When fish "disappear"

[mwe_ch]

Yeah.. I thought it might be TB but haven't had time to google the symptoms again...

Better use gloves in both tanks from now on, I do not want to get an infection myself! Keeping my son's hands out the tank is another issue.

 

[logansmomma1228]

that is something I am trying to figure out myself. My son is only 7 months old, but he is crawling and it doesn't take long after that... lol.

when I got my 10 I didn't even think about the fact that I was setting it up 3 ft off the ground...

 

[mwe_ch]

Well, after a few days of not eating, the separated single Neon Tetra with bent spine is now eating and doing ok. So, if he lasts another few weeks, I'm going to guess it is NOT fish TB, but some sort of vitamin deficiency he got when with his other owner.

Problem now (yes, ANOTHER problem, despite frequent water changes, and good water parameters), is that a cardinal tetra is fading in colour. I caught it today and put it in a breeding trap to get a good look and now it seems to be "playing dead". We'll see in the morning if it's alive. I'll separate it out into a bucket tomorrow if it still looks bad.

I thought fading came with Neon Tetra disease, but this is a cardinal and I thought Cardinals were immune to it? I hope it's not NTD.. then ALL the fish might come down with it/die. ACK. I am NOT having good luck with this second-hand tank. SIGH.

 

[Twoapennything]

I've had plenty of fish just disappear, only to find the carcasses at a later date, sometimes even a month later or more. I have had fish disappear that I've never found remains for. Jim is right - a snail will eat any dead fish. I discovered that African dwarf frogs will also eat dead fish, right down to the bone. I'm so grossed out by the idea of dead fish floating around in my tank that I purposefully redecorated using decor that didn't include a bunch of hidey-holes and tunnels and stuff. Because fish can never die conveniently it seems - no, they have to die inside the fake mountain with the tiny little openings, etc. I've set up my tank so I can see every part of the tank without having to poke around or move decor items.

 

[mwe_ch]

I think I've figured out what's happening to my disappearing fish! Last night I had 6 healthy rummy-nosed tetras, this morning too, but after lunch, there were only 5! Where did the 6th go?! I looked through the java fern, through the other plants, in the grooves in the mangrove wood, in the back of the internal filter... I lifted the volcano up off the LED light & bubbler.. Nothing, then woop, out of the volcano comes a dead fish. The missing RM tetra! The volcano MUST be the culprit! I had a clown loach that liked to hide in it, but he could get out, so the little fish must go in and get stuck and die shortly after.

Gotta figure out a way to fish-proof the volcano....

 

[ralph121]

I had the same problem i lost one of my zebrafish in my 15L baby biorb. I removed the filter and found it stuck in the bowl type thing at the bottom (the bowl houses the filter ). It took me an hour to work out how it got there and then to remove it. Outside the tank where the pump pipe connects to (under the tank), there are 3 screws remove them and lift the bowl type thing left in the tank slightly. (It won't come of completely as it is too tight, do this with no other fish in the tank and with little water left in the tank. If you pull too hard it will take the bowl off and make a big hole in the tank).

In my case my fish was still alive and it wriggled itself free.