# Fish Cannibalism



## colmanh (Jul 10, 2013)

Hey guys...
Recently, my neon tetras have begun to 'disappear'. I have lost three in the space of a few days. Now i'm certain that these guys aren't dying and becoming lost in the tank as I have been unable to find any carcasses and all of my other fish are perfectly well and healthy. The only fish in my tank I think big enough to kill and eat my neons are either my dwarf gourami or my albino bristlenose pleco. I have read cases of plecos eating small fish and am led to believe that hes the most likely candidate for eating my neons. I have tried feeding him all type of cooked and uncooked vegetables to no avail. I suppose hes making up for it now..Haha...

Anyway, in my tank I have diamond tetras, black neon tetras, dwarf gourami, blue ram and the pleco. If anyone has any idea to what might be eating the neons I would love to know. Also, these are the most recent fish ive added. I havent had any other disappearing fish.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I wouldn't rule out any of the fish you have as possible predators of neons(especially if small).Saying that I'll add that fish eat fish,especially if they are dead.
Have you tested your water lately,changed any and how did you acclimate the neons(they can be touchy to the slightest of change)?


----------



## Nave (May 28, 2013)

I had a customer come in and tell me she was watching her neons attack each other and didn't know why. She brought in a sample of her water I tested it and her nitrates where at 180. I got her some prime and suggested some serious water changes. Couple days later she came in and thanked me as the fish stopped fighting.


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

They could be dying and other fish disposing of the carcases.


----------



## snowghost45 (May 13, 2013)

I had neon's that were doing the vanishing act as well one time. I had Angels too, then a pet store told me that was a natural food for Angels.... I wouldn't put it past your Gourami to be eating them. I have only had two gourami's and both battled with my other fish, I gave them back and have never bought them again. Neon's are tiny fish and I think they do get eaten by larger fish. Check your levels and good luck. I've had some fish disappear and never did find out what happened other then they were completely devoured.


----------



## colmanh (Jul 10, 2013)

I have been watching them fairly carefully. The tank is in my office so anytime i'm on my pc im more or less watching the tank. The tank seems to be fairly peaceful, even the gouramis have been getting along! The only catch is ive never seen of the fish die...so i'm not sure how its actually happening. 

You think Nitrates could be the cause Nave? Ill do a quick test now and let you know the results.


----------



## colmanh (Jul 10, 2013)

coralbandit said:


> I wouldn't rule out any of the fish you have as possible predators of neons(especially if small).Saying that I'll add that fish eat fish,especially if they are dead.
> Have you tested your water lately,changed any and how did you acclimate the neons(they can be touchy to the slightest of change)?


I drip acclimated the neons for approximately 2 hours before I added them to the thank.


----------



## snowghost45 (May 13, 2013)

Well another thing I noticed about fish is they can be sneaky little buggers. Everything is fine during the day but watch out with the lights go out!


----------



## colmanh (Jul 10, 2013)

Nave said:


> I had a customer come in and tell me she was watching her neons attack each other and didn't know why. She brought in a sample of her water I tested it and her nitrates where at 180. I got her some prime and suggested some serious water changes. Couple days later she came in and thanked me as the fish stopped fighting.


Nitrates sitting safely at 20ppm


----------



## colmanh (Jul 10, 2013)

snowghost45 said:


> Well another thing I noticed about fish is they can be sneaky little buggers. Everything is fine during the day but watch out with the lights go out!


Yeah i'm seriously starting to think this pleco of mine is sucking them up when the lights go out and they slow down...*pc


----------



## Avraptorhal (Jan 24, 2013)

I can understand your confusion. I recently bought some Serpae Tetras. QT'd them for two weeks. The 10 gal QT is plantless and substrate free (bare tank) w/ a 20 gal rated sponge filter and heaters. The fish were acclimated using the drip method, a drip a second. I also put a couple of platies in at the same time. One of the Tetras died in the QT. I fished him out. The platies seemed OK.

After the te QT period I added the fish to the DT. In a couple of days one of the Tetras disappeared. A few days later the other Tetra disappeared. 

The platies appear to be thriving in the DT. In fact I caught them fighting a couple of times a day or two ago.

The single mature Serpae I had before the addition seems to be thriving as are the other platies in the tank.

The water params at the time were NH4 - 0, NO2 - 0, NO3 - 5.


----------



## silvergourami1 (Jun 20, 2013)

I would think that the blue ram or pleco would be the cannibal. These two are the most likely suspect. I would check your filter too. Sometimes small fish make it past the inlet tube strainer.

Do you have roommates or spouse, etc.? If so I would question them.

If they neons died and fell to the floor of the tank; most likely(sorry)the pleco made a meal of em. "Natural vacuum cleaners they are!"


----------

