PDA

View Full Version : Missing Tetras & the Rogue Comet


MrJim
11-14-2009, 01:39 PM
Last Sunday I did some aquascaping with my collection of plastic plants. I wanted to put a bubble curtain in the middle of the tank floor, and ended up needing some weight on the hose so I put the weighted plant thing on the hose, then I had a hole, then I stuck another plant here and there and next thing I know it looked pretty cool.

I also had seven neons last Sunday.

It had been a busy week so I'd not looked in on the tank much.

Wednesday morning there's a note from my wife (she was up late) and said the "papa guppy is missing". So looked around for him but found nothing, figured maybe he died and ended up a comet snack.

Thursday I come home from work and my wife says, "You know you only have three tetras left?" :ssuprised: What? So I look and yup, no bodies and there are only three. They looked great, colors were brilliant. So now I have a mystery.

Friday I come home from work and there are two.

This morning I wake up and there is one.

I watched the tank closely yesterday and this morning, and with the addition of the extra plants I've watched the comet, and it's as though she's taken to some freaky kind of stalking/prowling down low around the plants. All I can figure is that she is snacking on these smaller fish.

Is it possible that a comet would have some predator insticts? I always figured when she ate something (like those two cory episodes I had) that she ate them by accident, just sucking one in when she is sucking up stones when she "vacuums" the gravel. Now I'm just getting suspicious.

The danios and female guppies haven't been affected, but then they are faster & quicker than the "victims" were.

mommy1
11-14-2009, 01:55 PM
a comet goldfish will eat any fish that it can catch and will fit into its mouth. so will most if not all carnivore/omnivore fish.

MrJim
11-14-2009, 02:02 PM
So it will intentionally hunt? Maybe it's her size~she's lived with tetras for over a year without incident.

mommy1
11-14-2009, 02:07 PM
i'm no expert on goldfish, but i guess if she is hungry, then yes she will go after what she can catch.

Lady Hobbs
11-14-2009, 02:10 PM
Neons and goldfish are not compatible, as you have found out. Tetra's also need a heated tank and the goldfish do not. Sorry you lost your neons.

MrJim
11-14-2009, 02:24 PM
Neons and goldfish are not compatible, as you have found out. Tetra's also need a heated tank and the goldfish do not. Sorry you lost your neons.

Well the tank is at the pleasure of the comet, and if she wants to eat them then I guess she can finish them off but she ain't gettin' anymore.

MrJim
11-14-2009, 02:39 PM
Neons and goldfish are not compatible, as you have found out. Tetra's also need a heated tank and the goldfish do not. Sorry you lost your neons.

Also, with the demise of the neons I think I will pull the heater since zebra danios & guppies don't need the heated tank either. AC articles have danios & guppies as 65-75 degree tank fish. I'd have to move the oto to the upstairs tank and figure out something else for the algae control though.

Lady Hobbs
11-14-2009, 02:46 PM
Great stop for danio's! Too fast for the goldie to catch most likely. He may eat your guppies, tho, and for sure any babies?

MrJim
11-14-2009, 03:10 PM
Great stop for danio's! Too fast for the goldie to catch most likely. He may eat your guppies, tho, and for sure any babies?

The female gups seem to be quicker fish than the males IMO~dunno yet what to do there. I've got 13 gup fry growing out, and they all appear to be females...just need a place to set up my empty 20L...

Taurus
11-15-2009, 05:23 PM
Jim, you might want to consider Leopard Danios, too. I like the patterns on Leopard Danios and they have a nice shimmer in the tank light.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Scrup
11-15-2009, 07:00 PM
once my goldfish figured out that small fish=food, they became relentless hunters of all my juvy livebearers/neons. As soon as they get big enough to eat them, they will eat them.

Temperatures aside (I am a firm believer that goldfish do just fine in a heated tank), giant danios would work well with full grown comets, as they are a bit too big and fast for the comets to eat.

MrJim
11-15-2009, 07:30 PM
once my goldfish figured out that small fish=food, they became relentless hunters of all my juvy livebearers/neons. As soon as they get big enough to eat them, they will eat them.

Temperatures aside (I am a firm believer that goldfish do just fine in a heated tank), giant danios would work well with full grown comets, as they are a bit too big and fast for the comets to eat.

I guess my comet figured out slow fish were tasty~the last neon was gone this morning....I just wonder if adding all that extra cover is what did it, the way she prowls around down low like some kind of shark or something.