The Case of the Missing Fish

dismayed · 09/25/2007, 09:05 PM

So I woke up yesterday morning and noticed that my blue pygmy angel was no where to be seen. Since then, I have looked at literally every square inch of my tank, turned up rocks, shifted reefs around, etc. looking for a body, but one is nowhere to be found. It's really quite bizzare.

I have a 24 gallon AquaPod, so it's not like there are lots of hiding places for this fish to drop dead and then hide away from me. Also, it's an AquaPod so it has a sealed canopy on top -- there's no way it could have jumped out. I've looked behind the back part of the tank where my pump and filters are and he isn't there either.

Any thoughts? I do have several critters... snails, emerald crabs, hermit crabs, and a coral banded shrimp. Could one of them have drug him off somewhere and buried him? I'm concerned that I have a dead fish in the tank that I can't find and my nitrate levels are about to start spiking.

Thanks.

bertoni · 09/25/2007, 09:21 PM

It might have died, and then been eaten by the cleanup crew. Of those animals, the emerald crabs and the coral-banded would be the most likely to catch and kill a fish.

I'd keep looking, just in case.

IslandCrow · 09/25/2007, 10:48 PM

OK, this is going to sound strange, but have you checked all the back compartments of the Aquapod? I would think an angel would have a much harder time doing this, but I have a skunk clownfish that did a similar disappearing act where he actually jumped the dividing wall. Actually, I'm thinking it was a half jump, half wiggle over/between the overflow weirs. And even if you don't see him at first, it doesn't mean he's not back there. The chamber on the far right as you're looking at the tank actually has a little tunnel that goes beneath the two center sections.

If you do find him back there. . .first, good luck getting him out. Second, superglue some plastic or acrylic to the top of the dividing wall so that it's flush with the cover to keep this from happening again. My clownfish actually pulled this little Houdini act twice.

09/25/2007, 09:05 PM	#1
dismayed Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Norman, OK Posts: 321	The Case of the Missing Fish So I woke up yesterday morning and noticed that my blue pygmy angel was no where to be seen. Since then, I have looked at literally every square inch of my tank, turned up rocks, shifted reefs around, etc. looking for a body, but one is nowhere to be found. It's really quite bizzare. I have a 24 gallon AquaPod, so it's not like there are lots of hiding places for this fish to drop dead and then hide away from me. Also, it's an AquaPod so it has a sealed canopy on top -- there's no way it could have jumped out. I've looked behind the back part of the tank where my pump and filters are and he isn't there either. Any thoughts? I do have several critters... snails, emerald crabs, hermit crabs, and a coral banded shrimp. Could one of them have drug him off somewhere and buried him? I'm concerned that I have a dead fish in the tank that I can't find and my nitrate levels are about to start spiking. Thanks.

09/25/2007, 09:21 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	It might have died, and then been eaten by the cleanup crew. Of those animals, the emerald crabs and the coral-banded would be the most likely to catch and kill a fish. I'd keep looking, just in case. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

09/25/2007, 10:48 PM	#3
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	OK, this is going to sound strange, but have you checked all the back compartments of the Aquapod? I would think an angel would have a much harder time doing this, but I have a skunk clownfish that did a similar disappearing act where he actually jumped the dividing wall. Actually, I'm thinking it was a half jump, half wiggle over/between the overflow weirs. And even if you don't see him at first, it doesn't mean he's not back there. The chamber on the far right as you're looking at the tank actually has a little tunnel that goes beneath the two center sections. If you do find him back there. . .first, good luck getting him out. Second, superglue some plastic or acrylic to the top of the dividing wall so that it's flush with the cover to keep this from happening again. My clownfish actually pulled this little Houdini act twice. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?