Mystery of the disappearing fish...

[Magnum Man]

so I discovered an issue with my experimental "Java Moss Mat, instead of gravel over an under gravel filter plate" concept... some of the fish have moved to the basement... my filter plate is the wavey kind, instead of the flat type, & even though I added 6 nickels sewn into the netting that holds my Java Moss mats, to keep it weighted down, I noticed yesterday ( fixing an air stone that came off... stupid silicone air tube... but that's for another subject ) I had to move a couple of the mats... that's when I discovered a King Tiger Pleco baby ( like pictured in my avatar ) I originally put 4 of them in that tank, & assumed they all died since they were so tiny... but those guys & the yellow shrimp I added to the tank, are all living in the valleys of the filter plates, under the java moss... I suppose if I leave it set up that way... (the Java moss is just starting to grow in nice ) when the plecos get bigger, they'll move out from under the mats... don't know if the shrimp ever would... may decide to transplant my Java Moss mats to the next tank I set up, that won't have any small critters... Glo Tetras are the main fish in this tank, so the basement residents weren't pressured to move downstairs, they chose to... glad they are all doing well... when / if I pull up all the mats, I may discover my 3 missing Zebra ottos???

 

[Slaphppy7]

"when / if I pull up all the mats, I may discover my 3 missing Zebra ottos???"

A distinct possibility

I'm not familiar with your experimental plate/moss filter setup, but try to avoid scenarios that could possibly trap live fish/shrimp/etc

 

[Magnum Man]

this picture is early on, before the moss mats started growing in... I had to buy a lot of Java moss to cover the bottom of a 55 gallon... the idea, is a pair of powerheads pull water through the filter plates & the Java moss, aerating & filtering the water, instead of a gravel bed on top of the filter plate... I like to do out of the box experiments


I'm adding a few pom pom crabs to help the cory's work the turf... if they move downstairs, I'll probably replace the mats, with traditional aquarium gravel in this tank, ( in this case green, to keep the football field effect ) as soon as I fill another tank, to have a place for the mats

 

[Slaphppy7]

this picture is early on, before the moss mats started growing in... I had to buy a lot of Java moss to cover the bottom of a 55 gallon... the idea, is a pair of powerheads pull water through the filter plates & the Java moss, aerating & filtering the water, instead of a gravel bed on top of the filter plate... I like to do out of the box experiments


I'm adding a few pom pom crabs to help the cory's work the turf... if they move downstairs, I'll probably replace the mats, with traditional aquarium gravel in this tank, ( in this case green, to keep the football field effect ) as soon as I fill another tank, to have a place for the mats

Ahhh, a theme-based tank...a very original one, at that

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I've just noticed your 'crowd' background I love it!

 

[Magnum Man]

Speaking of disappearing fish... this tank is known for that as well...



there is so much space between the stones, there is a whole crew of thriving Coolie loaches that swim around between stones ( I put some lil baby Coolies in there, they disappeared... several months later I saw a huge one emerge to turn around & go back down ) lately, as they have gotten bigger, I pretty much see at least one ( or part of one ) everyday... lost a whole batch of Armano shrimp I ordered, that came in as babies ( have to assume they are down there, or fed the now huge Coolies ), at least the little ones the Angels didn't scarf up