What do you do when fish disappear?

[tomocean]

When newly introduced fish go missing how long do you give them before you start looking for bodies? Or do you just let the cleanup crew take care of them? I've added 3 chromis damsels to my new setup and haven't seen one of them for days. The other two seem happy enough (eating, swimming, etc.) I don't really want to tear apart the reef looking for the body.

 

[rfs1rock]

Hello,I would not look for them in my tank,if they died,a clean up crew would make short work of them.

 

[gazpep]

I think it would depend upon the size of the fish relative to the volume of water. A small fish in a large tank wouldn't warrant a search and recover exercise as the decaying body wouldn't pose a risk. Also factor in the numbers of active scavengers which can be remarkably efficient at disposing of the remains. Use your nose firstly, then test for ammonia if you think your tank may be at risk.

 

[pez]

I have had numerious fish disappear from my tank. Despite looking for quite some time, I never found any part of them. I suspect they were "taken care of" before I even noticed they were gone. Although, I'm sure it does depend on the size of the fish. A chromis is easier to "take care of" than a full grown angel. Most of my missing fish were small. Of course, I think something was "getting" the fish while they slept. I never turned anything up, even after the move (tearing the tank apart and putting it back together).

-T

 

[Enkidu]

Even if you think its small enough for your clean up crew to take care of, keep a close eye on your tank. My roomate realized he lost a blue tang because he saw that his tank was about to overflow so he checked his u-tube and sure enough the fish was stuck in the top (dead of course). Just keep your eyes open for anything weird.

 

[gkrane]

If it is a large fish iw ould definitely look.Smaller fish may be really hard to find espcially with alot of rock..you may want to test your water from time to time as well just to make sure all is ok..If everything is ok you can probably assume your clean up crew will handle it..

 

[tomocean]

Thanks for the input. I decided to not try and hunt down the body since it is so small. So far, no ammonia spike and no problems noted with any of the other inhabitants. I think my cleanup crew must have made quick work of it (or it is still hiding in the rocks somewhere).