Missing Goldfish!

[Meatloaf]

I used to have 4 goldfish. Now I have 3.

He has been missing for 2 days. I have moved every decoration, took apart my filter, scoured the surrounding area for a jumper (even though I have a glass top), emptied out and looked behind the tank stand, but to no avail. Any other places I should check? I know he's probably long dead by now :scry:

[gm72]

Dead likely and consumed. What size tank is this?

[VoidParadigm]

What size tank is it?
Chances are he died off, then everyone else ate him before you noticed the death.
A meal is a meal to fish.

[Meatloaf]

It's an extremely understocked 125 gallon, 4 goldfish ranging from 3" to 4", with one juvenile pleco. They're fed small amounts 3 times a day and I've never seen them nip at each other. The fish in question is far to large to fit in any of their mouths and he had no signs of sickness previously.

[VoidParadigm]

Doesn't matter if it's too big to fit in their mouths.
If it died for some reason, chances are the goldfish and pleco could have easily finished off the body in a short enough time that you now can't find it. Most omnivores I'm aware of actually rip pieces out of their food, not swallow them whole.

[Meatloaf]

Fair enough. Thanks for the help!

[Meatloaf]

I can not believe it!

I did some thorough cleaning of the tank today, and didn't notice any different. I came back later this evening, and noticed another goldfish swimming in my tank! He didn't get eaten after all! He is in really rough shape though, starved, bad septicemia and some lost scales, but my hospital tank is almost finished its cycle, so I really hope he pulls through.

Some how, he survived being trapped somewhere that I still haven't figured out, for two weeks.

[FishGirl-Seattle]

Wow - keep us posted. That is one tough goldfish, I sure hope he makes it.

[rich311k]

Tough little guy, I hope he recovers, you may want to do some extra water changes to help him along.

[Lady Hobbs]

And get rid of any decorations he may have gotten trapped in.

[gm72]

And get rid of any decorations he may have gotten trapped in.

Completely agreed. I know that Lady Hobbs herself has had a bad history of problems with decorations that are man-made. Get rid of whatever caused the problem.

[Meatloaf]

He's eating and swimming around well, the blood streaks in his tail have diminished some too. I'll be doing water changes every few days until the hospital tank is ready. The decorations are out now except for the pleco cave, but that's gone once the driftwood is ready. I've added some stress coat, hopefully that speeds up the recovery too!

[FishGirl-Seattle]

It's great to hear he is doing better. My fingers are crossed for the little guy!

[~Col~]

Wow, that's great news that you found him! I hope he recovers fully!