Tall tank mystery

[Jeremy Brito]

So right off the bat I got to say as nice as the 90 gallon bow is.. It really is a pain to work on cause of the height and its depth. I am 6 ft 1 and I need a step ladder to look into the tank from above and if I have to reach the sand bed I must submerge my arm up my shoulder to really do anything.. So it is quite a challange. So the mystery..
Since the tanks been set up I have been keeping a careful eye on the water chemistry in case of any spikes but so far aside from an,odd high alk reading everything has Been PAR level recently I have had 3 mysterious disappearances of seemingly healthy fish .. The first was a rabbit fish that disappeared found a week later wedge in a crevice in a rock.. The next was a manderine I was trying to test my luck with (he was eating by the way) after 5 days in,the tank poof he was gone.. I havent found him. Or his remains yet.. Finally a 6 line,wrasse I have had for over a year just vanished. The challenge of the tanks depth makes it hard for me to rip down rock work to search so I haven't gone that far and at this time I do not have any predatory fish I do have 3 Nems but they are small and haven't looked abnormally full. Any suggestions

 

[Trio91]

Tank may not be fully matured yet I'm thinking, or the specimens weren't acclimated properly before they went into the tank. Can't confirm but that's my guess

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

you be surprise how quickly a CUC can remove a dead fish body. I recall leaving for work one morning and everything was fine. I came home and my yellow tang was gone. I looked hard and discovered my snails where on-top of the body and it was basically gone (wouldn't had seen it if I didn't noticed all the snails in one place).

Manderines I have heard are very hard to keep even if they are eating fish food. That is one of the reason why I have not gotten one yet.

 

[Mrx7899x]

Manderines need a huge pod population to survive they eat 100s a day probably one of the hardest fish to keep

 

[Mark_C]

Manderines need a huge pod population to survive they eat 100s a day probably one of the hardest fish to keep

Agreed. Started the hobby as I wanted a Mandarin, have never owned one, even after a year of running my 90 I didn't feel the pod population was up to it. NOw I just look at them in pet shops.
I did, however, just pick up a hippo tang for my 20g.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

just pick up a hippo tang for my 20g.

let me know how that goes.

 

[Jeremy Brito]

Agreed. Started the hobby as I wanted a Mandarin, have never owned one, even after a year of running my 90 I didn't feel the pod population was up to it. NOw I just look at them in pet shops.
I did, however, just pick up a hippo tang for my 20g.

Petco special? I was once told that 2 coral angels in a 40 breeder is fine as long as they stay to there own side s.. I asked how do I tell them to do that

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[Jeremy Brito]

Petco special? I was once told that 2 coral angels in a 40 breeder is fine as long as they stay to there own side s.. I asked how do I tell them to do that

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How ever since most of you aren't surprised the manderine didn't make it that still doesnt explain the other fish

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[Trio91]

Agreed. Started the hobby as I wanted a Mandarin, have never owned one, even after a year of running my 90 I didn't feel the pod population was up to it. NOw I just look at them in pet shops.
I did, however, just pick up a hippo tang for my 20g.

 

[Mark_C]

Alk shouldn't be a worry unless its an extreme swing. An Alk as high as 11+ is fine assuming it didn't jump 4 or 5 over 24-48 hours.
Check your ammonia, its not a normal test, but if it spikes it will kill livestock quick. Then, as Tigs mentioned, a CuC would strip the corpse in a few hours, spiking the ammonia higher.
Ammonia is a standard in the API kits, but is absent from the higher end dosing test kits (Ca, Mg, Alk)
Remember the cycle - Ammonia (dead and rotting stuff, very bad) to Nitrite via bacteria (less harmful but still bad) further processed to Nitrate (which the bacteria and algae (including macros like cheato) eat, rest dissipates on aquarium surface).
High ammonia and/or nitrite mean you're not filtering enough, so more live rock or Marine Pure, maybe some dosing of Special Blend as well.
Just a thought as I had a similar problem in a 90. Was testing Alk, Ca, MG. Few fish went 'missing', my ammonia was very high between 1.5 and 2 (should be 0.000).
Big water change, found and removed remains of fish, 8" block of Marine pure in sump, dose with Special Blend, all back under control in 2 weeks.

 

[Jim]

might just be too many too fast