Lost Mandarin

Ok I am having all kinds of issues this week. I went looking for my Mandarin and I can't find him anywhere. My tank is 24g so not that much area to hide? I just looked around the tank and don't see anything... Not in my filter would the crabs eat him quick? Is this going to bomb my tank

 

if it died in your tank, no it won't "bomb" it. your clean up crew will be well fed for a day or two. If you happen to see it floating or laying on the sand, then pull it out. Could it be behind the tank somewhere dried up?? Or could it be hiding in the rockwork?

4 big nassarius snails ate mine in 15 min. when I brought it back to the lfs after it died. They threw it into a small cubicle that had snails and there was No trace left......

you could do a small water change and keep a check on your ammonia and nitrates. you'll be able to tell if it is sitting in there decaying.

 

I had lost mine for several weeks! One night I was in bed and the pup came in with something in his mouth. He dropped it right on my head. It was a petrified shriveled up fish that looked like it was my mandrian! Must have jumped out, dried up and my pup crawled behind the tank to get him and BRING ME A LITTLE PRESENT! JOY!

Well I wish he would do that now...I have a bluespotted jawfish that jumped out of my tank and his body is behind my tank exactly in the middle of my 135g tank. No way I can get that out!But, really if you have a good clean up crew if he died in your tank then they probably cleaned up

 

i think both are possible both the eating by the cuc and the jumping out the tank. i still have 3 dried newts some where in my house that escaped when i was 8

 

i don't think you had much business to have a mandarin in that size tank to really begin with.. even with a refugium with that a tank that size, it's not really possible to sustain a mandarin for a long period of time..

 

UPDATE.. Well I finally found him. IDK Y but he was in my protein skimmer. He seems to be still plump and happy.

 

How on EARTH did he get there???!!!

Omard told me of a mated pair of clowns he had that disappeared. Just gone. Three years passed. One day, he decides to clean his overflow box. Guess what he finds? Two clowns, living happily (well, as happily as you can deduce two clowns to be). Living in the dark. In a small little box. For three years. Pretty cool.

 

I have no clue how he got in there. but it was odd. My girlfriend is like I had a dream about him and he was still alive so I started to look again and there he was. Floatin around in there.

 

that is crazy on how he got in the protein skimmer?!?! but it is good to hear that he is still alive tho and if you can keep a mandarin happy in that 24gallon then big ups to ya cause it's not easy to do but I think if you can get him to eat more than just copepods and on some prepared foods then you will be good which I must assume you are doing since you said he is still plump

 

Yah He does seem happy. I am no expert. He does it a mix of food I put in there. Thanks again for everyones input. Karma for everyone.