Who has the longest missing fish record?

Navyblue · #1 02/14/2007, 09:36 AM

In my old 33G, I didn't see my Tangaroa shrimp goby for a couple of months, I thought he was dead, then one fine day he appeared.

Now in my 120G, he is missing again after I added a batch of fishes, so I'm looking for some consolation here.

So now, what is the longest period of time that you didn't see a fish, and the one day it appeared?

Blazer88 · #2 02/14/2007, 09:38 AM

I had a clown that jumped into my overflow and I didn't notice, I thought he jumped and my cat got him or something. He ended up living there for seven months before I saw him again when I was cleaning the overflow out, he just happened to be near the surface when I saw a flash of orange/white. He was perfectly healthy and was accepting pelllet food when I dropped it in there, lol. I got him out and gave him away since I had already replaced him with a new pair. Fish can be really hardy!

chelskisw6 · #3 02/14/2007, 09:44 AM

not a fish, but i lost a pom pom crab and didnt see him for a few months, i just noticed him yesterday, and it had eggs??? how the hell does this happen with only one pom pom?

Navyblue · #4 02/14/2007, 10:09 AM

Blazer88,

7 months? I say you got a pretty good chance winning this record.

Btw, fellow Canon shooter here.

You got some great pictures there in your galleries.

chelskisw6,

May be some hitchhiker crab did it?

FishyBusinessKG · #5 02/14/2007, 10:09 AM

Human females produce eggs once a month too but nothing comes of them unless they become fertile.

rustybucket145 · #6 02/14/2007, 11:26 AM

Does a fish just appearing one day in your tank count as a fish missing? My mom hadn't added anything to her 55gal setup for around 6 months and one day a small goby-like fish just appeared. She has no idea how it was introduced. Had to have been brought in on a coral or shell.

Navyblue · #7 02/14/2007, 11:38 AM

Rustybucket,

Since technically you can't find what you didn't lose, and you can't lose what you don't own, I guess it counts as missing.

Sepeku · #8 02/14/2007, 02:55 PM

For about 2 months in my 250gal, the only fish (and the first inhabitant) in the tank was a tiny Rainsford Goby. Shortly after introduction the tank went cloudy due to water problems and we were sure to see him in there somewhere sometime, deceased.
Everything was awful, high nitrite, high ammonia... you could only see in about an inch into the fog.
I could not find him. I thought for sure he was dead. I sent him to his doom, it was horrible.

Then once the water started clearing on its own and I was about to start sifting through the rocks(again), there he was checking us out after having turned half the tank into various holes and refuges for him to hide.

Little fellow made a tunnel network of the rock work.

AZDesertRat · #9 02/14/2007, 05:17 PM

I have a yellow watchman goby that has been in my internal overflow for almost 3 years. I noticed he was gone and though he had ben eaten until one day a few weeks later it showed up in my sump. I put it back in the display tank and within minuts he jumped back into the overflow and has been there ever since. Once a year I remove the canopy for a good reflector cleaning and new bulbs and I climb up on a ladder and peek in and he is still swimming away so I just leave him alone.

Amphiprion · #10 02/14/2007, 05:21 PM

A customer of mine placed a comet/marine betta/Calloplesiops altivelis in their tank and it was missing for a little over a year. They only found it after they tore their tank down to move it.

sds · #11 02/14/2007, 05:24 PM

I have a yellow watchman and a pistol shrimp i added about a month ago? They have been mia for about 3 weeks

addicted_2_reef · #12 02/14/2007, 05:41 PM

got a firefish that has been living in my overflow for about 3 months now... I've pulled him out 3 times and he just ends up there a day later...so he lives there now.

saj01c · #13 02/14/2007, 05:46 PM

I put a pair of yellow eel gobys in my tank and I thought they had died. I broke down my tank to go bare bottom 4 years later and I found that one was still there and one inch bigger. I put it back in and have seen it two time so far.

Kmiec123 · #14 02/14/2007, 06:40 PM

Lettuce nudibranch lost for two months and found in sump.

also, another good contestant is a horseshoe crab. Dropped in the tank, immediately Barried itself, didn't see it for three months and all the sudden there he was.

RedEyeElf · #15 02/14/2007, 07:00 PM

Snowflake eel

swam down the drain pipe (long drain pipe, like 40 feet) and into the sump, thank goodness, there were no bioballs

Navyblue · #16 02/15/2007, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Amphiprion
A customer of mine placed a comet/marine betta/Calloplesiops altivelis in their tank and it was missing for a little over a year. They only found it after they tore their tank down to move it.

You are the winner at the moment, though the fish isn't exactly yours.

Tang Salad · #17 02/15/2007, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by saj01c
I put a pair of yellow eel gobys in my tank and I thought they had died. I broke down my tank to go bare bottom 4 years later and I found that one was still there and one inch bigger. I put it back in and have seen it two time so far.

Great story!

Makes you wonder what ot was doing for those four years

The Reefer91 · #18 02/15/2007, 10:42 AM

i think Blazer is the winner with the clown in his overflow, as it is HIS fish.

dc · #19 02/15/2007, 10:50 AM

I think Watchman Gobies are famous for disappearing. I've gone months without seeing mine. Just when you count them out, they show up.

amphirion · #20 02/15/2007, 11:01 AM

Well I had a lawnmower blenny that came with my liverock. It stayed 20 minutes out of water and it suddently appeared in my tank when I putted the rock in the water. I was so surprised! A free fish!

Amphiprion · #21 02/15/2007, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Navyblue
You are the winner at the moment, though the fish isn't exactly yours.

Nope, just throwing a wild (but true) story out there. I honestly couldn't believe it when I heard it.

Navyblue · #22 02/15/2007, 12:49 PM

Great guys, keep the stories coming.

Ok, Blazer88 is the winner for fish owner category, and Amphiprion for the fish story category.

I got a feeling that my shrimp goby is alive somewhere, probably in the refugium. I realised that my overflow box grate that keep the fish out is actually large enough for quite a few fishes I have. But then he never venture beyond 3" above sand. I had him for more than a year and he survived lots of tribulation and he can't just die like that without a good reason.

But then who knows, my ocelarris clown that I had for 3 years that had been through a lot more than him died the first day he moved to my new tank (other fishes were fine), for reason that I still have yet to figure out.

My hood is mostly but not totally covered, but I can't find him on the floor either, and no dry pets in my home.

Amphiprion · #23 02/15/2007, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by saj01c
I put a pair of yellow eel gobys in my tank and I thought they had died. I broke down my tank to go bare bottom 4 years later and I found that one was still there and one inch bigger. I put it back in and have seen it two time so far.

What about this one from above? 4 years would take the cake

jacmyoung · #24 02/15/2007, 02:59 PM

First off great thread for a good story everyone can tell. Secondly we must stress the word "missing". If your fish is already found then it is no longer missing, whether it is living in the overflow or sump or tank doesn't matter.

I had one neon goby and one green chromis missing almost at the same time, only to found them both in my overflow two months later. They were probably bullied by their larger counterparts and escaped to the overflow. Could not get them out with fish trap or net.

A month later I was dong some maintenance and flooded my overflow box for a few minutes intentionally, a day later I saw my missing neon goby dancing with the larger one, and they have been together ever since.

As for my green chromis, it did not show up in my tank, a week later I checked up on it he was dead in the overflow box with only fish bone remains stuck on my drain screen.

At least I had a partial happy ending.

jbittner · #25 02/15/2007, 03:21 PM

I had just setup my tank (9 yrs ago) and one of the first fish i added was a false clown fish. He was in there for about a week and disappered. I thought is was just a newbie loss and moved on. 10 months later I decided I should add a protien skimmer to my setup. I was woring in my sump (a 15 gal green rubbermaid container under my stand) and I felt something brush up against my hand. I thought nothing of it and went back to work. The next time I put my hannd in he bit me (scared the **** out of me). I spent the next hour trying to net the clown out of my sump. He has now been with me the entire nine yrs.

This is a bad pic but here he is a few moths ago.