Blue Tang Gone

Last night, my 2 clowns and blue tang were all swimming around the DT. Came got up this morning, waited until the lights came on, Blue Tang missing. I looked under every rock in the DT, moved everything around, looked in fuge, even plowed a lot of water through the siphon to check if he was in there. Nothing.

Is it common for Blue Tangs to jump out of the DT? If he did jump out, we do have 2 cats. So that may be why I don't see him on the ground anywhere.

He was only the size of a quarter. Maybe slightly bigger. The only fish in my tank bigger than his is a Manderin. The BTA is too small to eat him, also. $45 down the drain.

 

It's possible that he jumped ....however, they're true masters of finding the smallest nook in a rock and staying glued into it, even with rock movement and activity... its their elusive, anxious nature. PS ....what type of blue tang?

 

Sharkbate is right especially if its only the size of a quarter it could be hiding any where, i know most of my LR has holes that fish ten times that size could swim into and not be seen...just keep an eye out he'll pop up or you cat had a snack...

 

If it is a regal tang, They like to hide occasionally, mine is about 3.5" and can hide anywhere pretty much in the DT without being noticed. I barely ever saw him besides feeding time when he was the size of a nickel! Im sure hes just hiding in the rockwork. If its a Atlantic blue tang, thats not usual for them. They like to be out in the open and swimming crazy. But I assume its a Regal?

 

My regal blue is 6" long, and manages to totally vanish at night. I have 4 moon lights, and I still can't see where he is hiding. So, I assume that a small one could be even more stealthy.

So, have faith, it may not be expensive cat food just yet. ;-)

 

Thanks for the replies. Yes, it is a Regal Tang.

I still haven't seen him anywhere in the tank for 2+days. I did move around all the rock in the tank looking for him. Do you think he may have been hiding in a crevase in the rock and I may have put that side face down on the sand? I looked really hard on the rock and didn't see anything that looked like him.

 

+1 on the Regals loving to hide or lay in crevices. I would be concerned if it's not coming out when it's feeding time though. Regals should eat like pigs if they're healthy/happy. It's possible it did jump if you've fed and no sign of it. How long has it been in the tank?

 

That tang has only been in the tank for about 3-4 weeks. I had some algae growing in my tank and when we first put him in there he was chowing down on everything. THen, I started to feed him some seaweed food with garlic and he wouldn't touch it.

I just hope he isn't hideing in one of the rocks that I placed upside down on the sand. But I did look pretty well and didn't see no sign on him in or around the rock I moved.

 

how big is your tank?
parameters?

there is a chance that ( if it wasnt eating last time you saw it)
he died in your rock work.
whats your CUC like?

 

He was in a 30G tank. The parameters are all good, for the most part. Everything else in the tank is doing pretty well.

As for CUC, we have 5 turbo snails (2 just added a couple days ago) and 4 smaller snails. No shrimp right now and no hermits.