Misssing fish??

[Darkseid76]

So recently I noticed that I'm missing some fish.

Usually at feeding time I'll do a head count. But I have 3 oto's that dont eat flake so I really dont watch for them. A few days ago I noticed that I've been only seeing one active. But because I have a jungle of plants where they tend to hang out they're kind of hard to spot at times.

So I sat down to watch and I didnt see them. After a couple of days I got worried. I recently lost 2 swordtails( reasons unknown ) and I wanted to make sure they were okay.

So today I went hunting for them. 1st I checked behind and around the aquarium just in case they jumped out. No dice. 2nd I checked the filters. Strike 2. 3rd I moved all the decor and put my hands thru the plants. NADA.

I AM COMPLETELY STUMPED. There are no fish in my tank large enough to eat them. There are no bodies even if they were half eaten by the other inhabitants. They are too big to be sucked up by the filter tubes. I know I didn't accidently gravel vac them because they wont come near me when I do it and I would have noticed them anyway.

So out of 3 oto's I'm missing 2 of them and I'm upset because I liked them. And I just have no clue to what could have happened to them.

So I'm sharing my story in hopes that maybe someone can have a plausible theory that I might have overlooked. I want to get more but my hospital/quarantine tank is full of fry at the moment.

 

[Luananeko]

Depending on how densely planted your tank is, it can be REALLY easy to "lose" fish only to rediscover them when doing tank overhaul. I was absolutely sure I had lost two of my black neon tetras, 2 otos, and a bristlenose pleco in my 30 gallon tank for about a month while I was setting up my 75 gallon tank. Once I took out all the plants and decorations to start netting them to move them to their new home, I rediscovered all my "missing" fish. The pleco was 3" long at the time, and I had even taken every single decoration and turned it upside down to examine them to look for her. Best I can figure is she hid in a crevice in one of my decorations and blended in so well in the shadows that I had missed her, even when I was going over them with a flashlight.

 

[LyndaB]

I agree that fish hide really well. It could be that your otos are doing just that. I recently went about 2 months without seeing my otos then BAM, there they were. Don't forget that they will affix themselves to stems, too, and not move if you're brushing through the plants.

On the other hand, any species you have is capable of consuming a dead oto. My RCS can completely devour a dead fish in less than a day. No bones, no nothing.

Not sure what you have in the tank with the otos.

 

[Darkseid76]

I hope thats the scenario lol. I have a 55gal and the oto's are only about 1 1/2".

 

[Darkseid76]

I agree that fish hide really well. It could be that your otos are doing just that. I recently went about 2 months without seeing my otos then BAM, there they were. Don't forget that they will affix themselves to stems, too, and not move if you're brushing through the plants.

On the other hand, any species you have is capable of consuming a dead oto. My RCS can completely devour a dead fish in less than a day. No bones, no nothing.

Not sure what you have in the tank with the otos.

I have 7 neon tetras, 4 baby swordtails( same size as neons at this point), 2 platies, 2 mollies, and an army of baby snails the size of sand granules.

 

[LyndaB]

Given the rest of your stock, I have a feeling he's just found himself a good algae patch somewhere.

 

[Luananeko]

Any of those fish and snails could easily polish off a 1.5" body if the otos are indeed gone. The snails are the most likely culprits, though the live bearers are extremely greedy scavengers as well when given the chance.