Fish body gone

[Beastije]

HI.I know it is a stupid question, but bear with me on this. I lost a fish. I know it happens, I guess it was stressed from the moving and the changes and whatnot, and it was like 3 years old, so ok, can happen. I am 99% sure it is dead. But where is the body?

I do not have a fishtank where a dead body would hide. I do not have bunch of large fish or plecos or anything with a large mouth, that would be able to eat a dead fish this quickly. I saw the fish 24 hours ago and now there is no trace of it. It was a 4cm large neolamprologus multifasciatus.

I have 8 small ember tetras and 3 neolamprologus multifasciatus. I have one clithon snail which is 4mm large, I have like 5 normal small snails and I have bunch of Melanoides (no idea of the english name). I did a precursory water change, I poked in all the snail shells and between them, I took out the filter sponge, looked behind the heater, checked all the rocks. But I have floating plants, plain sand and nothing else. I also have a tight lid on the tank.
What do you think happened to the body?
I am attaching a picture, though the quality is poor and a large floating anubias is missing from there.

Thanks for humoring me

 

[PheonixKingZ]

It’s possible that the pleco and the snail polished it off over night.

While plecos won’t eat live fish, they will definitely eat dead fish. Schooling fish are also know to nibble on the carcass.

 

[Beastije]

It’s possible that the pleco and the snail polished it off over night.

While plecos won’t eat live fish, they will definitely eat dead fish. Schooling fish are also know to nibble on the carcass.

Yes yes THAT would be entirely possible. But I do not have a pleco. I have a bunch of very tiny snails only

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Your Melanoides (Malaysian Trumpet Snails if I remember correctly) eat dead animals and detritus....so a dead fish would be a gourmet dinner for them to devour and they would manage it overnight easily with the help of the other snails

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Is there any gaps in the lid at all? Even really small ones?

I have seen fish manage to jump through what look like impossibly small gaps. If water parameters are ok and the fish was fine before I wouldn't 100% rule out jumping if there is any type of gap at all.

It is also entirely possible for the livesrock you have to strip a 4cm fish down to nothing in 24 hours. You ever see piranhas feeding? Ember tetras may be smaller but they are the same family. Add in a couple of snails and it probably wouldn't take too long.

Make sure you do some water tests over the next few days to make sure you don't get an ammonia spike.

 

[Beastije]

It is also entirely possible for the livestock you have to strip a 4cm fish down to nothing in 24 hours. You ever see piranhas feeding? Ember tetras may be smaller but they are the same family. Add in a couple of snails and it probably wouldn't take too long.

They are the same family, true, they look kind of similar up close I did wonder

Trumpet snails, yes, that is the english name. I fed few of my snails in other tank and they tend to congregate to the feeding place, I would have expected a group of snails in one place where the body used to be, but didnt notice anything like that.

I will do another water change in few days to be on the safe side and will stick the ammonia seachem plaque there to check.

The fish could not have jumped out, they are not that good swimmers, they dont ever jump up, and I have 3 cm gap between water level and lid and the lid has a 0,3 mm gap.

I am glad nobody commented how inappropriate tetras are as tankmates for african cichlids, (because I know and agree) but I have a 7,5 PH, which technically is borderline for each species, and the multies have not been in a hard water in years so they are used to it. But they do not breed. So there is that. Also I am not sure if the missing one is the only male I had or not. They were all the same size and their behavior is similar, no other differences there

Well, I guess that is that, a fish down, thanks!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I couldn't see what the missing fish was.
Species?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I couldn't see what the missing fish was.
Species?

Was a small shelldweller Cichlid I think.

neolamprologus multifasciatus