I recently got a Tanaka wrasse from live aquaria. It's been in my tank for 6 days now and I have only seen it for the first day and haven't seen it since. I only have a 36 gallon w 20 lbs of rock and no matter how hard I look I can't find it within the rock work. Whats the likelihood it's still alive?
Tanaka wrasse
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Radman73
Valuable Member
By chance, did you QT it at all? Have you looked at night, especially with a red flashlight? These fish can come from many timezones over in a very short time so it may just not be used to your lighting schedule. Critical to QT everything though. It helps them get used to your daylight schedule, allows you to make sure that they're eating, and check for any medical issues. Hope he comes out for you though!
eatbreakfast
Fish Nerd
Tanakas wrasses arevery cryptic. Hiding for a few weeks is not unusual.
nautical_nathaniel
Indecision may or may not be my problem.
What kind of tank is it? If it is an AIO style aquarium, you need to check the back filtration area too. It's happened to me a couple of times 
rich nyc
Well-Known Member
I think he will be fine. Mine was hidden for awhile but fortunately he was in my 20g nano so could not hide. Once acclimated to the environment he should come out all the time. Unfortunatley he found a 1 inch square gap in my cover and when I came home from work one day he managed to jump out and become as cripsy as potatoe chips. I still need to figure out how to completely cover my tank since they are jumpers.
alex.mccann99
Active Member
I recently went through this with my Yasha Gobies, I have a Male and female with a pistol shrimp. Haven't seen them for weeks, then was feeding the other day and was watching the tank from about 10 feet away, they popped out and grabbed some food, went back under their rock. Sometimes wonder why we spend $$$ on these fish??? Everything I read said to just wait, if you go searching for them by lifting rocks and stuff, you'll just freak them out and make them hide longer.
gatorbait01
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Yeah I broke the rule and didn't QT him. The first day I found 2 of his hiding spots w a flashlight. I've check every place I could find w a flashlight and can't locate him (tried all times of the day). What's the benefit of the red flashlight? Is it less intrusive? I guess he could eat some amphipods while hiding. With my small tank and lower amt of rock I would assume u could locate him. Thinking of monitoring my ammonia levels to see if I see some sort of spike. I have a screen top so he shouldnt have jumped.
gatorbait01
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Yeah I was debating this fish or a pygmy hawkfish. Thought this would be less cryptic [emoji3]
Creatures that see well in the dark often see in primarily black & white ... and perceive red as black, so red lighting is nearly invisible to them. Zoos display nocturnal creatures under red light for that reason.
~Bruce
malacoda
Valuable Member
I wouldn't give up on it just yet. You'd be surprised how well fish can hide themselves ... the little nooks and crannies they can tuck themselves into and not be seen. I had a 4" long green canary blenny in my 24 g with 15lb of rock that was always active, then I noticed his eyes were a little puffy one day (sign of sickness) ... and couldn't find him the next day.
Thought he croaked and the clean up crew 'disposed' of him.
Then, two days later, during a final search of the crevices with a flash light, I saw the smallest bit of yellow-green tucked up in a crevice. Sure enough, one morning a few days later, when he fought off whatever 'bug' he'd gotten, there was swimming around the tank as though nothing had happened.
Thought he croaked and the clean up crew 'disposed' of him.
Then, two days later, during a final search of the crevices with a flash light, I saw the smallest bit of yellow-green tucked up in a crevice. Sure enough, one morning a few days later, when he fought off whatever 'bug' he'd gotten, there was swimming around the tank as though nothing had happened.
