Lost fish

[alex8111]

One of my 3-stripe damsels is missing. I cant find it in the tank and I think the fish might be dead.

What is the procedure for something like this? If the fish is dead, do I need to remove it from the tank asap? The problem is that I have a lot of rocks in the tank setup just the way I like it and I don’t know how I will ever find the fish. Do I have to remove rocks no matter what if I don’t find the fish?

If any of you have had this experience, please let me know what I should do.

Thanks a lot.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Do you have a clean up crew? Or bristle worms? Either will eat the body pretty quickly and you may never find it. As long as you've got something that's going to eat the body so it doesn't sit there and rot, it's okay to leave it in there. If you've got nothing that'll eat it you probably want to try to remove it (searching with flashlights through the rocks sometimes helps).

I've had a couple fish die that never got taken out, and a few more that were mostly eaten before removal (they get eaten within a day, and started within a few hours).

 

[Lorna]

ahhhh a missing damsel? a blessing in disguise. Sorry, they can be mean little beggars. Are you sure it didn't take the leap out and go carpet surfing? you may find a little striped chip some day where you least expect it.

If you have any hermit crabs they can dismantle a fish in a hurry.

 

[TRe]

like everyone else has already said as long as u have a CUC they will take care of it... of course you want to remove it if u have the chance but its not biggie

 

[alex8111]

After checking the tank very carefully (it took a while), I found the fish alive hiding in the smallest hiding area possible – so frustrating how they manage to go into the most impossible areas lol. It was tough but I found it. Guess now I should be concerned that the fish is stressed because now all the it does is hide in that rock. The first few days the fish seemed happy, eating normal, swimming about doing his thing, but now all he does is hide and not come out.

I asked for advice from my LFS and the guy said its normal behavior for the first week but I don’t know…the fish doesn’t seem social at all. The other damsel fish I bough is doing just fine.

Unfortunately I have no experience diagnosing a sick fish. I wouldn’t even know what kind of treatment I could offer the fish if I don’t know what the problem is.

How do you guys deal with sick fish other than doing the routing 20% water change and isolating the fish from the rest of the group?

Should I let the fish be? Or try to treat it somehow. I value all life a lot and I don’t want to see the little guy die if there is something I can do.

Thanks everybody for being so helpful.

 

[TRe]

damsels can be pretty nasty ... maybe the otheres are harrassing him

 

[shift_9k]

Checking your water would be the first step.

 

[Lorna]

I am with Tre, my guess is it is being harassed by the other damsel, especially if you only have 2. IF you are keeping damsels you are probably better off with 3 or more that way they spread the harassment out a bit.

 

[alex8111]

I am with Tre, my guess is it is being harassed by the other damsel, especially if you only have 2. IF you are keeping damsels you are probably better off with 3 or more that way they spread the harassment out a bit.

Well i have two 3-striped damsels and 1 blue damsel. So total of 3. if you're correct, the two 3-striped ones would be aggresive towards each other right? You guys think i should buy a few more of the 3-striped kind?

 

[TRe]

i wouldnt suggest buying any more damsels actually id say get them out if you have the chance.... i had one that i had to wait 2 years to catch and the only reason i was able to get him was cause i had to break down the tank to move

 

[Lorna]

ditto that.....damsels are nasty and mean and as long as they are in there you are not going to be able to add anything else