The case of the missing fish...

[Nokternl]

Ok so... I'm not really sure what's gone on here, but I have a missing fish. One of the 2 females I got from Yatzy. I had separated them into 2 breeding/isolation boxes in my main tank while they are growing, to stop the 2 adult female bettas and angel fish from potentially snacking on them, though I think this was unlikely. There are already Neon tetras in this tank and the new bettas are bigger than the tetras, and the tetras aren't being eaten or even chased. The female in question is the sickly one, still has some buoyancy issues, though it has slowly been getting better.

Picture of the side of the tank she was in, with isolation box (though this was when both Females were in there, I took the middle divider out and the bottom mesh to make it a full, bigger isolation unit) is below -

The isolation box was sitting about 1cm higher than the top water level in the tank, and from what I have seen, the two girls haven't been shooting around erratically so I assumed the chances of either jumping out of isolation was remote.

Having said that, when I went to check/feed them today, sick female was nowhere to be seen (after having been happily there and eating yesterday). My first thought was "Oh, the naughty girl has jumped out and is free swimming around!"

A quick inspection of the tank seemed to reject this idea, as a pure white betta shouldn't be too hard to find. Without moving shipwreck parts around, but having had a very good look in all the nooks and crannys I can twist around to, I cannot find her ANYWHERE.

Next, I looked around the floor, although the likelihood of her jumping all the way out is VERY remote, as there's a lid on most of the time, and I think I would've noticed if she'd done a runner during feeding time!

So... I started looking for a corpse, thinking that the adult bettas and angel fish may have got her since she wasn't at the top of her game swimming wise... although I think she's too big for them to have a go at (bigger than the neon tetras in the tank!)... So I can't find a corpse, part of a corpse, or anything.

I did notice a weird thing... Vader, my lovely black Angel fish, was laying *sideways* on the top of the small 2nd filter I have in the tank, right near the top of the waterline. The first things I thought were "omg don't you be dead I love you!" and then got my fish net and gave him the smallest prod and he shot off and went about his business as if nothing had happened (it's now 7 hours later and he seems to be happily swimming around as normal)... So I had a look where he was laying, and right behind the filter between the 2 suction caps and the tank glass was the smallest (maybe 2-3mm) little white "tuft" of ... something. It looked a bit like fluff, and it was sort of wedged there near the top of the filter. Having returned home it is no longer there... I am just wondering if that may have been a last little straggly remains of my poor little sick betta girl that had managed to float its way into that tight gap, and Vader had been trying in vain to sideways crawl his way between the water level and the top of the filter to get to it?!?!

It all seems very fishy to me (hah... sigh, it's late ok?)

SO, Help! Do I pull all my shipwreck parts up one at a time and see if she really is hiding around there somewhere? Write her off as gone to fishy stomach heaven and call it a miracle if she appears again? Any other ideas?

I'm very confused, and will be quite sad if she has been eaten, even though she was SBDing, I don't like the idea of my other fish eating her

Am I overlooking something stupid here that could be a factor? Anything else I should check?

Thanks! (RIP SWF#2 if you are gone!)

[Neffy]

Could she have wedged her self behind the filter and drowned, maybe the white that you saw was a corpse? with other bettas and angels they would make quick work of it :(

[Nokternl]

Ok. I feel stupid, and I am some some sort of shock I think. Last night I moved the sick boy into the isolation tank after my exhaustive search for the girl, thinking there was no hope.

Somehow, I cannot say how, this morning I look in the tank to see if everyone is there OK... and the boy is there at the top of the isolation tank, with THE SICK GIRL barely 1cm from him, both just resting there...

I'm on my own in the house at the moment, and I seriously what the?'d out loud. I went to the point of unsuckering that entire isolation box last night in my search for sick girl, and she *was not anywhere there*.

Yet somehow she is there and OK today, as if to be saying "What's your problem" to me now.

I'm sort of freaking out a bit. I mean. It's great she's ok, but ... whoa.

Disclaimer: I had come home from work last night, not a drop of alcohol. I didn't imagine this, lol.

So I suppose my entire topic has sort of come to a 'miracle' conclusion. odd.

J

[Neffy]

haha well im glad she is ok !

[melbournebetta]

I've had big goldfish disappear into thin water for WEEKS, after the full service, gun shots, the wake and lots of flowers..... there was spoon, happily darting around the tank.

Buggers.

Glad to hear she's okay.