Lost Dead Fish.

[TimNorwich]

Ok, a few days ago I spent aages planning and planting my tank (all be it artificial plants). Then 2 days ago I introduced some Cardinal Tetras, I bought 5 of them and since they went in I've only seen 4. I think theres a pretty good chance he didn't survive.

I had a small root around the bottom of my tank but found nothing. Theres a slim chance I will be able to find the small Cardinal Tetra without tearing apart my tank and starting fresh.

Will the Tetras dead body mess up the water significantly or shall I just forget about it? I've seen plecs munch on dead fish before so that all was left was a skeleton.

Thankyou

Tim.

 

[CrystalClear16]

The dead fish may mess up your parameters so keep an eye on your ammonia if you can't find him. He might just be nervous and hiding anyway!

 

[mattlee]

agree with crystalclear16, but if the tank is well established and very mature then it may be able to handle 1 dead cardinal. knowing what size they are sold at in the shops my guess is that it wasnt very big.... other fish or shrimp etc will find it and nibble on it and it will release levels of ammonia as it decays. just keep an eye on the stats for a while just to be safe though