What could have done this?

[Cdiggy]

I have a 58 gallon tank with 60+ lbs of live rock and 3 green chromis 2 yellow tail damsels 1 orange tail damsel 1 yellow tang 1 flame angel (small) 1 firefish 1 manderin and 1 perc clown (small). The velvet always had little big man syndrome and tried to pick on everyone in there but i didn't think anything in there could do this to him. i would say the tang got him with his tail but it is a round hole and not a gash. Also his fins are a bit tattered. With his guts hanging out the way they are I am assuming he is not going to make it. Looks like he was feeding on alot of algae by the contents of his stomach so maybe the tang did get him.... Any thoughts?

 

[jaa1456]

Maybe you have a mantis shrimp, or a bad snail like a conch in there. Could a
So be from the yellow tail damsels as well.

 

[jaa1456]

Not all conchs are bad but there are a few out there.

 

[Cdiggy]

If there is a mantis in there i think i would have seen or heard it. Plus no conchs, just your standard fare of astrea, spiny astrea, turbo, cerith, and nasarius snails.. the flame angel was going after it halfheartedly but I was assuming it was because he was mortally wounded. I am thinking the yellow tang didn't like the way he was cleaning the tank of algae... btw he is dead. It didn't take long to die...

 

[mnat]

Damsels are nasty nasty fish. I would say one of them, followed by the yellow tang would be the culprits.

 

[Cdiggy]

I've had damsels off and on for years and they have always been scappy but I have never seen them do something like this before and the velvet was the biggest o e in the tank. Man, an occasional missing scale or two but this guy had a big hole ripped into the side of his belly. I could tell what he had to eat it was so bad!

 

[Hockeynut]

Maybe the yellow hit him with the spike and when the others saw him wounded the all took a little shot at him, a little payback from being bullied.

 

[Cdiggy]

I think you might be right because the orange tail damsel just picked up his game now that the velvet is gone. He started posturing with the tang. I thought the tang was going to light him up.

I thought I was feeding them enough but apparently not if they are eating guts out of a half dead fish... <Jk>

 

[AnthonyJerseyShore]

Feeding has nothing to do with it really. Damsels (Clownfish are Damsels as well, and most people forget that) become more aggressive with age. So, the longer you have them, and the bigger they get, the nastier they become. Chances are, it was the damsels that did it. They are known for it. And, on a side note, that's a lot of fish in a 58g lol

 

[Cdiggy]

Ahhh they are all babies....

 

[Ls2Goat]

I have seen damsels tear fish apart, I'd say they are the culprits.

 

[dmbnj]

I had 7 damsels and wound up with two. They were brutal to each other. The tang probably got it first, then the damsels went to work.

 

[radiata]

One way that fish aggression is triggered is by the addition of another fish that has the same feeding curriculum as the original aggressor fish. Any/All fish will defend the territory that it needs to keep itself well fed against an "interloper". The more feeding diversity in your fish population, the less the older fish are likely to try and drive a new fish away.

Seems like you keep adding Damsels and their ilk. They're all "negotiating" (violently, if need be) for a piece of your reef to survive on.

You need to diversify the feeding habits of the fish you add...

Good Luck...