What's eating my cardinals

[moeldner]

I had 11 cardinal tetras in a community planted tank, now I have 9.

I can't find their little bodies in the tank, so I'm assuming they got eaten

I have the following in the tank:

9 cardinal Tetras
6 McCullochs Rainbows
2 Dwarf Gourami's
2 Harlequin Rasboras (will be rehomed soon)
1 Zebra Danio (will be rehomed soon)
1 Bristlenose Catfish

Water stats as last tested were:
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm

None of the fish are showing signs of disease, and all seem to be happy. The 2 Cardinals have disappeared over the last 2 days.

Is it likely to be one of the fish listed eating them (none of them are large by any standards), or should I assume they are playing silly buggers and jumping out of the tank to be cleaned up by our cat?

(the tank is mostly covered except where the hang on filter enters the tank).

 

[WILDER]

How long have you had the cardinals would be a good start.

 

[Synirr]

I don't think any of your fish would have eaten them outright, but all of them would take advantage and snack on a fish that had already died.

 

[LoachLover]

I agree with Synirr. They could've just all chipped in and eaten them pretty fast.

 

[moeldner]

Thanks for the replies.

Wilder:
I've had the cardinals a couple of weeks. As i said before, they have had no physical signs of disease, I check them all daily when they get their afternoon feed.

Synirr and LoachLover:
I suspected they might be being eaten, but I'm not expecting them to have died. they are not old fish, water quality is excellent, weekly 10-15% water change are performed, and water is tested at least once a week. Stats including pH haven't changed for at least 3 weeks (from memory).

Any more ideas?

 

[LoachLover]

You have to remember sometimes fish just die for not so obvious reasons.

 

[moeldner]

OK - thanks LoachLover. Hadn't thought of this (but was aware of it - just more concerned that something else may be involved).

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[Dubby]

The same thing happened to me. I found the cause to be my shrimp which were quickly eating the dead fish. In your tank its probably the collective eating.

 

[Fishy411]

yup. i had a 10 gallon community tank where a platy died while i was away for the weekend and it was gone. ive had a plec reduced to bones overnight. the cardinals probly just died and then the bodies got eaten