the case of the missing rasbora...

I love these fish! They are my latest additions and when their colors come out, they really shine. Plus being active and friendly makes them a must-have. I did notice a couple days ago that one-of-mine's top fin seemed different. It looked like the pigment was just missing from most of it (ghostly white). Now this did NOT look like fin rot, or ich. There were no signs of any issues beyond that. So I thought I would just keep an eye on it and hopefully nothing changes. The next day I noticed he wasn't always with his group and tending to stay near the bottom and behind the filter more. He still swam around with the crew and ate normally but you could tell something was off. When he swam he swam fine. I saw no signs of swim bladder issues. I would have loved to take a picture but, well, I can't now.

The next morning, out of nowhere, I just couldn't find him! I even pulled out my filter and checked behind plants...made quite a mess looking for a body. This was this morning. I tested the water and everything was the same: 0 ammonia and no nitrate change, let alone a spike. I still have yet to find a body.

My other ones are fine, or so it seems. I don't know what happened. It's sad that he died, but extremely odd that I can't find a body. I'm assumming it's dead, but I find it strange that without removing it that it didn't effect the water at all. There is also no smell. Maybe my beneficial bacteria is just that good! My other idea is that my small colony of red cherry shrimp ate it. I just don't know how ravenous they would get with something like that. Would they eat a fish to the bone? Would they even eat the bones? I can't come up with much beyond these suggestions.

 

Check outside of the tank like around the back. He may have jumped. Also check the filter very thoroughly because they are very small fish. And yes RCS could eat a small fish like that in a day or less if there is enough of them. My yellow shrimp will eat other dead YS in a day or so.

 

like Daac said do check behind the tank, I once lost a clown loach never to be found, the body was recovered months later while rehoming the tank. It was there all the time just out of sight. RIP

 

lol, poor fish. the cover barely has room for a RCS to squeeze out of. the filter is an underwater fluval u-2 (great by the way) and it's only intakes are secured by a sponge and a filter bag and nothing is there.
I'm going to go with the shrimp...cause of death though, still unknown

 

Interesting... well good luck with finding out since I have no idea haha.... maybe test the water again and see if all is well