SOUND OFF: Losing Coral and Fish...NOT DYING just losing!

[revhtree]

This thread today inspired this next "sound off" discussion! One of our members, @Zeal recently lost his OG Bounce Mushroom in his tank somewhere and it got me thinking and I wanted to hear your thoughts.

At what lengths do you go to, to find coral frags or fish that seem to be lost in the tank somewhere?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

For something that I paid a great amount of money for, such as a bounce mushroom, I would be tearing my tank apart and looking under every rock and in every crevice with a flashlight!

For that free frag of zoas that I already had a small group of that you usually get at the LFS after buying 2 or 3 other frags... My pistol shrimp can keep those, since he is the one who probably stole them. Maybe they will grow up the side of a rock at the base near his burrow and look neat later

 

[andrewkw]

As tempting as it is, if a frag falls in the rock work I will probably ignore it and just let it die. In the past I have tore down the rock work, made a big mess and still ended up damaging the missing coral, or worse destroy 2 pieces to save one. The best thing to do is to securely glue a frag, of course this doesn't really work for a mushroom.

*If I did spend hundreds on a bounce and I lost it, I probably would tear things down to find it, but for the "average" frag no.

Fish are not going to get lost, they will find their way out unless they are trapped in the overflow. Or they are dead. I once had a yasha goby hide for 6+ months but he was likely just confined to a cave on the side of the tank I could not see, but he did eventually move to a spot where I saw him everyday.

 

[4FordFamily]

For fish, searching for them often does more damage than good.

 

[KMench]

Depends on the price of the frag!

 

[sde1500]

I simply find where my urchin is, and rescue the frag off its back, because thats where it ALWAYS is.

 

[Musovski]

I look for it but dont put my hands in the tank. I look for it visually is what im saying. If its a dead fish, i let the CuC have a nice meal. If its a coral that i cannot find, I let it be as it will grow somewhere in the tank.

 

[ScooterV]

I didn't want any zoas in my tank. I got some sent to me by accident, so decided to put them on a little rock island. Dang pistol shrimp ran off with it before I glued anything. I'm more worried about if they will spread from wherever it ended up than saving the frag

 

[scott11106]

if it is a fish i dont bother looking for it but a frag i will look a bit but it is usually my urchin and i will find it attached to his back...easy find

 

[lilfish717]

I actually realised I'm missing a baby mushroom that came with a mushroom I bought a few weeks ago. It disappeared, I look for it visually a couple times a day. Hoping the last hermit crab I had in there didn't take it on the last coral hunt he had in my dt before removed to another tank.

 

[d2mini]

I'll usually go days (at least) before I notice a fish is missing. Once I do, and I realize I can't remember the last time I saw it, I shrug my shoulders. C'est la vie! lol
I don't recall the last time I actually found a dead fish. They usually get consumed by the tank before that ever happens.

 

[FishyDP]

I lost a really nice rock flower anemone several months ago..put it in the tank and 3 days later I could find it anywhere! I contemplated tearing down the rockscape to find it but figured I may do more damage than it was worth..I did end up tearing down that tank for an upgrade hoping that I would find it, no luck.

 

[Rick.45cal]

I do nothing. If it isnt visible and within reach it’s forced to fend for itself. For the record, I’ve lost all my frags! (They’ve all turned into colonies )

 

[Zeal]

Oh no I’m featured in this thread!

I’m still hopping the bounce mushroom appears... sadly all my coral is glued but these mushrooms have a mind of their own

Edit: when I was taking the main rock structure out 4 colts broke off it so... yeah I’m not gonna bother taking out the other rock out of fear of breaking more things

 

[revhtree]

You still didn't find it huh?

 

[BigRedReefer MT]

I lost three mushrooms that came in August of last year. Moved around a few rocks, didn't find them and figured they were lost forever. I found two of them during my tank move in January this year. I placed them back on the branch they arrived on, rubber banded them, and moved the branch to a darker cave with little flow. February came and they went walk about again.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I HAVE HIGH HOPES OF REAPPERANCE. The most heart-wrenching is placing a frag into a tighter place so it does not fall over and to watch it fall into a 20" deep hole and knowing there is so much rock in the way that you can never retrieve it without dismantling a whole section of the tank

 

[Mariette]

All fish that have disappeared have been located in my pistol shrimp’s cave. Dead. He’s a great member of my CUC but I only let him keep his snack for 1 night for fear of decay and pollution.

 

[MombasaLionfish]

I lost a domino damsel about two months ago there aren't really any places to hide so I think my decorator ate it.