Missing silver hatchet?

To start off, I have a 10 gallon tank that contains 2 hatchetfish (1 now that I can't find the other), 4 neon tetras, and two otos. My fish tank does have a hood on it and I feed them once a day, every day. Today, when I woke up, I noticed that my favorite fish was missing, I named him George, who was the smaller of my two silver hatchetfish. I searched for him for about 10 minutes before I was on the verge of beig late for school.

I prayed that I was just going insane. When I came home, I looked all thoughout the tank, behind my dresser (in case he leaped out of the small holes for the heater and filter), and I even cleaned out my filter. I moved everything around in my tank, looked though all of the supplies in case of a stupid mistake, looked through all of my drawers, and when an hour passed, I came to the conclusion that the other hatchet fish had eaten him.

But is this possible? The fish eat regularly, at the same time every day, and there are no remains of the fish that I have lost. Could the other silver hatchet have eaten the whole other fish?

Any suggestions on where else to look, what to do, or anything else would be very appriciated.

 

Do you have any cats or dogs, or even pet rodents that get to free-roam? Could be that it jumped, and some one ate it...

Could also be that he's found himself a really good hiding place will show up at some point.

 

I do have two dogs, but they are very small and probably could never make it that high, because my tank is at eye level and there is nothig nearby that they could climb up.

I hope he shows up

And thanks.

 

I also tend to "loose" my fish, sadly sometimes they turn up dead, but others, it is the case that they just found a good hiding place. It is possible that if he died, All of your other fish would eat him due to the fact that they are trying to preserve their home and by eating him, he can't decompose. I would sneak up to your tank every hour or so and see if you can see him out. Good Luck!

 

The way you put it does make sense. Thank you.

 

Hatchets are notorious jumpers and he probably got startled and by chance hit the holes in your hood jumped out. Hatchets will startle easily and care should be taken when you turn off and on lighting as not to make a huge change in lighting volume...In other words turn on room lights a while before turning on the aquarium light and leave the room lights on a while after turning the aquarium light off. Hatchets will also be uncomfortable when kept in a small group.

They are great fish and I hope he turns up soon.

 

Hello, I just want to give you an update on the situation. Sadly, I did find my fish. I am not sure what happened exactly, but 3 months ago I was cleaning my room and found him under my dresser (where my fish tank is).

Thank you all for your help and replies. I just wish I wasn't too late in finding him.

 

I do have two dogs, but they are very small and probably could never make it that high, because my tank is at eye level and there is nothig nearby that they could climb up.

I hope he shows up

And thanks.

You misunderstood - the idea was that the fish left the tank, not the dogs leaving the floor



Opps, dead thread. I've found fish dried up on the floor when moving. It happens.

 

Aww sorry for the loss of your fishy.

 

I'm sorry. My bamboo shrimp crawled out, I found him behind the tank a few days later. It's so disappointing to see them like that.

 

Do you have something to keep the hatchetfish from jumping out, if you did not, it might of jumped out and died.

 

Do you have something to keep the hatchetfish from jumping out, if you did not, it might of jumped out and died.

I did have a hood on it. I think he might have jumped out while I was cleaning it and getting more water? I dunno.