Vanished Watchman Goby

[Kruss7]

Hey guys, I put a yellow watchman goby into my display 5 days ago and haven’t seen it since. I watched it hangout for a couple hours on my rock, then left the room and a couple hours later came back it was gone. I spend a lot of time at my tank and have not seen it come out for food either. When should I assume it did not make it?

Some background information

Tank is relatively small (35g cube) and has very little hiding spaces in the rockwork that are not visible.

Other tank mates are fine (clowns, firefish, longnose hawkfish)

There was zero aggression when I did see it out or between the other fish

All fish including the watchman are Qted (observed, copper, metro, prazi, observe)

All inverts and corals are fishless quarantined for 76 days

Watchman didn’t show any issues and ate whenever offered food

Tank is over a year old

Inverts: Blood red fire shrimp, candy cane pistol shrimp (often see my pistol shrimp and it is not with it), pom pom crab, fighting conch, tuxedo urchin, multiple reef safe snails.

Drip acclimated

I have a lid and there’s definitely no way it could make it out, but I checked just in case and didn’t find anything. Checked my overflows too and nothing.

Parameters
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026
Nitrate 15
Phosphate 0.06
Calcium 4
Alk 8.4
Mag 1400
PH 8

 

[blaxsun]

If it's not on the floor (or around the aquarium) or in the sump or overflow - then it's still in the tank (or what remains of it). If the goby did die, your cleanup crew can make short work of a fish in short order (no one passes up a free meal!) - so you may never find any remains.

 

[SauceyReef]

These fish could possibly be the best in the entire hobby at jumping in the overflow.

 

[blaxsun]

These fish could possibly be the best in the entire hobby at jumping in the overflow.

One in my LFS actually rode the plumbing down, through the sump, pump (!) - and into another connected tank.

 

[SauceyReef]

One in my LFS actually rode the plumbing down, through the sump, pump (!) - and into another connected tank.

I had one dissapear in the back chambers for an entire year! I actually had another YWG in the tank and one day woke up with two. I was sooooo confused for a bit..