Rock flower eating my box fish ?!?!?!?

Drummer98 · Jun 23, 2024

I woke up this morning and went to feed the fish. I was shocked to find my little yellow box fish tail first in the middle of my rock flower anemone !
At first I though Iron Mike (the box fish) was dead, but I realized I saw a fin moving so I got him out of there. His is swimming around...sort of. Mostly floating and sometimes sitting on the bottom. I just rescued him from a nassarius that was trying to climb on him while he was sitting on the bottom. He has some white areas on him that I assume are wounds caused by the RF. I had no idea that RFs ate live fish like that. I now have him in an isolation box in the display tank to see if he will recuperate. Any suggestions to help him heal?

Thanks

Rjukan · Jun 23, 2024

Drummer98 said:
I woke up this morning and went to feed the fish. I was shocked to find my little yellow box fish tail first in the middle of my rock flower anemone !
At first I though Iron Mike (the box fish) was dead, but I realized I saw a fin moving so I got him out of there. His is swimming around...sort of. Mostly floating and sometimes sitting on the bottom. I just rescued him from a nassarius that was trying to climb on him while he was sitting on the bottom. He has some white areas on him that I assume are wounds caused by the RF. I had no idea that RFs ate live fish like that. I now have him in an isolation box in the display tank to see if he will recuperate. Any suggestions to help him heal?

Thanks

How long have you had this fish? How old is the tank? That rock is very white, so it seems like it's a new system?
You will need to post water parameters as well for people to help you out.
Unfortunately it doesn't look good. And if a snail was moving in on it then odds are it is too far gone. But hopefully someone here can help you with more detail.

sc50964 · Jun 23, 2024

I don’t recall rock nems are aggressive with long tentacles. I wonder if the box was either malnourished or sick.

twentyleagues · Jun 23, 2024

Sorry to say this but the box fish is/was dying before the rfa touched it. Rfa would not be able to eat a healthy fish.

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jun 23, 2024

Yeah, the RFA wouldn't be doing that to a healthy fish, and the Nassarius trying to climb it indicates the fish is on death's door. So, something is very wrong with your boxfish there.

These are known for not lasting long in captivity - in addition to Rjukan's questions above:

-What you have been feeding the fish and how often? What are your tank dimensions?

-What (if anything) do you do for QT/treatment?

-Has any fish in the tank shown symptoms of any issues (i.e. things like fast breathing, excessive hiding, refusing/spitting out food, swimming in the flow of the pump/powerhead, gasping at the surface, showing white spots, etc.)?