# Fish Disappeared



## newhopedreams2010 (Jun 3, 2013)

Hi 

I have a 40 Gallon Salt water fish tank. This is my very first one. We bought 4 damsels, but now 2 disappeared. They have been disappeared for a month. I even took the live rock out to water, but they never showed up. 

Anybody knows what is going on? I think they might be dead, but I cannot even see their bodies. At the beginning, when I took the live rock out of water, they would show up, but now they just disappeared. Taking live rock out of water cannot make them show up. 

Sigh....


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Do you have crabs in the tank?


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## newhopedreams2010 (Jun 3, 2013)

No. There is no Crab. Only one hermit crab.

Are they just dead in the holes of live rock?


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

newhopedreams2010 said:


> No. There is no Crab. *Only one hermit crab*.
> 
> Are they just dead in the holes of live rock?


I'll bet he devoured your fish.


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## newhopedreams2010 (Jun 3, 2013)

This hermit crab is not that big. 
So, do you think the fish died first, and then they were eaten by it? Or, the hermit crab just eat them when they are alive?
This is very weird, I feel.


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

newhopedreams2010 said:


> This hermit crab is not that big.
> So, do you think the fish died first, and then they were eaten by it? Or, the hermit crab just eat them when they are alive?
> This is very weird, I feel.


Hermits have devoured corpses of fish in my tank before I had a chance to get them out. I would come home and see 3/4 of a fish carcass and know what happened. The fish died (for unknown reasons) and the crabs found their way over to take care of the mess. Another culprit can be bristleworms, they can also take out a dead fish in no time flat. Have you seen any bristleworms in the tank?


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## newhopedreams2010 (Jun 3, 2013)

I do not know how the bristle worm look like, but when I turn the light on every time, I can see something move very fast into live rock, but they are very small. The size is close to 1 inch, I guess or maybe even smaller. 
If the fish died first, and they can clean it, it is not bad, right?
I am very new to salter water fish.
Thanks


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## squishylittlefishies (Sep 12, 2012)

Is this tank fully cycled? If your water parameters are messy, your fish are dying because of that. Another thing to consider is that while some damsels are social, others can be territorial and will kill eachother. what kind are yours? There are many small critters and organisms that are part of the cleanup crew in a sw tank. you may not see them often but they are most likely in your live rock. them, and omnivores like crabs and snails will eat dead bodies. this is a good thing and can help prevent pollution. 
good luck!


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## newhopedreams2010 (Jun 3, 2013)

I have a skimmer and a regular Tetra filter. I do not what parameters I need to check.


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Calcium and Alkalinity.


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## newhopedreams2010 (Jun 3, 2013)

I will do.
Thanks


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