where is my lionfish?

[JROS]

hello all. first post on here! i'm having a bit of trouble and i need some insight!

recently i ordered a fuzzy dwarf lionfish and i received it one week ago. upon acclimating it to my tank i noticed it seemed really healthy and was interacting with my through the bag it was in! i released it into the tank and a couple hours later i looked and it was searching the tank for food. i didn't have anything to feed it yet because my LFS was not open that day.

the next night i took at peep at my tank and saw it was still out coasting along the liverock....and that was the last time i saw it. i have not seen it for about 6 days now. i have scanned every crevice of the liverock and literally have not seen a trace of it. i can even peer into my tank from the backside up to a certain point but i still don't see it anywhere

what i'm wondering is, is it normal for them to hide for this long of a period? i'm beginning to worry, because i don't want to have to attempt to look for my lionfish!

any feedback would be great

 

[fijiwigi]

2 questions
Do you have any cats?
Do you have any crabs that can quickly eat and dispose of a dead fish?

If not can you move things around in your tank to check the hiding places.

 

[JROS]

no cats

i have 2 emerald mithrax crabs that are small and have not seen for months lol.

i can move liverock around but i don't really want to because that can be some work with as much coral as i have and it can also scare the lionfish further into hiding i would think? not too mention moving rocks around would also be risky due to the lionfish being venomous of course!

i'm wanting to use that as a last resort of course!

 

[Innovator]

Most dwarf lionfish hide during the day or perch within the liverock structures and begin hunting for food in the evening. Try looking for the lionfish with a flashlight a couple hours after the lights have turned completely off. They are also known to carpet surf so take a look around...

By the way, if you ever do get stung stick your hand in hot water (not scalding) for about 30mins. The discomfort should subside, although allergic reactions may cause prolonged pain and swelling (probably want to see a Dr. if symptoms have heightened after several hours).

 

[JROS]

i have tried looking with a flashlight hours after lights off, with no luck

i just tore the entire tank apart and did not find it. i took every piece of liverock out except for one, which i just rotated/moved/looked under. not a trace of my lion fish!

could it have died and my brittle star eaten its remains??

this is no good!

 

[Innovator]

Depends on what spp. of brittle star you have? Are they the large green brittles, which happen to be predatory towards fish? If you have a sump and/or overflow, do check them and the surrounding floor spaces (under stand, etc.) Depending on how small the lionfish is, it could be inside a hole, scared to come out? Good luck in your searches.

 

[JROS]

it's a black brittle star, pretty decent size

rest of my cleanup crew consists of:
5 blue hermit crabs
2 emerald mithrax crabs (that i haven't seen in months so i'm not even sure if they're in there!)
4 regular snails
1 sand-sifting snail
1 scarlet red hermit crab
1 black brittle star

i would suspect that with all of this cleanup crew they could take care of a lion carcass, but what gets me is i think i would have witnessed that happening with how often i have checked back for it (during night and day time i have checked CONSTANTLY...i'm sure it would have been quite a site to see!)

let's just say i'm stumped!

 

[melosu58]

Did you look around outside the tank. As James said he could have jumped.

 

[JoshsReef]

did you happen to find the fish

 

[JROS]

oh yes, i did look all around the tank without finding anything

but the matter has gotten worse: NOW i can't find my pygmy angel, and i have not seen it since the day i tore my tank apart looking for the lionfish

it could not have jumped, i have not seen it anywhere on the ground in front, behind the tank, or in the surrounding areas. nothing!

but see, 2 of my featherduster worms are gone now as well!

i'm on break at work so i can't do a water test now, but i will post water test results up next post

so strange!

 

[Innovator]

At this point an unwanted hitchhiker is highly plausible. Leave the tank alone for a couple nights and periodically check on the tank around 1am-2am. Usually nocturnal predators will be up around this time. I actually found a small octopus who was diminishing my chromis stock for months until I staked the tank out.

 

[saywill]

I had the same experience happen to me. I was loosing fish every once and a while, no sign of them at all. One day I noticed a shell of a crab that had molted. I never bought a crab. I set a trap for him and one night I got him. It was a huge black crab that hitched a ride into my tank at some point. Since then, no more missing fish!

 

[JROS]

HERE IS WHAT GETS ME:

i have been checking in the middle of the night VERY periodically! i have not found anything

what kind of a fish trap did you use?

 

[saywill]

I used a drinking glass, tilted on its side with some food in it. The crab can get in, but he has nothing to grab on to get out.

 

[roka64]

Try using a flashlight with a red lense, that might help you locate your night stalker.

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Wow... this is a doozy. I lost Skittles, my Royal Dottyback one day. Took me a while to realize it was gone. I thought that it was just hiding like it always did. I never found a corpse, and I only have a couple of small snails that hitched in on some live rock. I assumed that my cats either ate the fish after it jumped, or they snagged it from the tank. Having four cats does make fishkeeping difficult.