[untamed]

maybe you got one of these in there...
http://www.stephenwong.com/divetoto/albums/album03/Eunice_Bobbit_Worm_01.jpg

bobbit worm (eunice)... check out the jaws on this guy. lol joke though. these guys live in the sand. apparently when the feed, they trap fish and do it so forcefully that they often split the prey in two! ouch.

I keep those in my tank also. My largest is probably 2-3 feet long (Max) ...and that's in my hex that has no side larger than 1.5 ft. Even at that length, Max couldn't ingest anything bigger than a pencil eraser. There are hundreds of species, but Max is mainly vegetarian unless something dies conveniently in reach. They are VERY good at pulling things toward their homes. If it won't fit down the hole, it is dropped at the doorstep.

Here's a shot of Max, grabbing a leafy snack.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0865.jpg

Of course there was Steve Weast's famous 7 footer...but even that one wasn't taking fish, it was eating coral polyps.

[psychedelic]

Oh my god. What is Max? I've never seen anything quite like it?

[justinl]

bah! lol i never thought i would ever actually see one in a home aquarium. man... you are the KING of hitch hikers.

you know... he's actually kinda pretty... iridescent. huh cool.

bahahaha +1 on kwirky's suspect! gotta bee the pink fuzzy thing with a flower for sure! :mrgreen:

[Coderad]

So if this was a desease, what kind of desease? what could have been the cause? Is it still in my tank? How do I get rid of it?