Scooter Blenny=whodini

[STARFYRE]

I just fed my scooter blenny.....and I didn't see my scooter blenny. Yesterday I saw him in the back of the tank. I haven't seen him all day today. So I fed him, and he usually comes out of whatever crevice he's hiding in. But this time he didn't. And I can't find him anywhere.
I'm assuming he's dead. What the #@$% do I do now??? His rotting carcus will shoot my ammonia through the roof if I can't find him......And there goes my tank. Should I just start ripping everything out of the tank? Should I stick my finger down in the sand and do a body search? I never encountered this problem before. Usually when my fish die, they're right there....dead. And I get my handy dandy net and scoop em out.
I checked in all the caves I could get to and there's no sign of him anywhere. What do I do????
HELP!

 

[austinsdad]

Having no idea what sized tank you have, how many crabs or shrimp in there makes it hard to suggest what to do. 30g tank, 10 lbs of rock and a 3"fish with 3 hermits may have problems. A mature 75g tank with 80 lbs of rock, and a 3" fish, 60 hermits, a few shrimp, likely no problem.

Watch the ammonia. If he's been dead for 24hrs or more and causing a problem, you should see it in your water readings by now IMO. Describe your tank and tell what other fish are in there.

 

[roka64]

I agree, if you have a good clean up crew, they will do their job. Do not stick you fingers and sift through the sand. There are probably bristleworms in there and they could give you a nice little bee sting-like surprise.

 

[melosu58]

I also agree just leave him for the clean up crew. He may be just hiding also.

 

[Ziggy953]

Wow! I didn't know that bristleworms can sting. That's a good piece of info to know! I had a cleaner wrasse die on me. The LFS stressed him out catching him and I didn't know it until I acclimated him and put him in the tank. (father in-law got him) In a matter of hours he was nothing but a little string of bones on the bottom of the tank. Like everyone said if you have a good clean up crew you wont have any problems.