do clowns hide?

wfd1008

Member
i'm missing a clown and i've searched everywhere. i had one jump out of the same tank about a month ago, and now the larger of the two is MIA. i've looked everywhere around the tank (even in the filters), and nowhere. i last saw it around 5:00pm when my wife got home. will they hide for long periods, is 4hrs. long enough for hermits, peppermint shrimp, and some snails to devour the evidence? i haven't heard any clicks coming from the tank, so i don't think there's a mantis shrimp in there. tested the water and it's: ammonia-0; nitrites and nitrates both 0; pH was a little low at 8.0; and temp is 78. i don't understand? any input on this would be great. thanks.
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Do you have any other pets? Cats, dogs, ferrets, etc that could have eaten him if he fell to the floor?
When a coral is unhappy, it's apparent, unfortunately fish "just keep swimmin'" Which makes it difficult to determine whether or not he was on the verge of death. I've had a fish die before (or be eaten...don't know which). He seemed perfectly fine one day and I woke up to no fish and a bunch of cyano came later.
What I'm saying is, if your tank is small, then that fish would definitely cause your levels to spike if dead. Now, hermits (ime) probably couldn't devour the evidence that quickly. A pistol shrimp or mantis could have it done in a day no doubt and it would be hidden.
So if you have no other pets and your levels don't spike, it's probably hiding somewhere. At night, one of my clowns sleeps behind the overflow completely out of sight.
Where are your hermits and snails right now anyway?
Good Luck, this is obviously not very much fun.
 

wfd1008

Member
thanks. it's in a 55-gal, and with only three fish, well two now. when the first jumped, there was only a pair of clowns. now there was two clowns, and a cardinal fish. would the peppermint shrimp spook it out of the tank. i fed them yesterday, and it looked fine. when i last saw it today, it was swimming and behaving normal. i put some food in the tank, and it never showed. no pets, but i have trapped a couple of mice in our garage, but they didn't eat the last one, cause i did find it. hopefully it's hiding, i guess time will tell. thanks again. John
 

wfd1008

Member
my hermits and snails are in my display. just scarlets, and some blue-legged hermits. snails are nassarius and astra (sp?).
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
I would guess hiding. Your inverts would be all over it if it were dead in the tank. They go to dead animals like magnets. So it's probably hiding.
 

wfd1008

Member
the missing clown has been found....on the floor, on the side, b/t the tank and the wall.
i'm just wondering if the peppermint shrimp spooked it?
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by gil5280
http:///forum/post/2984185
i have heard clicking from my tank!!
what does that mean?!?
Could mean mantis or pistol shrimp. If you randomly lose fish...then you have a mantis. And that's bad. They are not pests, but not reef compatible. Get it out and sell it if you find it.
 
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