Missing Fire Shrimp

[Sean Norman]

I have a bio Cube 32- about 6 months old. Went through a serious algae run- but is clearing now. I have two Clowns, a Starry Blennie and a Royal Gramma, also a few snails. I had a Fire Shrimp...
He had his own space and moulted a few times. He would disappear and I would find his old skin on the bottom, and he would re-appear a day or two later. We went on vacation- when I left the tank was normal and stable- no changes. We had a pet sitter- and I had broken up the frozen shrimp into smaller cubes for her to broadcast feed- so nothing changed.
We returned home and could not find the shrimp. Its been over a week and he is not to be found.. No shell on the bottom..

What could have eaten him?? One of the Clowns- my awesome Blennie?

Also- I was using one of the defrost cups for feeding- but the Clowns began guarding it and they became aggressive- so I took it out- no more issues..

Thanks.

 

[GThompson]

Have you looked around the floor to see if maybe he jumped. I don’t think you have anything that would have ate him. If he jumped he could have crawled somewhere else also

 

[mikus]

I have a bio Cube 32- about 6 months old. Went through a serious algae run- but is clearing now. I have two Clowns, a Starry Blennie and a Royal Gramma, also a few snails. I had a Fire Shrimp...
He had his own space and moulted a few times. He would disappear and I would find his old skin on the bottom, and he would re-appear a day or two later. We went on vacation- when I left the tank was normal and stable- no changes. We had a pet sitter- and I had broken up the frozen shrimp into smaller cubes for her to broadcast feed- so nothing changed.
We returned home and could not find the shrimp. Its been over a week and he is not to be found.. No shell on the bottom..

What could have eaten him?? One of the Clowns- my awesome Blennie?

Also- I was using one of the defrost cups for feeding- but the Clowns began guarding it and they became aggressive- so I took it out- no more issues..

Thanks.

How much aqua scape do you have, is the back of the tank visible? I have two fires and they do a pretty good job hiding at the back of the tank or in the rock till the lights go out for at least an hour or two. However, after they moult, I wont see them for 3-4 days and it takes an additional day or two after that till I see them on a regular schedule again.

 

[IndyReef78]

I bet he’s just hiding....or he jumped. Do you have any cats or dogs? If he jumped, there might not be any evidence.

 

[Sean Norman]

The tank has a lid- and we feed through the little door in the lid.. so jumping opportunity is limited. I did not think to check my refugium.- I will check. There are a lot of hiding spots, but I can usually see him, and he would come out to eat when I would feed. I did not think something in there could have eaten him.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[rkpetersen]

Sometimes shrimp will have an unsuccessful molt, and just die.
That said, fire shrimp are about as tough as they come.
I've had peppermints and scarlet skunks just vanish, but never a fire shrimp.
If you're lucky, it's just hiding somewhere.
I've never seen a shrimp jump out of a tank. Not saying it can't happen, but...