do fish just disappear?

[option720]

Here is my scenario. I had a percula clown that wasn't looking to hot. Yesterday morning it was a bit shy and laying on the substrate. well when i got home from work....gone. nowhere, i even moved all my LR in search of the buger. Could it have died and my cleaner shrimp and hermit crabs managed to eat the carcus in 12 hours. I KNOW that it didn't jump out or is stuck in th plumbing.
[ October 19, 2001: Message edited by: option720 ]

 

[peasly1]

hermits most definitly

 

[billyv]

I had two fish disappear like that into thin air (water). I am guessing that the bottom dwellers had a feast. In my case, I think it was the brittle stars and/or the hermits. The second fish disappeared only a few days ago, and it was a 50 dollar fish. I guess Natural selection was at work....the fast swimmers survive and the slow get eaten.

 

[reeffanatic]

if you have any live rock (especially florida live rock ) then the chances are good that you have a mantis shrimp,,and they are quite ravenous eaters..the only way to know if that is what you have is to listen for "ticking" or what seems to be clicking on the glass or rock,,(especially at night when the lights are off).. hopefully thats not what you have because they are a pain in the &!@#$% to get out of a tank with alot of rock in it..i had on in my 29 gal reef and i had to isolate the rock i knew his den was in by putting the rock in a 5 gallon bucket,and literally "fished" him out with a piece of small salad shrimp..and when i saw him out of the rock,i pulled the rock quickly out of the bucket,leaving the critter all alone and vulnerable,,,he he