# Missing fish?



## mihaelb (Feb 11, 2009)

Yesterday, one of my platties was laying on the gravel most of the day, and barely swimming the rest of the time. I did a 25% water change in the evening to see if that would help him.

This morning, no trace of him. The tank is a 16g, with 4 1.5" loaches, one 1.5" siamese algae eater, 4 small cherry shrimp, a few snails, and 2 more 1.5" platies.

The missing platy was 1.5" in length. 

My question is could all of the above have eaten him without a trace overnight? I looked high and low, and can't find any trace of a body. 

Also, which water test should I run to check if there's a decomposing body somewhere? When should I run it?

thanks~!


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well... It very well could have been eaten and the rest of its dissapeared somewhere. Look under stuff too the next time you are in the tank. Sometimes they work their ways under rocks and stuff.

You could do an ammonia test but I really wouldnt stress too much about it. Just keep up with your weekly water changes.


----------



## Platypus (Jun 2, 2009)

*Pregnant perhaps?*

Hmm. My platys also did this, but after a week of doing it, I got platy fry! I dont know if thats the case with your platy though.


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

if it did die and eaten, those fish would not be able to eat the entire corpse without a trace. Its in there somewhere.


----------



## Al-Losaurus (Jul 21, 2009)

rofl i had a 8 inch jaguar vanish without a trace on me once.. i searched high and low for 2 hours cause he was my favorite fish of all time. Then i noticed a rock move in the basket he made it into a hole the size of a quarter beats me how but he did. I placed it into the water and tried to shake him out cause he wasn't moving and that didnt work so i left it in the water went for a smoke when i came back it was swimming around the tank like nothing happened rofl... 2 hours out of water and he lived what a warrior...


----------



## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

IMO~ all of the above could of eaten the dead fish and there woul be no trace of it. Loaches eat dead fish and their bones and so do fish that rasp like the algae eater. The snails would eat just the flesh and maybe some bone. The shrimp would just eat the flesh.


----------



## shark (Jan 28, 2009)

Al-Losaurus said:


> rofl i had a 8 inch jaguar vanish without a trace on me once.. i searched high and low for 2 hours cause he was my favorite fish of all time. Then i noticed a rock move in the basket he made it into a hole the size of a quarter beats me how but he did. I placed it into the water and tried to shake him out cause he wasn't moving and that didnt work so i left it in the water went for a smoke when i came back it was swimming around the tank like nothing happened rofl... 2 hours out of water and he lived what a warrior...


Thats a good story same thing happen to me when i had some zebra danios in my tank(before the arowana) and i came to look at my tank and they were gone. Then i saw behind the tank 2 of them jumped out and i have a lid on the tank with almost no holes.


----------



## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

it could have easily been eaten. especially with snails in the tank, and loaches depending on the type they are. it's fairly common for them to eat fallen tankmates. occasionally you'll find a scull and spine. not usually


----------



## KaraC1980 (Jul 28, 2009)

Speaking as someone whose 3 4inch Loaches have eaten 10 neons in 2 days (this was before i got a clue that I had the meanest loaches to ever be sold in a pet store), Odds are your platty has been eaten.


----------



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

Some fish, like my Khuli Loaches, can go six months to a year without me finding them. But they're alive and fine. Khulis like darkness, and like to burrow. So it's no wonder that I rarely see mine. But when I do, it's like a solar eclipse. And that is why they call me KhuliLoachFan.

Also, I can't spell KUHLI Loach. 



W


----------



## MichaelAngelo (Jul 6, 2009)

I've had ghost shrimp and mollies disappear on me =P

Checked outside around the tank (within flopping range hahah), inside the filter, around the gravel, inside my java moss... no sign.

Buddy told me he have have been mashed up into bits by the filter impeller... just a thought. =)


----------

