very strange.....

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Can anyone figure this out? In 3-4 days. 2 rather larger leathers have gone missing. I can't imagine them just falling off the rocks and getting lost in the rock work. ( I can see behind most of the rocks from above the tank) They were solidly attached for a long time. Since I lost a small carnation coral about a month ago, I'm thinking there is something HUNGRY for softies in my tank. I got new live rock the same time I got the carnation. Grrrr. This the 3rd time I've restarted a reef tank due to moving and I'm getting frustrated. Where could they have gone? What the heck eats leathers / softies?

My Coral beauty loves to eat Xenia, but could not have eaten both leathers in 3-4 days.
It's getting expensive to feed, whatever it is. :evil:

Thanks for the help in advance,
Angie

[peregrinus]

umm? i don't know. maybe watch your tank after the lights go out to see if you see anything strange?

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I have been looking and all I have seen is my brittle star hanging out where the leathers used to be. Coral beauty is also picking at the rocks where they used to be. I'm hoping they will show up soon. They are probably in a hole in one of the rocks. My brittle star packs everything into the holes. I've found a veggie clip, a power head intake cover, and lots of empty shells inside of the biggest rock. It is more like a cave. lol. The opening is about 2-3 inches but the inside is about an 8-10 in. cave. Of course the opening can't be seen. It faces the back of the tank. Lots of sponges in there. My peppermint shrimp hang out in there too. The rock is in the center under tons of other rock so I'm not digging it out. The only time I get to see the "bounty" inside there is when I switch tanks or move. By then the leathers will be goners if they are in there. I guess I can be thankful that it wasn't my zoanthids or hammer that disappeared. Leathers are on the inexpensive side to replace.

Thanks anyways,
Angie

[Reptoreef]

Generally, there's not much that would eat a whole leather ever let a lone quickly. You would be entirely amazed at the reduction of size that can occur in most leathers that may appear HUGE. Try looking, again... maybe take a powerhead and try blowing out any nook that you have in the reef. Hope you find your leathers. BTW, still look into the tank after lights out with a red filter over a flashlight to see what might be happening after hours.