When to declare a fish dead?

[_cpate3_]

I have a watchman goby that I’ve had for a few months now and a few days ago it went missing. Saw many snails near its den. And haven’t seen it in about 4 days now. When would it be considered passed on? Because if I get my pistol shrimp a new watchman and the other is still alive then that would not be good

 

[Cthulukelele]

I have a watchman goby that I’ve had for a few months now and a few days ago it went missing. Saw many snails near its den. And haven’t seen it in about 4 days now. When would it be considered passed on? Because if I get my pistol shrimp a new watchman and the other is still alive then that would not be good

Watchman gobies can disappear for months on end while still alive. I didn't see mine for maybe 5-6 months once

 

[randomfishdude]

Goby do go missing alot.
If you saw snails its probobly safe to assume it's dead.

 

[Tired]

When you find its body, it's dead. For shrimpgobies, I wouldn't assume death without that.

 

[Abarge16]

My watchman goby has dissappeared for months at a time on 3 occasions now.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Watchmen gobies are:
A) possibly THE hardiest fish we keep in the hobby
B) cave dwelling
C) capable of not eating in a sort of trapped underground semi-hibernative state for a time that seems impossible

I'm on team "no body, no death" for these fish. Unless they jump or you had a rock crushing event, I bet it's still kicking. They also make their way into overflows and sumps regularly while still alive.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I have a watchman goby that I’ve had for a few months now and a few days ago it went missing. Saw many snails near its den. And haven’t seen it in about 4 days now. When would it be considered passed on? Because if I get my pistol shrimp a new watchman and the other is still alive then that would not be good

I had one go missing for so long that I actually forgot he might be in the tank...when I saw him 8-9 months later, I was really surprised! Fwiw, I had 1 pistol shrimp with 2 ywm gobies and they all lived happily together. So if you want a shrimp/goby pair, go ahead and add them... Maybe the missing goby will reappear :)

 

[_cpate3_]

Thank you all for help. The tank is fairly small and I know where all their den holes are which is why I assumed death. But hibernation state makes sense. There were no signs of anything wrong the day before it went missing so I’m going to hold out for a while and hope he’ll come back! Last time I went searching for a body I hurt one of my clowns and killed a fire shrimp (my first month in the hobby) so I will not do that again.

 

[krollins]

I assumed mine was dead after not seeing it 5 months but now I am not sure.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I assumed mine was dead after not seeing it 5 months but now I am not sure.

He might surprise you one day :)

 

[_cpate3_]

He did surprise me, 1 week later I see him sticking his head out of the cave gills moving and wiggling inside the hole! Must’ve been stuck or caved in or something?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

He did surprise me, 1 week later I see him sticking his head out of the cave gills moving and wiggling inside the hole! Must’ve been stuck or caved in or something?

Neither stuck nor a cave-in. They just do that :)

 

[i cant think]

I have a watchman goby that I’ve had for a few months now and a few days ago it went missing. Saw many snails near its den. And haven’t seen it in about 4 days now. When would it be considered passed on? Because if I get my pistol shrimp a new watchman and the other is still alive then that would not be good

Honestly, when it comes to gobies I don’t declare them dead until it’s been a good 6-8 months if not a year of not seeing them. Most of the time I find the dead bodies but if there’s no dead body or sign of them living then I declare them dead.

I have one goby (Griessingeri) that is said to live 1-2 years and yet mine is on his 4th year… I can go months without seeing him then all of a sudden just as I think he’s gone someone will see him doing his thing at night. At one point it was 6 months and no sign of him, then he just appeared. This was about a year ago now.