Exactly Where Have My Fish Gone?

[Tankboomshazam]

I HAD a black goldfish, and I noticed it was gone about 2 weeks ago, but I couldn't get on the forums, my internet was down. So anyways, it was gone, and none of the other fish could of eaten it, it was rather big, and i couldn't of jumped out, i have a lid, but i checked all around the tank. it wasn't under any of the decorations and it wasn't in the filter. then about last week, i noticed another fish with a large black spot on it's back and orange speckles had disappeared too! it happened on a 3 day trip and i have no explanations, and this is my first experience with strange disappearances so can someone, anyone please put forward some theories as HOW they could of gone vamoosh?

 

[fluttermoth]

Fish will eat other fish, even big ones, and it doesn't take that long.

Unless they jumped out and you have a cat or dog that could have eaten them?

Or, once they're out of water, they can flap themselves quite a long way, so it might be worth checking further out in the room.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Could they have died and someone else removed them from the tank and disposed of them then not mentioned it?

 

[Tankboomshazam]

no, nothing like that could of happened, the only other pets i have than the fish is a pet rabbit, very docile but kept outside anyway, and i have checked everywhere around the living room, and the fish all disappeared on family trips, so no-one could of removed them. i know i didnt post this on first, and this could be relevant, but the other fish in the tank now are 2 shubunkins and 2 comets. i have never seen these fish being vicious to each other, and they probably wouldnt of died of over/under feeding, i always feed them regularly.

 

[Aquascaper]

How big is the tank?

 

[Tankboomshazam]

it's 54 litres and i have gravelly sand on the bottom of my tank and has basic lighting.

 

[Aquascaper]

The tank is massively overstocked with pond fish so losses are inevitable, as for where they went? No idea but it's got to be better than where they were.

 

[lolobunnz]

The fish probably ate it after he died of whatever cause.

I dont think a goldfish is happier dead than in a 54 liter tank!!!! that was a very bad call! Goldfish tho need much larger tanks.

 

[Aquascaper]

I stand by my comments, Comets and Shubunkins are fast, open water swimmers requiring lots of room therefore should only be kept in ponds. The average life span for a 'goldfish' is 10 - 15 years, the majority kept in aquariums maybe last a 1/3 of that so the remaining fish still have a few years of cramped, stressful living to get through.

Dying now rather than living a drastically shortened life in cramped conditions certainly seems the more attractive option.

 

[MBOU]

Aquascaper is absolutely spot on with the information as usual

However, Aquasccaper... remember you dont know who/how old/situation of who it is you are talking to, this is a family forum and there really are a lot of young members that might read a lot more offense into what was said than i am sure you intended. I can see what you meant but that might not be so obvious to others... please bear in mind how you word your comments

As for what happened to the fish, I would assume they died and were eaten by the other inhabitants.

Please dont add any more fish and now testing the water would be a great idea! You need to know what levels your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are as if they are high, it will slowly kill all of your fish.

If you can buy a test kit and share the results with us, we might be able to help you save the other fish but as Aquascaper said, you still have four fish that should potentially live 20+ years and get 25cm+ each... ultimately, its going to rquire you to buy a really huge tank (5-6 foot long) or rehome the goldfish to a pond which would allow you to stock more suitable species (which we would all gladly help advise you on!).

 

[Aquascaper]

True, I do try and find out the posters details first by looking at their profile but if no information is given then the general reply to the usual annoyance of repetitive situations comes through, my bad.

 

[Tankboomshazam]

Thanks 4 your advice, I'll test the water now, but I've moved the other fish out into other tanks just in case the water killed them, and the tank was only temporary since I was still cycling my newer tanks. Aquascaper, you give awesome advice. Thanks all!

 

[Tankboomshazam]

well anyway, the shubunkins are only 3 cm big. now in a 60 cm tank with 30 cm height it doesnt seem overstocked does it??

 

[the_lock_man]

well anyway, the shubunkins are only 3 cm big. now in a 60 cm tank with 30 cm height it doesnt seem overstocked does it??

You really need to base your stocking decisions on the fish's adult size, rather than what they are now. You may have the good intentions of buying a bigger tank when the time comes, but what if you find you can't afford it at that point. My missus promised me a bigger tank in 6 months time. That was 2 years ago, and it hasn't happened yet.

 

[sebn]

It will be suitable for a short temporary measure but as MBOU has said, you will ultimately (quite soon) need to upgrade to a MUCH larger tank.