Help with Unknown Predator

[Green Phantom]

Today, I looked into my tank and noticed that one of my goldenhead sleeper goby was dead. After pulling the body from the tank, I noticed that parts of its tail section was gone. I looked at my other sleeper goby and noticed there was a red bruise around its tail. Upon looking at the crevices between the live rock, I noticed a wormlike tentacle sticking out of the sand. As soon as it saw the light, it disappeared into the sand. Just wondering if anyone knows what kind of predator I have and how to get rid of it. This might explain what happened to my 2 Bangaii Cardinal Fish about two weeks ago.

Now I'm worried about the other sleeper goby. Help anyone??!! Kenny

[Drock169]

you need to be more descriptive about the worm like tentacle. If it was a peanut worm it would be harmless.

[Green Phantom]

I think it looks like a bristlestar tentacle and it's brown. I think I've seen it in my live rock one time. As soon as I looked at it, it disappears into the rock. I'm not sure if this is what killed the fish. I remember now that when I first set up the tank, there was a shrimp I saw not sure what kind but it was brown. Haven't seen it since...could be what is killing the fish. I believe it was from some Cuban liverock that I purchased from King Ed.

Heading down to the tank to take a look...hopefully I'll see something with the flashlight.

[TheRealBigAL]

Have you heard any snapping sounds from inside your tank ? You might have a badass pistol shrimp. My good buddy (Whatigot) purchased 50 lbs of cuban live rock from king eds and he counts 11 pistol shrimp that hitched into his tank. They arnt like the tiger pistols you can buy either they are big and very aggressive. This may explain the damage/Brusing to the tail of your fish he swam by the wrong hole.


SWIM BY SHOOTING!!!


check this Pistol video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc

[Whatigot]

adversely, the brown shrimp you saw could have been a mantis shrimp which are quite agressive as well.
I have seen my pistols snap at passing fish and had a problem losing fish until I started to feed the tank a little extra to make sure all appettites were satiated.
If you feed your tank a frozen mix for carnivores right after lights out (or even better, wait until it's midnight on your light cycle) you will most likely see your predator at least poke his head out to see what the smell is all about.

Good luck, and people will try and tell you that pistols won't harm fish, but the kind that I got from King Eds on their Cuban LR are not your typical tiger or alpheidae as they don't care about my shrimp gobie and will viciously attack anything that gets too close to their home (which is a hole in LR).

As of yet I haven't actually seen a fish die from one of their attacks (though I HAVE seen attacks), but I buy bigger fish now after I was consistently losing smaller ones in addition to simply feeding the tank a little more.

Look up a bottle trap in the DIY section and you should have some success catching or iding your predator with a little patience.

[Green Phantom]

There is something definitely killing off my fish. I saw the other injured sleeper goby had died this morning.

Thank you everyone for your help and input. I'm going to try the bottle trap tonight.

[The-new-guy]

Have you heard any snapping sounds from inside your tank ? You might have a badass pistol shrimp. My good buddy (Whatigot) purchased 50 lbs of cuban live rock from king eds and he counts 11 pistol shrimp that hitched into his tank. They arnt like the tiger pistols you can buy either they are big and very aggressive. This may explain the damage/Brusing to the tail of your fish he swam by the wrong hole.


SWIM BY SHOOTING!!!


check this Pistol video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc

Now I know why they call it a pistol shrimp :redface:
Iam kinda slow..:wink:

[TheRealBigAL]

If you think pistols are badass check out theese guys !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwoHVYS12oQ

[hockey nut]

Could be a Bobbit Worm. ( Eunice Aphroditios ) These worms can be pretty mean and stay rather slim but grow quite long and come in off of live rock. They have tentacle like mouths. I had a small one years ago and I put him in his own tank. Very interesting to watch.

You Tube has a video of someone feeding one. They are kind of like the mantis only in worm form. :)

hth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkUSx6aQGXU&feature=related

[Green Phantom]

The worm might be something like this. Anyone know what this is?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj41urbNxXc&NR=1