EVER have a fish disappear??

moonie

Member
I had a tand about 4 inches long. went away for a weekend now he has disappeared. Could my cleanup crew completely devour him? Bones and all? Wouldn't there be a skelaton? How fast do they eat (snails and a few tiny hermits)? Please let me know this is a mystery
 

nicetry

Active Member
First, be sure the fish did not jump, or ended up in the overflow/sump, etc..
To answer your question, a fish carcass can be completely taken care of in a couple of days so that there are no traces left. Aside from the snails and crabs, you likely have a population of bristle worms and other critters which helped consume the dead fish. In my 120, on the rare occassion a fish dies, I will normally leave it in the tank for the clean up crew. A 6 inch foxface carcass was gone in less than three days. The worms, nassarius snails and crabs had a feast.
 

jpc763

Active Member
I had a Banggai Cardinalfish that I knew was dying. It was sitting on the bottom of the tank. My family went out for a few hours and when we returned, he was nowhere to be seen. We never found a trace of him.
 

t316

Active Member
But on the other hand...what size tank? Do you have a lot of rock? I have lost fish for 3 days, only to reappear. Once found one in the sump, and another hid in the rock (the same rock I picked up 3 times looking for him).
 

sepulatian

Moderator
This is a tang. Have you checked your water quality? Did you have someone that you trust looking after the fish/water quality? The cleanup crew would eat him if he were dead. How long have you been back home?
 

doeboy1

Member
This happened to me as well...i thought i was losing it. I went away on vacation and came back to a missing fish. Then i replaced it with 2 clowns and one of the two is MIA. I have completely disassembled the tank and can't find a lick of evidence that i have even lost 2 fish in there...
 

renogaw

Active Member
my 3 chromis followed natural selection and are down to 1 now. the last time i saw the second chromi he was laying on the sand under my nassarius snails. i assume the first one had the same fate. i didn't even see a skeleton.
 
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