Can 3 neon tetras eat 1 neon tetra in 1 day ?

I have 4 neon tetras in my quarantine tank. Yesterday I fed the four of them. And then there were three... today.

I can’t find him anywhere so the only possibility is that he was eaten by his tank mates. I never thought such little fishes could eat so much...

What do you think ?

 

It is not impossible. Do they appear full or bloated?
I would not say this is the "only possibility." He could be stuck in a really weird spot in/under decorations/plants, or could have been stuck to the filter intake in a place you can't easily see, or could have had his pieces sucked up by the filter intake, or could have jumped out of the tank.

 

Check around the tank, like feet away, under things, etc. check inside the filter. Lift all the decorations and check underneath. They could’ve eaten him, sure. If you really can’t find him just monitor for a spike in ammonia and do water changes / prime as needed.

 

I always seem to have jumpers like that.

 

I have 4 neon tetras in my quarantine tank. Yesterday I fed the four of them. And then there were three... today.

I can’t find him anywhere so the only possibility is that he was eaten by his tank mates. I never thought such little fishes could eat so much...

What do you think ?

He could have been sucked into the filter, around decorations, jumped, the tetras probably didn't eat their tank mate all in one day. When my GBR died, no one even pecked at him for the many hours he was dead, even my angels and rainbow shark, so chances are that neon is still in there.

 

Do they appear full or bloated?
I would not say this is the "only possibility." He could be stuck in a really weird spot in/under decorations/plants, or could have been stuck to the filter intake in a place you can't easily see, or could have had his pieces sucked up by the filter intake, or could have jumped out of the tank.

I haven’t looked if they were bloated. I will tomorrow morning.

The tank is only 5 gallons, the intake is visible and the fish is not on it.

I’ve used a turkey baster to stir the two plants and there are no decorations.

The tank is on my counter and I’ve looked everywhere. Unless it fell on the floor and one of my (small) dogs ate it without me knowing it. I would be really surprised but it’s not impossible.

Check around the tank, like feet away, under things, etc. check inside the filter. Lift all the decorations and check underneath. They could’ve eaten him, sure. If you really can’t find him just monitor for a spike in ammonia and do water changes / prime as needed.

Good idea, I will do an ammonia test tomorrow.

I always seem to have jumpers like that.

Yeah, it sucks !

He could have been sucked into the filter, around decorations, jumped, the tetras probably didn't eat their tank mate all in one day. When my GBR died, no one even pecked at him for the many hours he was dead, even my angels and rainbow shark, so chances are that neon is still in there.

I know, I’ve had fish disappear, but most of the time I found part of the remains. And they were in a community tank, with lots of fishes.

 

He could have been sucked into the filter, around decorations, jumped, the tetras probably didn't eat their tank mate all in one day. When my GBR died, no one even pecked at him for the many hours he was dead, even my angels and rainbow shark, so chances are that neon is still in there.

All fish are different, my harlequin rasbora was assumed eaten and it only took my tank 12 hours or less to do the deed. Had 3 honey gourami and a few bronze corys.... and a missing fish! Searched for an hour, never found it!

 

Update : I did an ammonia test and there was none. I never found the body of the fish, even when doing WC.

My theory is the fish jumped out of the tank, fell on the counter, wiggled and fell to the floor, where my dog saw it and ate it before I even knew it had disappeared.

I see no other possible explanation.