2 Neon Gobies Just Disappeared...

[bkreitler]

So, my 310 gallon mixed reef tank has been up and running for about 16 months. Quite a number of fish and they are all doing great. Haven't really lost any fish during this whole process. Have a secure canopy on top of the tank and no way for wish to escape. Have a fish room behind the tank with a large sump, refugium, UV, protein skimmer, algae scrubber, etc. I have had 2 neon gobies for about 8+ months. They have always done great and were about 1.5" long a couple of weeks ago. About 1.5 ~ 2.0 weeks ago, one neon went missing. I didn't see him in the tank for a day or so, then the next day, the 2nd neon vanished. I haven't moved anything in the tank, didn't change anything and didn't anything new to the tank. Been close to 2 weeks and I haven't seen either one... What could have happened. All parameters are fine and no changes in any of the levels (ph, temp, salanity, etc). There is a lot of rock in the tank, lots of caves, etc and a fairly deep sand bed. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Possibilities:
-Good hiders
-Known jumpers
-Often they swim into overflow and end up in sump

 

[minus9]

They could be protecting their nest? My guess is you have an actual mated pair, otherwise they wouldn’t tolerate each other. What other fish do you have?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

do you have a serpent star? Mine ate my neon gobies and a clown goby, took me a little while to figure it out. Those little fish sleep in the holes in the rocks and they get caught at night

EDIT:: mine were only half-inch, I notice yours are larger so maybe not

 

[Onewolf]

Do you have any Hawkfish?

About 3 weeks after getting my Arc Eye Hawkfish I noticed my Hermit crab population had dropped from 18-20 to 2-3.

Edit to add: As much as I would like to get a 1 or 2 Barnacle Blennies, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't last more than a day or 2 with the Hawkfish.