Lost pink square anthias

[golfer girl]

Just joined but have enjoyed reading posts previously. My prize fish, a pink square anthias, just disappeared. He was there at 5:38 pm Sat and at 9:00 - no trace ever again. That day he was more aggressive than usual and was swimming faster than normal. I even wondered if he was bored or had outgrown the tank. 200 gallon, 4 chromes, 4 PJ cardinals, 1 wrasse, 1 blenny, 1 copper band butterfly. I have someone who monitors the water quality and cleans the tank - he made an emergency visit to try and find the anthias, thinking maybe in the filter overflow, nothing. He was a voracious eater and had gotten fat. Could that be what did him in? But wouldn't there be remains. Thanks as I type this, heartbroken.

 

[Andy Sager]

Anthias are big jumpers. Do you have a lid on the tank? If not, do you have any dogs or cats in the house? If you had a lid that covered all the tank, check all pockets in the decorations. Check inside all pipes the fish has access to including drain pipes and fill pipes. While marine fish do decompose quickly, a fish that size will not totally disappear in only 3.5 hours unless it was eaten whole. None of the fish you mentioned are capable of doing that. Did you check under nearby furniture? Fish on the floor will flop around and cover a large distance. Check everywhere and under everything ( including the tank stand) that is in the same room. You'd be surprised how far a fish can flop. ( I once had an octopus meet me at my front office door after crawling all the way up from the back of the warehouse, climb under the back office door to get to the front door. He didn't survive. He should have stayed in the tank. ) Unless it was eaten, it's somewhere in the tank or drying on the floor.
Hope this helps.

 

[golfer girl]

Thanks for your reply. We literally checked everywhere with no luck. It seems the only place he could have jumped is into the filter overflow (I think that is what it is called) which is covered by netting but had a space large enough for him to break through. My aquarium man made an emergency house call last night and filmed everything in that reserve and nothing - even put some food there and I whistled - my fish know I whistle when it's feeding time. So maybe he got sucked up into the pipes and disintegrated. I will check under the furniture one more time - even though the tank was covered. HIs buddy, the copper band butterfly senses the loss - as do I of course. Always a sad occurrence.

 

[Andy Sager]

Did you shine a light down inside the overflow pipes?

 

[golfer girl]

I don't think it is possible to shine a light into the overflow pipes. We tried to look and photograph everywhere we possibly could and everything was still with no sight of him. The anthias was acting especially aggressive and racing through the tank the day he disappeared, even to the point I wondered whether he was bored or needed a larger tank (mine is 200 gallon). If he crashed into the rocks or had a heart attack, could the large coral have then eaten him? I am still new to this and know there is a lot to learn. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Andy Sager]

I don't think it is possible to shine a light into the overflow pipes. We tried to look and photograph everywhere we possibly could and everything was still with no sight of him. The anthias was acting especially aggressive and racing through the tank the day he disappeared, even to the point I wondered whether he was bored or needed a larger tank (mine is 200 gallon). If he crashed into the rocks or had a heart attack, could the large coral have then eaten him? I am still new to this and know there is a lot to learn. Thank you for your reply.

Depends on the type of coral but say something like a large single polyp specie with a large mouth ( I.E. Trachyphyllia, Lobophillia or Scolomilia) certainly could swallow a large fish as could any decent sized anemone.

 

[golfer girl]

Thanks for your reply. I have a large bubble coral. Not sure whether that could be the culprit.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for your reply. I have a large bubble coral. Not sure whether that could be the culprit.

Look for a big blob of dark colored " stuff" to come from the coral's mouth in a few days. That will be your telltale sign.

 

[golfer girl]

Thank-you. The bubble is pretty translucent, and when I looked at it a couple of days ago, it seemed like there was a dark area inside that I hadn't noticed before. This site is a wonderful learning tool. Have to admit I felt more normal to hear that others have also shed tears over departed fish.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank-you. The bubble is pretty translucent, and when I looked at it a couple of days ago, it seemed like there was a dark area inside that I hadn't noticed before. This site is a wonderful learning tool. Have to admit I felt more normal to hear that others have also shed tears over departed fish.

So you probably have your answer. The coral will need to "poo" out the remains so keep an eye out for that.
Unfortunately, in our hobby, we keep fish that do not have a lifespan that is as long or longer then ours so deaths are inevitable even if you do things 100% correctly. (That actually applies to all pets sans a few with lifespans longer than humans.) How one deals with death is an individual thing. I find knowing the inevitable is going to happen to be more comforting/ less traumatic as long as I know I did everything I should have. The goal is to do the things 100% correctly and enjoy the pet(s) while we have them.

 

[melosu58]

Anthias are fish that do better in groups of three or more in my opinion

 

[golfer girl]

So you probably have your answer. The coral will need to "poo" out the remains so keep an eye out for that.
Unfortunately, in our hobby, we keep fish that do not have a lifespan that is as long or longer then ours so deaths are inevitable even if you do things 100% correctly. (That actually applies to all pets sans a few with lifespans longer than humans.) How one deals with death is an individual thing. I find knowing the inevitable is going to happen to be more comforting/ less traumatic as long as I know I did everything I should have. The goal is to do the things 100% correctly and enjoy the pet(s) while we have them.

Good perspective. I try to brace myself for those "sad days" by reassuring myself that all my fish have had good lives while with me. This caught me completely off guard because he was eating (everything in sight) until the end, and very very active. Thanks for your reply.

 

[golfer girl]

Anthias are fish that do better in groups of three or more in my opinion

That's good to know. Thank you.

 

[Andy Sager]

That's good to know. Thank you.

Keep in mind with this that it should be 1 male and multiple females, not all males. Square Pinks are males. This is the female: