My amphibians are vanishing without a trace!

[Hostile 17]

Over the last month, I have been experiencing a sad and bizarre
phenomenon in my little 5 gallon freshwater tank. First, a little
fire-belly newt that everyone loved just vanished one day without a
trace (had him for five months). After a period of mourning, I bought a
paddle-tail newt to replace him. Then my little African dwarf frog
vanished without trace (had him for six months)!

The tank is a closed model (Regent) with no space to escape anywhere.
Moreover, I tore the entire first floor of the house apart when the
first newt went missing. There's no evidence of decaying parts or bones
for either of these animals inside or outside the tank.

The other denizens of the tank are a Betta, two fancy-tail guppies and a
single neon tetra. There is also a golden mystery snail which has grown
to significant proportions since being added to the tank in the last two
months. Can snails eat amphibians?

Does anyone know what could be happening here? Both the frog and
original newt were much beloved by my family and visiting friends. Are
any of these species carnivorous? I was told upon each purchase by the
pet store that my aquarium inhabitants were all compatible with each
other - now I'm wondering if that is true.

Any help would be appreciated.

John

[blove]

well the paddletail newt probably ate the frog, paddletail newts are
extremely aggressive and territorial. It is also a bad idea to mix newts
with fish and frogs since they have a toxin in their skin. Newts also need
cooler water then tropical fish such as bettas and guppies and neon tetra
and newts need a bigger tank then 5 gallons. snails will eat dead bodies as
will the other fish.

"Hostile 17" <host...@verizon.bogus.net> wrote in message
news:6G5%c.900$9P4.105@trndny02...

[IDzine01]

I'm sorry to hear about your "missing" amphibians. I have to tell you
though, that your fish store DID mislead you in several ways. This
happens all the time. In fact, I spend most of my "fishy educating
time" re-teaching people after they have listened to their LFS
employees.

First thing, your 5 gal is considerably overstocked. You probably have
closer to 15 gal worth of fish. I'm really surprised the fish store
didn't even tell you that much. But, like I said, it happens all the
time.

Secondly, Bettas and guppies aren't compatible. You don't want to keep
bettas with any fish with flowy fins which he might mistake for
another male betta. Betta's and tetras age generally not compatible
either because tetras are a bit spazzy and can be nippy too. Though
I've heard of betta/neon tetra relationships that have worked in tanks
of 10 gal or more.

My guess is the newts and frog probably died from something possible
due to being overstocked in the tank. Have you been closely watching
your water's parameters? Is the tank cycled and tested regularly? My
guess is they died to poor water conditions and were quickly eaten up
by the snail. The snail wouldn't have killed them, but they could have
disposed of the evidence overnight.

I'm afraid I can't say for sure without knowing more about your tank
set up and water conditions, but this is my best guess.

Again, I'm sorry. Consider getting another 10 or 15 gal tank and split
up the fish that aren't compatible.

"Hostile 17" <host...@verizon.bogus.net> wrote in message news:<6G5%c.900$9P4.105@trndny02>...

[Hostile 17]

Thank you for your help. I will probably do a water check next and not
add anything else to the population. I just hope the paddletail
survives...

"IDzine01" <IDzi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:56004359.04090...@posting.google.com...