Royal Dottyback Missing?

[omega59]

Okay i fed the fish, went out, came home and he is gone no where to be found, what the heck could of happened. he is alone with 2 clown fish 3 hermit crabs. i moved ALL rocks placed some food in and he usually comes out. but he is no where to be found. i don't have that much rock in there so he can't be hiding. did he jump out? oh my

 

[AK77]

Okay i fed the fish, went out, came home and he is gone no where to be found, what the heck could of happened. he is alone with 2 clown fish 3 hermit crabs. i moved ALL rocks placed some food in and he usually comes out. but he is no where to be found. i don't have that much rock in there so he can't be hiding. did he jump out? oh my

If you've moved all the rocks so there is absolutely nowhere for the fish to hide and you're positive the fish is not in the tank, then it must have jumped out. The hermit crabs wouldn't have devoured the entire carcus in that time frame. Get a torch and start looking under the tank cabinet, down the back of the cabinet, under nearby furniture. If you have a cat or dog in the house, then its likely they got an expensive snack.

Do you have a sump? Its possible that the fish has gone through the pipework or overflow box. My clownfish, shrimp and even my dragonet would go through my overflow box into the sump lol. If you do have a sump and its not in there, shut the pump off and dismantle the pipework to see if its lodged anywhere.

 

[-Nemo-]

^ What AK said. I've had plenty of creatures show up in my overflow box all alive and well. Had a sleeper goby jump once and found her under the stand Not sure how long she was under there for, but she was not breathing when found; she ended up living through that experience

Fish always seem to find the flaws in your system...

 

[omega59]

no i have a basic setup with power heads and a hang off filter. could he be stuck in one of the shells? how can i remove him without breaking the shell?

 

[AK77]

no i have a basic setup with power heads and a hang off filter. could he be stuck in one of the shells? how can i remove him without breaking the shell?

Its possible that its hiding in a shell, provided it was big enough. If it is in one and got stuck, you probably wouldn't be able to get the fish out without injuring it and not breaking the shell.

 

[omega59]

the tank started to smell like rotting eggs, so i tossed teh shells in case and everything is okay so far. but this morning i found what appears to be a crabs top body the other half was missing dunno wher eit came from cus my 3 hermit crabs are still there in their shells

 

[AK77]

the tank started to smell like rotting eggs, so i tossed teh shells in case and everything is okay so far. but this morning i found what appears to be a crabs top body the other half was missing dunno wher eit came from cus my 3 hermit crabs are still there in their shells

If the tank is starting to smell like rotten eggs, then you might have an ammonia spike from something decaying in the tank. I'd check your water parameters and do a water change if required. The body is probably just where one of your hermits has molted and is nothing to worry about.