Got a new wrasse from my AIO compartment return chamber!

swilliams2207 · Mar 27, 2023

This is wild. I lost my six line wrasse at least 1 month ago (last confirmed picture was Jan 31). He was one of my favorite fish because he zoomed around the tank and swam in and out of the rockwork constantly. Needless to say a fun fish to watch and a great tank citizen.

Anyway, he went missing a month ago and I presumed him dead. I was very close to replacing him but didn’t get around to it. Was working in my return chamber this afternoon and saw two eyes looking back at me. My jaw nearly fell to the floor because he’s been gone for so long. After some rearranging of equipment I was able to get him out and back into the tank.

I’m astonished he survived for so long without food? He actually looks really good and is back to swimming around the tank. No sign of hunger or distress. He looks nice and plump.

My tank is a custom 70 gallon and the AIO chamber is fairly large. The funny thing is I’ve shined a flashlight in my AIO many times prior to check for cleanliness etc. It was by complete chance I saw him because he’s fairly small and blends in well.

If you’re ever missing a fish overnight that otherwise seemed perfectly healthy… check your overflows or AIOs.

C4ctus99 · Mar 27, 2023

They need a face palm emoji

saltnut · Mar 27, 2023

A month! Wow. So glad you found him.
Hadn't seen my fire-fish in days. I kept checking the back chambers using a flashlight. Eventually I saw him. He was hiding under the return pump. I guess the little rubber feet gave him enough to fit there.

swilliams2207 · Mar 27, 2023

saltnut said:
A month! Wow. So glad you found him.
Hadn't seen my fire-fish in days. I kept checking the back chambers using a flashlight. Eventually I saw him. He was hiding under the return pump. I guess the little rubber feet gave him enough to fit there.

I didn’t even think to check so diligently because the overflow slots are so small and he’s such a strong swimmer. Must have been exploring and got through my floss setup.. who knows. Not even exaggerating on the month part. Feels like I got a new fish.

John Bolden · Mar 27, 2023

My clown did this once... My sixline disappeared never found the body.... ill do a little looking

Lost in the Sauce · Mar 27, 2023

Glad you found it. I had a flasher wrasse make it into the sump somehow. No reason to think it was without food. Good normally makes its way into the overflow as well as pods which sixlines love.

GatorGreg · Mar 27, 2023

In my opinion. The six line wrasse is one of the most beautiful fish we can keep in our tanks.

swilliams2207 · Mar 27, 2023

John Bolden said:
My clown did this once... My sixline disappeared never found the body.... ill do a little looking

I had a clown do this in my 10g nano. Was only missing for 2 days before I found him though.

swilliams2207 · Mar 27, 2023

GatorGreg said:
In my opinion. The six line wrasse is one of the most beautiful fish we can keep in our tanks.

Very underrated I agree. They have so much color and detail if you look closely.

Daniel@R2R · Mar 29, 2023

Glad you found him!!

bigbugoutfitters · Mar 29, 2023

Not a fish, but i had a leopard gecko as a kid and one November it escaped into the kitchen cabinets. Looked for a while and gave up the search after a couple days. My brother found it fat and alive under the fireplace the following may. Critters are resilient, if there is food to be found they will survive. Ive got a 16 gallon biocube and haven’t seen my sixline for over a month. I think i might know where it is now…

Dave-T · Mar 29, 2023

I lost a mandarin dragonet the day I first put him in my tank. The next day I found him in my roller mat in the sump, which is in my basement and 65 feet away from my main tank. He had swum through the weir openings in my overflow and gotten sucked down into the roller mat. He was getting absolutely blasted by the flow from my 4000GPH return pump. I turned off the return pump and brought him back to my display, where he’s been happily munching on pods ever since.

hunterallen40 · Mar 29, 2023

I had this happen with my melanurus wrasse... Several times...

It became such a frequent occurrence that my wife and I would check for the wrasse in the overflow when we didn't immediately see the wrasse (early in the mornings).

He's still fine, by the way. Our new tank's overflow has a glass lid on it, and we have a mesh lid instead of glass like we had on our 75.

danenelsen · Mar 29, 2023

Glad you found him! I've had fish go down onto my sump before...never for a month though.

Dine · Mar 29, 2023

I lost a fairy wrasse years ago to an internal overflow. A month easy. I assumed food got back there as it went to the sump
And filter socks. He was fine after I found him. He must have learned his lesson.

xiongsy · Mar 30, 2023

swilliams2207 said:
This is wild. I lost my six line wrasse at least 1 month ago (last confirmed picture was Jan 31). He was one of my favorite fish because he zoomed around the tank and swam in and out of the rockwork constantly. Needless to say a fun fish to watch and a great tank citizen.

Anyway, he went missing a month ago and I presumed him dead. I was very close to replacing him but didn’t get around to it. Was working in my return chamber this afternoon and saw two eyes looking back at me. My jaw nearly fell to the floor because he’s been gone for so long. After some rearranging of equipment I was able to get him out and back into the tank.

I’m astonished he survived for so long without food? He actually looks really good and is back to swimming around the tank. No sign of hunger or distress. He looks nice and plump.

My tank is a custom 70 gallon and the AIO chamber is fairly large. The funny thing is I’ve shined a flashlight in my AIO many times prior to check for cleanliness etc. It was by complete chance I saw him because he’s fairly small and blends in well.

If you’re ever missing a fish overnight that otherwise seemed perfectly healthy… check your overflows or AIOs.

So fish can water fast for 30 days as well, huh? Lol. Glad it is safe!

swilliams2207 · Mar 30, 2023

Dine said:
I lost a fairy wrasse years ago to an internal overflow. A month easy. I assumed food got back there as it went to the sump
And filter socks. He was fine after I found him. He must have learned his lesson.

Guess the dark environment doesn’t stress them out.