houdini loach?

[cogburn]

okay... this is weird... picked up a zebra loach yesterday... really cool fish... got him all aclimated and in the tank fine... he swam around well all day yest. was eating... kinda of hung out near the bottom most of the time but everything seemed normal... looked in tank this morning... loach completely gone... nowhere to be found... i mustve looked in for him about 40 times today... no where vanished... i even moved every inch of gravel around to see if he somehow burrowed no dice... gone, vanished into thin water... im dumbfounded... is it possible the other fish ate him and there is no evidence? there is no way he couldve gotten out... no way... i checked around the whole living room... no trace... if he had gotten out my cats couldve eaten him but there is no way he couldve gotten out... are loaches burrowers? is there some way he's buried under the gravel and im not seeing him even when i moved the gravel? seriously im going nuts here... im at a loss...

-Larry

 

[rich311k]

He will show up. Did you check inside any ornaments?

 

[cogburn]

yes i turned all the ornaments over... no dice... only one of them is hollow and he wasnt inside... i seriously am baffled... i just ran downstairs to see if he would come out at night and no dice... still not there... its only a 29 gal tank... theres not that many places to hide... ticks me off cuz he was a $16 fish and nowhere to be found... not like he was tiny... mustve been a 3" fish easy... AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!

 

[papa_bear_21]

I had a similar problem with our clown loach, he disappeared in our 29 gallon. moved every inch of sand, every decor, you name it. He appeared the next day, we still dont know where he was hiding...

 

[Zagz]

They can burrow quite far into the sand. I am sure he will show up. Loaches are the best at hiding of all fish IMO.

 

[cogburn]

hmmm interesting... well thats good to know hopefully he shows up... i did hear him moving some rocks the first night i had him... well ill keep you updated... thanks again guys

 

[JustOneMore20]

Get him some friends and he'll probably appear. They are shoaling fish, so they prefer a group of their own kind. He's probably stressed for multiple reasons (new tank, alone....). If you don't see him dried up on the floor, he's probably in the tank somewhere. Get a few more.

 

[cogburn]

it really is the weirdest thing... because there was only a very small amount of gravel that seemed disturbed... its just so weird it really is like he vanished... if he had jumped out somehow my cats probably ate him... ill check again when i get home from work... if i dont see him im taking all the decor out and moving the gravel... im getting to the bottom of this...

 

[blindskate]

..that happened with my royal gramma....never found it. been like 2 months. i thot if it got sucked up in the filter...id see it. but maybe my fish ate her...and then her bits and pieces got sucked up. ? damsels are vicious...who knows.

 

[collegelife101]

it really is the weirdest thing... because there was only a very small amount of gravel that seemed disturbed... its just so weird it really is like he vanished... if he had jumped out somehow my cats probably ate him... ill check again when i get home from work... if i dont see him im taking all the decor out and moving the gravel... im getting to the bottom of this...

I had a zebra loach once. Same thing happened... he just disappeared. I found him a few weeks later under some furniture near the tank which was somewhat surprising at the time considering how secure the lid was and how small the remaining openings were. I'd put money on him having jumped out of the tank and flopped under something... but it is possible he's hiding because they are nocturnal so you wouldn't see him much until he was adjusted to the tank.

 

[cogburn]

I FOUND HIM!!! ..... i stuck my fingers in the filter to pull the cartridge out to clean it and something touched me... i poured the filter out and there he was hanging out... couldnt believe he was in there after 5 days... happy as can be... well he's back in the tank now... lets see how long that lasts... little bugger is a good hider...

 

[rich311k]

Glad you found him. They can be creative.