How can a Blue Hippo Tang just disappear?

trotsky123

trotsky123

Member

Hi, I was finally done with adding all my fish in my tank when my Hippo Tang just disappeared after 5 days. I can not even find a carcass.
In the past if the fish or a snail died, I saw my little crabs working at it for a day.
But this is a fairly decent size fish to completely vanish.
Not only looking at threads, but I check with 3 different LFS and even have them check my water parameters before adding As well as checking compatibility. And all three said what I have is good.
In my 54 gallon fish only tank I have
Royal Gramma
Yellow Tang
Clown
Yellow goby
Red eye cardinal
Walmart puffy :)
5 little crabs
dozen snails
All are very small - I figure once Tang gets bigger I 'd give him to my friend with a huge tank.
Btw, my rock is not positioned against back wall so I can see the reflection in the back AND i moved some of them last night to see a dead fish - NOTHING!?
Any ideas?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Could it have jumped out, do you have any other pets (dogs or cats) what kind of filtration do you have (overflow boxes) inspect your rock work carefully, they like to wedge into rocks
 
trotsky123

trotsky123

Member
Nope, it is completely sealed on top.
I have the Fluval but first thing I did is check the filter and powerheads in case it got stuck
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hippo tangs can go completely flat and it may have died up in the rocks...if you have a good enough CUC they will have disposed of the remains after 5 days....I would keep an eye on ammonia for another week, if it spikes at all... start taking the rocks out one at a time until you find it's body.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i had a 7 inch hippo i had to get a flashlight out sometimes to find in the rock.when a fish knows its going to die it will usually wedge itself somewhere.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i was missing a trigger for over a week.i finally moved a few rocks to look for him.well he must have disturbed a big rock.he was wedged under one.i moved the rock and he swam off.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejeff442 http:///t/389936/how-can-a-blue-hippo-tang-just-disappear#post_3449704
i was missing a trigger for over a week.i finally moved a few rocks to look for him.well he must have disturbed a big rock.he was wedged under one.i moved the rock and he swam off.
This happens when you put the sand in first, and then push the rocks into the sand. I had a linky starfish and it got crushed because of shifting rocks. Rock goes in first.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
I just broke down my 110 gal FO tank after 17 years of continuous operation. When I removed the bioballs from the sump I found enough fish skeletal parts embedded in them to build a good sized school of fish. These were the remains of many of the fish that had disappeared over the years, so it happens, and you may not know until you take the tank down exactly where the fish was.
 
P

Pineaple

New Member
trotsky123 said:

Hi, I was finally done with adding all my fish in my tank when my Hippo Tang just disappeared after 5 days. I can not even find a carcass.
In the past if the fish or a snail died, I saw my little crabs working at it for a day.
But this is a fairly decent size fish to completely vanish.
Not only looking at threads, but I check with 3 different LFS and even have them check my water parameters before adding As well as checking compatibility. And all three said what I have is good.
In my 54 gallon fish only tank I have
Royal Gramma
Yellow Tang
Clown
Yellow goby
Red eye cardinal
Walmart puffy :)
5 little crabs
dozen snails
All are very small - I figure once Tang gets bigger I 'd give him to my friend with a huge tank.
Btw, my rock is not positioned against back wall so I can see the reflection in the back AND i moved some of them last night to see a dead fish - NOTHING!?
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
That's crazy I just got home mines gone too don't feel like moving these rocks....55 reef.
 
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