Clownfish Disappeared?

[LineDropper]

I have a new 55g tank (been up for 5 days). It has two powerheads and a few pieces of LiveRock (about 15 lbs). I put in a clownfish to start the cycling process (I know most of you believe in fishless cycling, but my LFS recommends using live fish). I changed the water and checked amm/ni/na around 11pm and the fish looked fine. When I went to feed him today (around 10am), he was gone. I checked all around the tank to see if he jumped. I turned over the LR. This is strange. He's just gone. Any ideas???

 

[connorsbala]

Is your tank open top? Checked under all the rock? Just double check tonight and stuff that you dont have a mantis shrimp in the tank!
Theres been alot of posts about missing clowns etc recently...strange

 

[LineDropper]

Is your tank open top? Checked under all the rock? Just double check tonight and stuff that you dont have a mantis shrimp in the tank!
Theres been alot of posts about missing clowns etc recently...strange

It's not a totally open top. I have a 55g top fin. There is just a small area in the back of the tank where he could try to jump out. But I checked the floor like 3 times already. My brother is trying to convince me that I have a snake in my basement! haha. I only flipped the LR over once so maybe I need to check it a little closer... This is crazy. The fish is just gone.

Thanks for the response.

 

[LineDropper]

Solved my mystery. You can probably tell I am knew to the saltwater world. I shut down one of my powerheads and my clown fish floated out of the intake valve. I guess he wasn't doing well although 14 hours ago he looked totally fine to me.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Solved my mystery. You can probably tell I am knew to the saltwater world. I shut down one of my powerheads and my clown fish floated out of the intake valve. I guess he wasn't doing well although 14 hours ago he looked totally fine to me.

Ouch, had that happen to me once as well. Sorry about your loss bud

 

[connorsbala]

Awww, what a shame Better luck next time!

 

[chrissaysyes]

Whats the next step for ya man?

 

[LineDropper]

Whats the next step for ya man?

I added another clown fish the same day the original one died. He seems to be doing well... Fed him 1/4 of a mysis shrimp cube this morning and he slowly ate it. He saw the cube drop in the water but didn't go after it. As the cube slowly melted and little shrimp pieces started floating - he would calmly go after pieces. Quite different from my cichlids.

I also added another 11lbs of live rock so I'm up to 21 lbs (55g tank). I'll keep adding pieces until I reach about 55lbs.

This is all I plan on doing for a few months. Get the LR up to 55g, check my water levels, and hope my new clown fish stays healthy.

I am a little confused about when I should start a clean up crew. Since it's a new tank, I just assumed I should wait until the tank has cycled. Is that the right thing to do?

Other than that, I'm also worried about using tap water so my next big purchase will be a RO/DI unit. I would like to do coral one day but I've seen the prices so I am in absolutely no rush! haha.