Misbehaving Inhabitants

[NaH2O]

Alright - I think my tank is cursed. LOL. Some of you following the saga of my tank, might remember a couple of fish I had that misbehaved. Let me recap.

Bicolor Blenny.....yes, I was aware they "may" nip at SPS and clam mantles, but I had a tank full of algae. Well, my bicolor blenny not only nipped at SPS, but savored them. Bicolor blenny has been banished to a softies & lps nano, where he is alone and behaving himself....finally.

Magnificant Rabbitfish.....OK - I've read the occasional thread about foxfaces eating corals. Even a local reefer with a Magnificant had one eat softies....but SPS? There's no meat there to eat! What's the deal??!! My Magnificant Rabbitfish decided to nibble on the SPS. At first it wasn't a biggie. I have plenty of algae to keep her busy, too. She munched on a cap, and the cap didn't seem too bothered by it. Then she switched to Acros, and it became a problem. So...she has a new home in a local reefers 180 gallon without corals .

Next is my Long Spined Urchin. Tons of turf-like algae for it to graze on in the evening hours......but what did I see it doing yesterday afternoon? Eating a snail. Not the shell, but the actual snail. I took a pic of it because I couldn't believe it. All this coralline and turf algae, and my long spined urchin decides it wants to scavenge. Whether or not the snail was dead prior, I don't know....I imagine it was.....at least I hope.

What's next? Maybe I should try my luck and see if getting a non-reef-safe fish would be reef-safe in my tank!

I need to feel better....tell me some of your misbehaving livestock stories.

 

[Woodstock]

Bummer Nikki Try showing them all a frying pan and warning them of their possible fate!! LOL~ Sounds like your long spined urchin wanted a bit of 'surf' with his 'turf'~~ I will have to keep a closer eye on my urchin now. I thought they were purely vegetarians...

 

[Krish]

Sorry Nikki, no horror stories here. My fish "Casper" doesn't do anything...Doesn't eat, swim, poop...Nothing (LOL) I don't have any livestock yet. It seems the easiest way to keep a tank clean (lol). When I add my fish, I'm sure I'll have one or two stories to tell then. Hope everything works out.

 

[NaH2O]

Doni - I thought they were strictly herbivores, also. The only other idea I came up with is maybe the snail got caught on the urchin's mouth parts. It seemed so strange that the urchin (who normally hides in a cave during the day) came across to the other side of the tank during the light hours, and coincidentally got a dead snail under itself (oh, and it stayed in this same spot with the snail stuck under it for a couple of hours). Maybe they also scavenge, but I can't say for certain. It isn't like I don't have a food source for the urchin in my tank. I could understand if there wasn't and it was hungry. The behavior of this urchin has always been, hide in the cave during the light hours, and come out to graze right before lights out.

Krish - I just might have to try the species of "Casper" :lol: :lol:. Look forward to your stories as they come.

Here is a pic of the urchin and the snail. Quality is horrible, but I did my best to shoot over the coralline encrusted side, and around the rock to get the underside of the urchin. You can see the shell of the snail on the right, and the white (arrow pointing to it) under the urchin....that is the snail's body.

 

[NaH2O]

Oh, and there is this thread: LS Urchin trimmed my Orange Cap where the thread starter mentions her LS urchin has captured and ate mysis.

 

[clayswim]

I have heard of Long Spined Urchins eating some small inverts when they mature, although it's likely it was scavenging and ate the snail after it died. Some of them seem to enjoy some meaty foods every once in a while.

Since your tank seems to be contrary to everything conventional go ahead and try a Queen Trigger, it might just get along great.

Clayton

 

[wrightme43]

Maybe you could have the first reef with a parrot fish? It will probley only eat hair algae and starve to death.

 

[Porkfat]

My tank isn't much, as all the stuff in it is what I've caught around my area but I used to have three urchins (don't know what kind) and I always fed them sea weed but any thing they could get including the ocational sick fish would quickly get eaten. We call them wana (vah-na), maybe that helps? Dunno, maybe the ones over here are wierd.

Anyhow I rotate my tank so they are back in the ocean now.

 

[DlBerlin]

Oh, and there is this thread: LS Urchin trimmed my Orange Cap where the thread starter mentions her LS urchin has captured and ate mysis.

Yeah that was me
Heres a sad one-
Last night my Bali Tiger Jawfish decided to go wandering the tank-first time he's left his hole since he was put in the tank a few months ago. Well he tried to dive into a hole beside the Carpet anemone. The anemone just barely touched his tail and sucked him right up. Hubby dove in and pulled the fish out so he was only in the carpet for about 20-30 seconds max but the carpet had completly wrapped him. He's dead this morning. I'm really sad about it-he was from Ken Gosinsky-Mustang. I got him when he tore down his 450g and he was a really cool fish.
He dove into the rocks last night so I couldnt find him but this morning he is dead. Just been waiting for the lights to come on to get him out.
AND right now the LS urchin is eating him
Sometimes I really wish I didnt have that anemone :evil:

 

[NaH2O]

Yeah that was me
Heres a sad one-
Last night my Bali Tiger Jawfish decided to go wandering the tank-first time he's left his hole since he was put in the tank a few months ago. Well he tried to dive into a hole beside the Carpet anemone. The anemone just barely touched his tail and sucked him right up. Hubby dove in and pulled the fish out so he was only in the carpet for about 20-30 seconds max but the carpet had completly wrapped him. He's dead this morning. I'm really sad about it-he was from Ken Gosinsky-Mustang. I got him when he tore down his 450g and he was a really cool fish.
He dove into the rocks last night so I couldnt find him but this morning he is dead. Just been waiting for the lights to come on to get him out.
AND right now the LS urchin is eating him
Sometimes I really wish I didnt have that anemone :evil:

Yikes! Sorry to hear about the jawfish! Amazing that barely touching the tail, the carpet was able to get a hold of it. I guess knowing your LS urchin was doing clean-up makes me feel better about mine. I was afraid I had some mutant man eating urchin.

I think a Queen Trigger and Parrotfish are next on my stocking list. Maybe I'll try one of those impossible to keep Angels, too. SPS eating Butterflies will probably go for flake food in my system. lolol

Porkfat - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!