My nem ate my copperband

[Hawkeye]

As some of you know i was away a few weeks ago on a brief business trip for 48 hrs. When I got back my copperband was nowhere to be found (not on floor or the overflows or sump, and no pets that would eat anything off the floor). I asked my wife if she noticed the anemone spitting anything out. She mentioned she saw a "white" string coming out of it. My nem doesn't eat a lot - but obviously from experience I know after a heavy feeding it "poops". I can only presume the copperband was chased by my tang into the anemone. Not sure why my clowns didn't fight the copperband. An alternate theory is that the Copperband died while I was away (it was not doing well) and the pumps blasted it into the nem.

Either way - that was a nice $40 snack. D'oh. Oh well.

fyi - only cleanup crew are a few scarlet hermits and micro brittle stars/bristle worms. It's possible they might have eaten a corpse - but some of it would have remained after only a 48 hr period. plus i find dead fish stuck to the pumps before the cuc gets to them.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Sorry to hear this Phil. If that's what actually happened, that is a pretty expensive snack. I would think the additional meal might make the nem grow a bit in the near future, so if that happens then it likely did eat the copperband.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Phil, sorry to hear this.


What size nem is it? A Copperband is a pretty big fish for a nem’s mouth. I’ve also got to believe the fish died and was then consumed…..unless it’s a nasty nem.

The other “clean-up crew” I don’t think you’ve included are your fish. When one of my fish was murdered by a damsel, all the other fish joined in the feast, nibbling away at the body.

 

[Sunny]

Sorry to hear this Phil. However, I agree with Paul. I had a fish die in my tank and there was no way I could have gotten it out with a major aquascape rearrangment. I went to work for a few hours and by leopard nassirus, had it down to the bone by the time I came back.

 

[Hawkeye]

thanks guys. Things happen - i knew it was a risk to add it -but it was a great deal (at the time) and he was eating pe mysis!

In terms of size - the nem when fully expanded is quite big. Pic of it partially expanded - this was when it was still trying to figure out where to open up in the tank: The copper was a small one...smaller than I normally see them for sale in the stores. Smaller than my kole tang.

i have (had) several very small blue-eyed cardinalfish. They are bite sized morsels but when they die - they waste away slowly and then next day I find them on the pump. This was like 2 years ago when I started with these fish. Anyways the carcass was always around. If a fish got stuck in the rockwork somehow then yes that is possible for it to be eaten. But most of my fish kinda keep to their own "space" and do not seek out others - even dead fish as far as I can tell.

anyways - just sharing the loss. easy come easy go.