Diamond Goby

[dR3ws3r]

Hi,

My Diamond Goby is MIA for over 5 days now. He has been in the tank for about 3-4 months, and was a pretty social guy. Typically would not see him in the morning, but in the afternoons and evenings he would be out and about. He is pretty large, about 3-4 inches, so not easy to miss.

He likes to burrow under the flat base live rock, and has 2-3 typical spots. I do have a pistol shrimp, but they never really seem to have bonded. I can see my pistol shrimp ... and know where he is.

I have a very secure cover, with only holes in it for feeding. I have removed the cover during weekly maintenance, and I guess he could have taken that brief opportunity to jump. I checked the overflow (which is covered). I checked on the floor around the tank, but seeing behind the tank is difficult. Not in the sump either, though I have a reefmat, so the chances of him getting through that tubing seems small if he was to get in the overflow, which is very highly unlikely. Moving the tank further away from the wall is impossible as it is 150 gallons.

I have moved some of the smaller live rock to see if he was there, but he wasn't. I really don't want to move the large pieces of live rock, but at this point am wondering if that is a must. I know they are infamous hiders, but he has been settled in the tank for a bit and this is unusual behavior.

The other fish in the tank are two clowns, a hippo tang, and a royal gramma. Skunk and peppermint shrimp and snails.

 

[Tahoe61]

Is it an AIO system, could the fish be in the back compartments?
Did you search around the entire base of the stand throughly? Fish can jump out while feeding. I have it happen a couple times.

 

[dR3ws3r]

Is it an AIO system, could the fish be in the back compartments?
Did you search around the entire base of the stand throughly? Fish can jump out while feeding. I have it happen a couple times.

It is not an AIO, it has a full sump with internal overflow. The overflow has a lid, and the goby is too large to fit through a slit. I have looked in the sump, and do not see him there. I have looked everywhere around the tank although the back is tight. I have looked with a flashlight back there.

My fear is he had a mining accident. I have a several structures that I have made with superglue, and they have some Marco flat bases. He has tunneled under the bases along with the Pistol shrimp. I really felt like they were sitting on the glass, but it seems like there is some room for them to get under them. I think it is inevitable that I have to look under a few of them to see if I can find him or his remains. I don't want to disturb all the sand in the bed and then getting them back on the glass will be almost impossible.

Not a great photo, but that is the base Marco rock and on the right side is where the pistol shrimp burrows under the rock.