What is murdering my eels!?

[TDS1]

I have been wanting to add a snowflake eel to my 160 gallon mixed reef ever since it started! So one day when I was at barrier reef I saw this tiny little eel, and I had to have it. Got it home and didn't see it for three days, until I came home from class and found it MURDERED. I'm not even exaggerating, it was literally ripped in half and completely mutilated. I only ever found half of it. I had been having problems with ripped fins on my tangs and clownfish, so I assumed it was a fish eating crab that's been in my tank (Long story, I thought it was a mithrax crab, but after finding a SMALL shed a couple weeks ago I noticed the dark pointy tips ). After setting traps for this crab around the tank and my boyfriend going hunting with the flashlight after the lights went out, we came to the conclusion that it was my large CBS that was the culprit, and not the tiny crab. So thinking that the murderer had been caught, on Saturday I went up to shoreline for Red C's sale, and found an eel that was twice the size of the last one. I was so excited! I put him in the tank, where of course he promptly hid in the rockwork. I figured I probably wouldn't see him much the first couple of days like with any fish, but this morning I had the worst case of deja vu ever........The now serial killer had struck again. Same exact situation. I am at a loss.

As for fish in the tank, I have:
Sailfin Tang
Hippo Tang
Dwarf Lionfish
Ocellaris Clown
Green Chromis (used to have 9 )
Porcupine Puffer (Just visiting to maybe eat the crab HAHAHA)
Pink tail triggerfish

My theory as of now......

So the obvious thing would be the trigger. I have heard of a lot of people keeping them in their reefs, but I also know that like with most things, it is more or less dependent on the individual. Mine seems to be very docile! It has a lot of energy, but I have never seen it be aggressive towards any of the other fish. It will swim right next to my clownfish and chromises, and they don't even flinch. I have been steadily losing my chromises, I am down to 1 now. I also lost my maroon clown a couple weeks ago before the craziness, all of which I previously thought was due to my CBS or the crab. The triggerfish will be leaving the tank today..........But my question is, do you guys think it is the trigger? It just seems so docile towards everything else, bordering on fear of everything else LOL, that it's hard for me to believe he is a cold-blooded killer
Thoughts?

 

[patsan19]

you got any bristle worms?
my friends 200 gal reef looses smaller fish that hide in rocks.
had some that were like 1/2" dia.

 

[patsan19]

also in my reef tank, if I add anything new... my banded shrimps eat it.
got some chromis and pepermint shrims the other day... yep... he ate them all one by one.
funny he doesnt eat existing fish. probably because they respect his property.

 

[TDS1]

Thanks for the quick response!

I actually just got stung by one of the bristleworms in my tank the other day.......let me tell you, not a fun experience at all. I must be allergic to them or something, because I had hives covering my entire body for a day and a half, and felt like I was on fire the itching was so bad! I never thought that they would attack and eat fish, but after experiencing that sting, I could see how they could incapacitate them to the point of being able to eat them. Thinking back I did see one of them with abrasions on it's side before it disappeared............... Anyone else ever lost fish to bristleworms?

I already took the coral banded out of my tank, so he is no longer an issue thank god! I also just moved the triggerfish to the sump for the time being. Surprisingly it took me all of two minutes to net him out of the tank!!!!

EDIT: I doubt that the bristleworms could have gotten to the eels, but to me they make sense for the smaller fish possibly..........Does this mean that I have multiple murderers in my tank LOL?!?!

 

[patsan19]

well, if the worm is just as big as the eel... and hungry.



i've been stung by one as well (not a fun experience)

 

[TDS1]

So I think one of the weirdest things about this is that both times there has only been half an eel left.......the first one was half the size of the second one, but both times only the BACK half has been left. The whole front of the eel is consumed, and the back end of it is just left. I don't understand it.......

 

[Chichas01]

a bristle worm is not going to take out an eel. not even possible. or a fish for that matter.
Spend some time with a flashlight, maybe with a red filter on it after the light's go out and see if anything unexpected is roaming about. I don't know what could take out an eel other than maybe a much larger crab/lobster or mantis shrimp. If you remove the trigger, and it happens again, at least you have ruled out the trigger.

 

[TDS1]

Yeah the more I started to think about the bristleworm thing, the less sense it makes. It never made sense to me for the eel though lol. I could see if the fish (like a chromis) was already severely injured a bristleworm could maybe overcome it, but it seems really unlikely. I really hope it was the trigger. I'm super nervous about putting another eel in this tank.......I don't think I will be getting another one anytime soon

 

[NanaReefer]

Any chance it's getting caught up in a power head. Then being consumed by your cuc? Just a thought. Don't see a Trigger being the killer. CBS maybe if the Eel was small enough. You need some infrared lighting and an all nighter for sure

 

[pandora32]

If i was to make a guess, id say your cbs. Then i saw u had a trigger also. My guess would be the trigger. I had a niger trigger for a long time. Never bothered any of the fish in the tank, i could hand feed it, untill its teeth got close! One day, i put a yellow wrasse in the tank after lights out and the trigger came from no where all tje way across my 72" tank like a shark and came up from underneath and took the wrasses belly out in 1 bite and went back into the rocks and left the rest of the fish. It took a total of maybe 3 seconds. Quick. It never bothered another fish after that. New or old. It just didnt like that paticular fish. He has since passed.

 

[TDS1]

Thanks for all of the responses!
Nanareefer- I'm pretty sure it didn't get caught in the powerhead, but it is a possibility! I'm pretty sure it was the trigger unfortunately......For now he has been exiled to the sump. I have a fish only tank, but I have the most beautiful red volitan lionfish in there......so the trigger has been exiled to the sump until he finds a new home!

pandora32- That's crazy that you actually saw that.......It's amazing how quickly things can happen like that! I had reservations about putting the trigger in my reef, but I guess you live and learn!

 

[N1Husker]

I don't know that much about CBS, except that they will consume any other small shrimp in the tank. I am pretty sure that a small emerald crab or bristleworms aren't the culprit. I have both and my crab doesn't bother anything and I am constantly trapping bristleworms, just to keep the population in check, never get rid of them all. I would guess the trigger.

 

[pandora32]

pandora32- That's crazy that you actually saw that.......It's amazing how quickly things can happen like that! I had reservations about putting the trigger in my reef, but I guess you live and learn![/QUOTE]

Yea. My daughter saw it happen also. She actually picked the yellow guy out. She was 6 at the time. Shes hated triggers eversense. Shes almost 8 now.