desertrefugee

I guess when a newbie moves fast, he ends up with lots of questions pretty quickly. My 29g is doing great, no losses after several months - even with a "fish-in" cycle. Molly fry are now growing in a 10g and the second round of fry hatched in my 65g.

That's where the problem is. I had a couple of female (pregnant) mollies in that tank along with a handful of zebra danios to cycle it up. One of the zebras is missing and it's not on the floor and it hasn't been eaten. It was there this morning. (I counted "heads").

The tank is well-appointed with rocks, driftwood, a fake stump and quite a few plastic plants. I cannot find the casualty anywhere. So, is it so bad if a small, dead fish decomposes in a 65g tank? I'm trying to cycle it anyway. Maybe it'll even help the cause?

Just curious. I'm not panicking or anything, but I suppose it could be considered a natural part of the environment. (As long as it's not a dead 12 inch pacu).

...right?

TedsTank

Your tank will be ok. Unless the fish is wedged somewhere or stuck in the fake stump, it will either be eaten or become a floater and come to the top.

iloveengl

I lose my fish all the time. They always wander around plants and inside the sunken ship or inside the ruins, and I panic all day until I find them happily poking along later in the evening. They may be hiding because of the move.

Umm, if he is dead (RIP little fishy), it could be bad because the decomposition may cause a spike in an already cycled tank and well...it's kinda gross. If you're still cycling, it may cause some icky bacteria or just too much ammonia, so that it's going to take a lot longer to cycle or potentially harm your fish. Just my opinion, but it may be best, if he doesn't show up in a day, to check for a body inside of your decor just in case it's trapped and can't float out.

saqib

a decomposing fish (IF AT ALL DEAD-HOPE NOT!) will definitely increase the amount of ammonia in the tank...however if its cycled and set..a zebra inside a 65g shouldnt bother you too much...try finding it but if you cant..forget it!

MizRamzi

As in life so too shall he add goodness to your tank in death.

chotee

I've had this happen to me more than once (had 10 neons and now only have 2). Generally I don't go poking around in there right away as it stresses the fish out - especially if like me you have killer male dwarf gouramis and several dead fish over the span of a couple of days.

Most times they'll appear floating in the tank's current after a few days. If not then the next time you do a water change/gravel vac and you're already poking around in the tank have a look around the decorations and move them if need be.

I do water changes every sunday so at most I would risk having a dead fish in my tank for a week - haven't had any problems with levels because of this thus far. At most I had one in there 3 days.

redlessi

I just had my male guppy (macho man) totally disappear. He was there on Sunday and gone by Monday morning. I never found any traces of him. I even looked on the floor in back of the tank. That was about 2 weeks ago. Make sure you dont have a way for them to jump out of the tank.

couesfanatic

I got back from a 21 day vacation. I set up an automatic feeder and left my four fish to have fun. I came back to only having the larger two fish left. The other two danios disappeared. It's werid when fish disappear. While doing a cleaning I found a spine. I think the missing fish sometimes decompose before we can find them.

aquarist48

Hello Desert. Glad to hear things are going fairly well for you. Hopefully the fish will turn up and still be alive. If not, I don't think it will cause any harm in your tank. Keep an eye on your readings.
Best wishes!
Ken