I fear the worst...

[tbonem91]

My favorite cichlid in my tank has been missing for about a week and a half now... he was awesome with his shiny blue face n all... I fear the worst Funny thing is - he was there one day... and just gone the next.

 

[Madame_X]

Check under all the rocks--our cichlids dig under everything in our tank. I'm always checking to make sure they haven't gotten stuck.

If he's been gone for that long, I don't know if there is much hope you'll find him alive (although who knows--maybe he's just found a great hiding spot). But you want to make sure he didn't get stuck under a rock and die as leaving him could really mess up your water parameters.

I wouldn't think a cichlid would eat another cichlid (since they're primarily veggie eaters and all) but I could be wrong...

Sorry about your fishy.

 

[grimlock3000]

Check your plastic decorations if you have any, the fish could be trapped in one. Also check inside the filter.

 

[Menagerie]

I wouldn't think a cichlid would eat another cichlid (since they're primarily veggie eaters and all) but I could be wrong...

Cichlids are not primarily veggie eaters. There are well over 1300 species of cichlid and from http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/fish_compatibility_1.html :

Species are classified as being omnivores, piscivores, herbivores, carnivores, insectivores etc. This has to do with their primary feeding source and should always be taken into account. Of course, in nature, fish will feed on what is available or easier to get but they are usually specialized on chasing, grabbing, grazing, eating and metabolizing a specific kind of food - on which they usually feed.

tbonem91--I'm sorry for the loss of your fish. After that amount of time passes, it's hard not to fear the worse.

 

[William]

It happens to all of us.

I lost a CAE, He did not escape the tank, because he was not anywhere within 10 feet of the tank. He wasn't in the tank anywhere, wasn't in the filter, wasn't in any of the decorations, he was just.. gone.


Maybe you cichlid will end up where my CAE is, on an alien spacecraft, cruising the galazy

 

[grimlock3000]

I lost a Guppy once then found it buried under some gravel dead a week later. No idea how it got down in there 8O

 

[Allivymar]

Do double check any decorations which has openings of any sort. It may have wedged itself in there. No guarantee it survived, but if it died in the tank, it will mess up your water parameters unless the others are it quickly.

And I've been thru it myself. Bought 2 small yoyos and put them in my QT tank. An hour later, one was gone. We still don't know where it got to; the tank is completely covered, it was too short a time for the other to eat it, and it was nowhere in the filter. No gravel, one item of decor in the tank and it wasn't in there and we didn't have a cat yet.

I hate mysteries.

 

[jmeunier]

I lost one of my crayfish a month or so ago. Found him about a week later downstairs under the couch. He'd traveled about 150 feet total, including a flight of 13 stairs! Of course, he was long dead when I found him......

Jay

 

[William]

Do double check any decorations which has openings of any sort. It may have wedged itself in there. No guarantee it survived, but if it died in the tank, it will mess up your water parameters unless the others are it quickly.

And I've been thru it myself. Bought 2 small yoyos and put them in my QT tank. An hour later, one was gone. We still don't know where it got to; the tank is completely covered, it was too short a time for the other to eat it, and it was nowhere in the filter. No gravel, one item of decor in the tank and it wasn't in there and we didn't have a cat yet.

I hate mysteries.

Your Yoyo is in the same tank on the same ship as my CAE and his Cichlid, cruising the cosmic highway

 

[Christmasfish]

Found your missing baby yet?

I just went through a tank tear down searching for my ghost knife. he was stuck in a very small mold defect in a fake mountain. (I fill with sand/gravel and seal most decorations..I missed the defect arouund a curve). Of all my fish I love Dutch the knife and Wu the bichir as individuals best, it was worth having to clean the tank and start at ground zero.

 

[shawmutt]

I had a talking catfish who I called Houdini (the only one I named). This fish would disappear for weeks and months at a time. One time I was disinfecting a decoration over a bathtub of tap water, and who should come plopping out into the tub. I quickly scooped him up and put him back into the tank, and he lived for many months after that. I lost the 10 gallon tank he was in when a seal broke, and he not only survived that, but made it to the fish store in a cooler. One of the employees there saw him and took him home, and he's still alive and well to this day.

Moral: until you see the body, or totally break down the tank, don't give up hope!!!

 

[TankGirl]

I lost a rubberlip pleco and never did find him, and this was in a 15 gal tank with sand substrate so there were not many places he could go! I removed the fake wood decoration and was convinced he had gotten stuck in the holes (GREAT suggestion about filling them and sealing those holes, Christmasfish!) but he was not in there and was never found.

 

[AdamsZoological]

I've gone through the same thing about 4 times with Plecos, buggers seem to love to check out what life is like on the outside. One time, I searched for a week before finding the bloody thing

 

[tbonem91]

sorry bout the long delay - and no, I never found him. He was a good 2 1/2 - 3 inches long so I know he didnt get stuck anywhere nor got into the filter... I'm pretty sure my 4 1/2 inch Convict/Midas cross finished him off pretty quickly if he died... oh well such is life.