Darnit.. Where Are They?

[fshinggrl]

I bought 2 bushynose plecos for my 75 gallon tank on Wednesday. Chocolate ones. They are great master of disquises. SO much so that I have not seen both of them at one time since the day I bought them. I have 12 odessa barbs, 2 yoyo loaches & 3 zebra loaches and 6 turquoise rainbowfish. After not seeing either one of them for 24 hours, I dismantled my tanks. I found one in the filter.

I don't know what happened to the other one. I have looked all around the tank on the floor. I have lifted every building, nook or cranny I have in there and nothing. Where else is there to look? Seriously!!!

 

[Vidster]

Have you checked the floor area behind your tank?

I bought a Pleco this week and he was almost out of the tank 5 seconds after i released him. He is also a master of disguise though. He can be right in front of me and i don't see him until he moves.


Good luck finding the escapee.

 

[fshinggrl]

YEs.. I've looked back there at least 3 times!!! It's amazing!

 

[Vidster]

If it's not in the immediate area outside the tank then it has to be inside. Time to strip it all down peice by peice if you want any conclusion. My Plec is tiny. He would easily fit down the tubes of my external filter if the guard wasn't on. I dread to think of something like that happening but it already has in your case. Did you take the filter completely apart?

This would do my head in. I would probably end up emptying the tank to find out just what had happened if it were me

 

[moochy13]

i recently lost a red eye tetra like this, it turned up underneatht he juwel type internal filter, dead unfortunately. i also found a sterbai cory in my filter about 6 hours after i put it in the tank. also bear in mind fish can still be stuck to the underside of ornaments when you lift them up.

 

[Carlovel1]

How bug are you plecos?

 

[fshinggrl]

They are about 2 inches each. I did dismantle the filter completely. It wasn't until I was starting to empty the filter that we found the one. I will be dismantling the whole tank soon. It does drive me nuts. My hubby is laughing at me!

 

[Carlovel1]

LOL, we had a similar probs with our Pygmy Corys, I ruined the entire layout of my 40Litre Asian tank trying to catch them!

 

[fshinggrl]

Ok. Just did a 75% water change because something just isn't right. I just have one bushy nose. My API testing kit apparently was expired when I bought it. Not cool.

 

[fshinggrl]

Never mind. I'm stupid. I must have identical twins. I have two. I don't know where the other one was hiding, but s/he is out now! I have two busy nose plecos in my tank right now.

 

[AmazonFTW]

I had a Goby that got into the filter, didn't see it for 3 months or so (didn't know it was in the filter, thought it died). When I stripped the tank down, left it with water in over night and then blasted it with the hose in the morning I found him. He was in the filter, still alive and so I ran him into my other tank where he now is living happily a year on. I can't understand how I never saw him!

All I'm saying is - s/he could still be there - hidden in plain sight.

Good luck,
AmazonFTW

 

[chrischeyne]

Never mind. I'm stupid. I must have identical twins. I have two. I don't know where the other one was hiding, but s/he is out now! I have two busy nose plecos in my tank right now.

i a quick one for u do u have plactic type objects in there with any little holes. as i have had bn hide in side stuff for weeks at a time and then they come out again about a cm longer i would not worry about them they always hiding somwere. also they suck on the inside of the object and are still in there when u take it out the water
good luck keeping a eye on them.

 

[Vidster]

Never mind. I'm stupid. I must have identical twins. I have two. I don't know where the other one was hiding, but s/he is out now! I have two busy nose plecos in my tank right now.

Glad the mystery was solved with a happy outcome!