Fish disappearing

mattgeorgiaboy

Reefing newb
I am having a problem with my fish disappearing in my tank. Its a 72g bow tank with liverock (the tank is covered so I know they are not jumping out). About 2 weeks ago my royal gramma disappeared without a trace, and today my green cromis has vanished. There are no bodies to be found anywhere. My water paramaters check out ok. I have several small hermits and a electric blue hermit crab the size of a golf ball in his shell. Could the electric blue be the predator? I also spotted a huge bristleworm, I think thats what it is anyway, its not fire red but is a fleshy color with hundreds of leg looking things on its side/back. I saw it leave 1 hole in my LR and enter another over 6 inches away and it took over a minute for the thing to disappear, it has to be over a foot or more long. Is this likely to be the predator? If so how to I get rid of it?

thanks all,
 
I'm no expert on this by any means but I would think any large crab could grab a fish and eat it. Do you have a sump? If so, move the hermit down to there for a bit and see what happens. I did that with one of mine. he was killing snails so down to the dungeon! You may also have a predator crab in your live rock, it happens. You may want to look around with a red flashlight at night and peer into the rocks. i like to make sure my crabs get fed so I use some sinking discs and drop them right on the cleaner shrimp and the hermits, so I know they eat. Dont forget that the fish sleep in the rocks at night where the crabs live.
 
Losing chromis is easier than you think. And the RG probably just died as well and both fish were taken care of by the cleaner crew before you realized they have died.

I doubt a hermit was the cause (though its possible). if the fish is healthy and not stressed, a hermit has no chance so thy prob just died and got cleaned up...
 
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If you suspect a crab, you could always bait a trap at night and see what kind of inverts you manage to catch by morning. If you end up with a crab with pointy, not cupped or rounded, claws, then you've got a predator that should not be in your tank. That doesn't necessarily mean that THAT particular fella is the culprit though.
 
I had 2 pepermint shrimp but I havent seen them in a couple days either. Im thinking they have suffered the same fate. As far as the Mantis goes, I didnt put one in there but is it possible one came in off the liverock? I think I'm going to need to set a trap.
 
I have not heard a loud clicking noise although my gf said she did but I think she heard the thermometer clicking against the side of tank. I do have a couple super tongan nassarius snails and 1 of them keeps getting flipped on its back at night, I find this odd because they normally stay submerged into the sand bed or they travel pretty well attached on top of sandbed so something must be flipping them over.

thanks for all the feedback so far everyone
 
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