missing green chromis

[jacrmill]

i recently bought 4 green chromis. all 4 seemed fine and were eating for about 4 days and then the next day there were only 3. the 4th fish has been missing for almost a week now so Im guessing he is dead. since he has been missing I have tested my water 3 times and have had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates under 5. my question is that if he is dead is he going to cause an ammonia spike or has my cleanup crew already taken care of his body? i would like to get a new fish considering that my water is perfect right now, i just wonder how long i should wait and see if that missing chromis causes an ammonia spike. i think that if there has been no ammonia or a week that either my clean up crew took care of it, or my biological filter is strong enough to take care of it. any thoughts?

 

[musipilot]

Yah...whats in your cleanup crew so we can figure out who ate him?

 

[jacrmill]

i dont think they killed it, i was thinking they may have just taken care of its dead carcass. my clean up crew is 10 scarlet hermits, 10 snails, 2 emerald crabs and 2 cleaner shrimp.

 

[musipilot]

Ok...a few possibilites. One: He jumped. Two: he died of natural causes (or was just not healthy), three: an emerald got him (if they're big enough). The cleaner shrimp gets a pass.

 

[tacks]

I recently had a Green Chromis jump out of my tank. Check all around the tank if you haven't already done so. Also, have you checked your powerheads? After three weeks it would probably be torn up by now. I've had small fish sucked up by the powerheads before. Just another theory...

 

[koiman6]

Check under the lr if you have any and if you can't find him go ahead and put another fish in

 

[jacrmill]

he didnt jump and the emeralds are not nearly big enough to kill him. im pretty sure he died of natural causes or a disease or something like that. the question was since i havent had any ammonia spike for over a week, am i going to get one? i dont know how long it takes for the fish's body to decay and how much of it would be eaten by my cleanup crew.

 

[wrassecal]

Do you hve a dog or cat? I caught my dog with a jumper in his mouth! <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />

 

[jacrmill]

i have a lid, so he would have to be able to jump with some real force. im pretty sure his body is somewhere in my tank, im just not wanting to go digging around looking for it if my clean up crew will take care of it without polluting my water.

 

[musipilot]

I hate when this happens, I've had it a few times, and I wonder where the heck they went! You answered your own question about the decaying fish...if you have no ammonia spike, then your cleanup crew handled it, don't worry about it. I'd test ammonia twice daily to be on the safe side. By the way, anyone seen a royal gramma? He was healthy one day, GONE the next

 

[susiepan]

Samething happened with my Pearl Headed Jawfish...POOF!!!!!!!!!!
Goumd out he jumped ship, and went carpet diving, and boy, were my kitties ever happy....
I had a HUGE trochus snail that fell of a pc of rock, and before it could right itself, my hermits, and a bristle worm ate it alive... Hermits can chow!!
If you are sure he is gone, Im sure your clean-up crew ate it,,,
Do you quarantine your fish??
~Susie

 

[jacrmill]

thanks for all the replys. I think Im going to get another fish next weekend provided I don't have any ammonia spikes during this week.

 

[eseow]

Usually in a week, the body is gone. Dead fish decay at fast rate. Cleanup crew probably already deposed of body, or fish could have burrowed into live rock if you have any with openings. Had a Blue Damsel disappear for day, only to find out he wasn't dead, just hiding behind Sea Clone Skimmer power head and the tank glass. Getting madly harrased by other Blue Damsel. He almost died from stress. Anyway, if no ammonia and no body, and its past a week, you should be OK.

 

[maury]

I have read that with both green and blue chromis, that if you are ddding more than a pair, you should add 10-12 as they will fight in numbers of 3-8. Maybe the other chromis picked on and killed the other one and the clean-up crew took care of the rest. Did you notice any of the other ones picking on him?

 

[jacrmill]

maybe a little bit of chasing, but nothing really bad. Im not sure why he died, but Im pretty sure he wasnt harassed by the other fish. The other 3 are fine, nobody's chasing anybody or anything.

 

[shawnsghost]

I had two little neon gobies that disappeared for about 10 days. I was shure that somthing ate them or they passed on...So I got two more...Now i've got four. Yours could be hiding there somwhere.
Good luck

 

[peasly1]

I am assuming for fish, you have only the chromis in the tank ?