Time to worry? Added wrasse a month ago

[Petcrazyson]

keep in mind your system can only support so many pods and the majority of reefers never add them to begin with yet they still manage to populate even through dipping corals.

Yk there’s a thing called having a refugium and stocking pods?

 

[landlubber]

@landlubber Well of course i only speak of my actual experiences. Never had a wrasse buried for that long. Actually, i never had a wrasse that actually lived that took more than 5 days to appear. (again, in my personal experience) it would be fantastic if his appears, for me it has never took that long.. 23 days under gravel is A LOT by all standards.. actually 23 days for a fish to go without eating is quite an achievement. It is very unusual, just saying, lets not make the unusual something probable, because it is not.

And actually his fish has been gone for 42 days... almost double the time yours took..

i think the "not eating" part is the disconnect. fish are generally reclusive when first introduced but that doesn't mean they're not making their way out to eat, they just likely aren't doing it in front of us and choose to when the coast is clear, likely when the lights are off.
also i didn't say anything about 3+ weeks being the normal routine but its not unheard of which means its "probable" to expect your newly introduced wrasse to disappear shortly after being dropped and the timeline is variable.

 

[landlubber]

Yk there’s a thing called having a refugium and stocking pods?

No i haven't.... what is that?? lol of course i have which is exactly why i mentioned it. Hobbyists are inclined to spend a lot on pods to "stock" their refugium while unknowingly the macroalgae and frags they throw in accomplishes the exact same task. I personally have kept a refugium for the past 5 years as part of my nutrient control.
Now where it does make sense to stock is if you have a fish with a dietary requirement like a mandarin dragonette in a tank less than 40 gallons. In most other scenarios its just unnecessary.

 

[Petcrazyson]

No i haven't.... what is that?? lol of course i have which is exactly why i mentioned it. Hobbyists are inclined to spend a lot on pods to "stock" their refugium while unknowingly the macroalgae and frags they throw in accomplishes the exact same task. I personally have kept a refugium for the past 5 years as part of my nutrient control.
Now where it does make sense to stock is if you have a fish with a dietary requirement like a mandarin dragonette in a tank less than 40 gallons. In most other scenarios its just unnecessary.

 

[Petcrazyson]

Now where it does make sense to stock is if you have a fish with a dietary requirement like a mandarin dragonette in a tank less than 40 gallons. In most other scenarios its just unnecessary.

You make a good point. Ig we all stock the fuge just to have numbers higher. I would say it would be necessary for leopard wrasse as they need those pods. Long term a healthy one will eat frozen and prepared foods but still eat those pods. For other wrasse and fish I would see that it’s not necessary but it‘s still a good thing to practice having the micro fauna and letting the fish snack on a natural food source.

 

[Waters]

wrasses are notorious for having an internal clock that tells them when to go to bed. i had wrasses that the first weeks go to bed in the middle of the day, but they are definetely not nocturnal animals... unless u have quite a lot of ambient light once the aquarium lights go off, there is no way he is up and about at night.. and much less feeding on anything...

I would like to say you are correct....but you aren't lol. I have witnessed newly introduced wrasses appearing after dark many times, only to duck back into the sand prior to the lights coming on. I never said they were nocturnal......they are stressed and will often come out when they feel it is safe....which in the beginning can be in the middle of the night.

 

[Petcrazyson]

wrasses are notorious for having an internal clock that tells them when to go to bed. i had wrasses that the first weeks go to bed in the middle of the day, but they are definetely not nocturnal animals... unless u have quite a lot of ambient light once the aquarium lights go off, there is no way he is up and about at night.. and much less feeding on anything...

I have to agree with @Waters “when they are stressed and will often come out when they feel it is safe....which in the beginning can be in the middle of the night.” You don’t have to be nocturnal to move around at night. You aren’t nocturnal, that doesn’t mean you won’t leave your house if it’s in flames in the middle of the night. All fish need to time to get used to their new establishment, and when they decide they feel safe it can be at night time. Also I want to point out many diurnal fish are sometimes active at night.

 

[odariel]

i think the "not eating" part is the disconnect. fish are generally reclusive when first introduced but that doesn't mean they're not making their way out to eat, they just likely aren't doing it in front of us and choose to when the coast is clear, likely when the lights are off.
also i didn't say anything about 3+ weeks being the normal routine but its not unheard of which means its "probable" to expect your newly introduced wrasse to disappear shortly after being dropped and the timeline is variable.

One thing is that they come out at night due to stress, which they obviously can (but again, if not disturbed in their sandbed they will not) and another one is to assume that they are gonna eat something in the middle of the night.. They don't. They are not night hunters, are not equipped for it and won't find their way to any pods or food at night. This is just the way these fish are designed. So don't give false hope.. if the fish doesnt come during the day it doesnt eat.

I would like to say you are correct....but you aren't lol. I have witnessed newly introduced wrasses appearing after dark many times, only to duck back into the sand prior to the lights coming on. I never said they were nocturnal......they are stressed and will often come out when they feel it is safe....which in the beginning can be in the middle of the night.

Same answer.. they can, but it is not their usual behavior unles very stressed or u actually remove the sand.. (and btw i never said u said were nocturnal, just stated a fact).

I just find funny the way that u are trying to make exceptional behaviour the most plausible explanation for a fish that hasn't been seen in 6 weeks.. of course EVERYTHING in life is possible... just dont make it sound probable, because the most probable thing is that the fish is long gone. Not a hint of it in 6 weeks with the owner actively looking for it all the time? i mean come on...

Again, i speak of my actual experiences.. reefing for 15 years, i don't have to be right, but the way u are trying so hard to make it all perfectly normal just doesnt make sense either.

 

[Waters]

One thing is that they come out at night due to stress, which they obviously can (but again, if not disturbed in their sandbed they will not) and another one is to assume that they are gonna eat something in the middle of the night.. They don't. They are not night hunters, are not equipped for it and won't find their way to any pods or food at night. This is just the way these fish are designed. So don't give false hope.. if the fish doesnt come during the day it doesnt eat.




Same answer.. they can, but it is not their usual behavior unles very stressed or u actually remove the sand.. (and btw i never said u said were nocturnal, just stated a fact).

I just find funny the way that u are trying to make exceptional behaviour the most plausible explanation for a fish that hasn't been seen in 6 weeks.. of course EVERYTHING in life is possible... just dont make it sound probable, because the most probable thing is that the fish is long gone. Not a hint of it in 6 weeks with the owner actively looking for it all the time? i mean come on...

Again, i speak of my actual experiences.. reefing for 15 years, i don't have to be right, but the way u are trying so hard to make it all perfectly normal just doesnt make sense either.

In my experience (way more than 15 years....man I am old).....I have seen wrasses disappear for weeks at a time. Just stating what I have personally experienced. For some species, it can be normal....well as normal as any animal being held in a cage can act. If the OP comes back and says the wrasse is officially gone, I will gladly say you were correct in this instance. I am pretty confident it will show back up.

 

[odariel]

it would please me if i am wrong, honestly... this conversation is sterile now, the op has all the info he needs but 6 weeks in a tank this size (its not like he has a huge tank where he can live of pods and microfauna).. without being seen.. sadly i am confident on the opposite, that the poor thing is dead.

 

[Petcrazyson]

U

One thing is that they come out at night due to stress, which they obviously can (but again, if not disturbed in their sandbed they will not) and another one is to assume that they are gonna eat something in the middle of the night.. They don't. They are not night hunters, are not equipped for it and won't find their way to any pods or food at night. This is just the way these fish are designed. So don't give false hope.. if the fish doesnt come during the day it doesnt eat.




Same answer.. they can, but it is not their usual behavior unles very stressed or u actually remove the sand.. (and btw i never said u said were nocturnal, just stated a fact).

I just find funny the way that u are trying to make exceptional behaviour the most plausible explanation for a fish that hasn't been seen in 6 weeks.. of course EVERYTHING in life is possible... just dont make it sound probable, because the most probable thing is that the fish is long gone. Not a hint of it in 6 weeks with the owner actively looking for it all the time? i mean come on...

Again, i speak of my actual experiences.. reefing for 15 years, i don't have to be right, but the way u are trying so hard to make it all perfectly normal just doesnt make sense either.

Not a fish but I bought 5 Nassarius snails and 1 disappeared for 2 full months and I was actively looking for it and feeding a little more than usual to entice it to come out. Then 2 months later I found him. Don‘t know how he survived and what the chances were, but he lives!

 

[Petcrazyson]

its not like he has a huge tank where he can live of pods and microfauna)..

Umm. Don‘t want to say you’re wrong, but having a smaller area with fewer competition raises the chance of the microfauna numbers grow. Those chances diminishes quite quickly in a larger area with many competitive fish. And even if it was bigger how many reefer out there have HUGE tanks and they have tons of fish that feed of that microfauna that thrive. If we are determined to keep the amount of copepods we like, we can make it happen. Don‘t know about your case though.