Where did my catfish go?!

[Mark Hewitt]

Two weeks ago I bought 4 x pygmy corydoras. The biggest were around 1cm long, two of those. An absolutely tiny one and another one about half a cm long.

The very next day, came down in the morning to find only two remaining. The very small one and one of the 'big' ones had just disappeared!

Nearly two weeks later and the two remaining ones seemed to be getting on ok, then yesterday the remaining 'big' one disappeared too. Now there's only one little one remaining.

What could be happening to them? I've taken the filter out and checked and they aren't in there. And I can't see them around the tank, although I know they like to hide.

I did notice that previously when I've had a fish die the Black Skirts started to pick on it quickly, perhaps the catfish got sick or died and the tetras just ate it?!

 

[BigJim]

Is there somewhere they can hide? Nothing on your stock list would eat them and I'm doubtful that they'd kill each other. Look inside decorations.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Yeah those little fish are real good at hiding, my puffer is the only thing in my tank and he is about half an inch long. He hides real good lol.

 

[i3k]

They are good at hiding as I'm always looking for my two tiny panda corys in the morning. I can NEVER find them when they are hiding. But when I drop some food in, they come out within 5 minutes.

On the other hand, these fish are so tiny that if they die they will waste away so quick that you won't have time to find any remains.

Hope yours are just hiding.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

On the other hand, these fish are so tiny that if they die they will waste away so quick that you won't have time to find any remains.

Hope yours are just hiding.

I know none of my fish would eat the catfish when alive. However previously when I had some guppies one died and almost immediately the black skirts started picking at it.

It wouldn't take much to pick apart a pgymy catfish if it had died.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Well I've been through the tank and picked up every ornament and examined it carefully, no sign of the catfish!

 

[BigJim]

Sorry to hear about the fish. Little fish don't last long after they die. I've found clean guppy skeletons in my tank without actually having seen the dead fish. My MTS and RCS clean it up pretty quickly.

 

[logansmomma1228]

I'm sorry. That really sucks that they waste away so fast. At least you didn't have to deal with the bodies.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

True, it's just a bit curious! Have to say, the mortality rate for my tank doesn't make good reading! I'd expected at least one catfish to die, but then I didn't expect them to just disappear!

Then again; We had 5 rummies at one point two, now we have 4, with no sign of rummy #5. All very odd!

In this tank in order of arrival:
Black Skirt Tetra - Still alive.
Black Skirt Tetra - Still alive.
White Skirt Tetra - Still alive.
-
White Skirt Tetra - Still alive.
White Skirt Tetra - Still alive.
-
Orange Guppy - Died after 2 hours
Yellow Guppy - Died after 2 weeks
Blue Guppy - Died after 2 weeks
-
Orange Guppy2 - Died after 1 week
-
Rummy1 - Died after 1 day
Rummy2 - Still alive.
Rummy3 - Still alive.
Rummy4 - Still alive.
Rummy5 - Still alive
Rummy6 - Missing, after lasting 2 months
-
Orange sailfin molly - Still alive.
Black Molly - Died after 2 weeks
-
Orange platy - Died after 10 days
Red platy - Died after 11 days
-
Pgymy Catfish - Missing!
Pgymy Catfish - Missing!
Pgymy Catfish - Missing!
Pgymy Catfish - Still alive
-
Peppered Corydoras - Still alive (but new)
Peppered Corydoras - Still alive (but new)

 

[logansmomma1228]

How many did you add at one time? It's possible that you caused ammonia poisoning if you added too many at once.

 

[cabezon]

look behind the tank on the floor. If you have decorations, they may be so well hidden, you did not see them when you picked them up.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

I've edited my post to add a blank line between each group of fish that were added. The blank line represents at least two weeks, usually much more.