RBTA just ate my puffer

[ReeferBill]

So my puffer has been looking bad for a week. This morning his breathing was labored and he was on the bottom. Hasn’t eaten for a couple days so I knew it was coming. Went to check the tank and puffer is no where to be found. Noticed my rbta is huge and I see the puffers eye inside the nem. Rip puffer. Anyone ever seen this happen?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

So my puffer has been looking bad for a week. This morning his breathing was labored and he was on the bottom. Hasn’t eaten for a couple days so I knew it was coming. Went to check the tank and puffer is no where to be found. Noticed my rbta is huge and I see the puffers eye inside the nem. Rip puffer. Anyone ever seen this happen?

I'd do water change and run charcoal for a couple days because your puffer died. They tend to release toxins upon death BUT perhaps RBTA is going to be fine. Everything in the wild is an opportunistic eater. Mine have eaten other fish, though I tried to keep them fed with a half thumbnail portion of LRS 1-2x weekly.

My charcoal suggestion is just precautionary.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Pretty common for a nem to eat a dead or dying fish.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

So my puffer has been looking bad for a week. This morning his breathing was labored and he was on the bottom. Hasn’t eaten for a couple days so I knew it was coming. Went to check the tank and puffer is no where to be found. Noticed my rbta is huge and I see the puffers eye inside the nem. Rip puffer. Anyone ever seen this happen?

PS - you should take a photo while you can still see the eyes... not so much for us (though many likely would like to see that) but because you are going to want that memory in the future.

My recent crazy thing was an aptasia eating a bristle worm... I was SO shocked and instantly scared that aiptasia would become size of T-Rex that I got the big curled up bristle worm out of the aiptasia... but in hindsight I should have taken a photo, then gotten out the bristle worm, then put F-Aiptasia on the aiptasia... Once I'd covered aiptasia in F-aiptasia, only then did I realize I missed a photo opportunity (though... maybe I sleep better at night by not reliving it in color photo)

 

[ReeferBill]

Yeah the puffer was going to die. Not sure why he stopped eating. But he just went downhill. I think he swam to the top and then sank into the nem. Rbta looks better than ever. I couldn’t get a pic of it as it was almost gone by the time I saw it. Just saw his eye in there then he was gone. Crazy.