Royal Gramma missing

Well the title pretty much sums it up. I've had the gramma for a couple of weeks now and I just realized today that I haven't seen him for a while. I know they like to make a cave for themselves but I haven't seen the fish AT ALL, even during feeding. A couple days ago I noticed that a rock had fallen into the substrate and I didn't think much of it but now I'm thinking that maybe the gramma was burrowing under a rock and the weight shifted and crushed him, which may also be what cause the rock to fall.

My nitrAte is at .15 ppm or so, which is normal for my tank, so it's not obvious that the gramma is rotting away in a hole somewhere. Just wanted to see what you folks might have to say about this.

Thank you,
Doratus

 

They are stealthy little critters!!!

I had not seen the one in our 430 gallon tank in MONTHS and thought it was dead.

The other day while feeding - it popped out of this obscure little cave it had found - healthy and lively as ever!

Hopefully your outcome is similar!

How big of a tank is it in?

 

Well that makes me feel better. None of my other livestock are having any kind of problems so I think he is okay and just hiding somewhere. The tank is only a 40g but there is quite a bit of rock work for him to get lost in. I'm hoping your right! haha

 

I have a purple dottyback that will occasionally go into one of my live rocks and not come out for a while. I never figured out which rock he goes in but I have a general idea of which one, when I was moving rocks from tank to tank he ended up in a different tank.

 

Well the Gramma is still missing, and now I can't seem to find my Starry Blenny. Hopefully there together just having a drink at the 'Live Rock Bar' or something.

 

Do you have a serpent star or an anemone?

 

No starfish but I do have a single green BTA. I seriously doubt it was the anemone because its just too small. I thought of this also and have been looking closely at the anemone. I can see the base of the creature clearly and it is almost transparent, I've never seen anything inside. The Blenny was out and eating at 8pm last night, so unless a small bta is capable of completely digesting an entire fish inside of 12 hours it can be ruled out. Am I wrong?

There are a few hermit crabs in the tank, which I know can be nasty on occasion, but again, they are all really tiny.

All the base parameters are normal. All the other fish are okay and the corals are full so I'm ruling out a water quality issue for now.

I'm just not sure, but it's okay, it's part of the learning process.

 

Yes your right unlikely a BTA would have eaten them. I was thinking, more like a carpet.

Strange, you must have a very effective/efficient CUC.

 

I found the Blenny.

Just by chance I saw a tiny black spot underneath a rock and sure enough it was the blenny. it's belly was concave so I think it must have gotten itself stuck under that rock and starved to death. I'm assuming the gramma has met the same fate but I still haven't found it.

Does my assumption seem correct or do you think it may have been something else? There was almost no physical damage and the eyes weren't heavily glossed over. In fact, it almost seemed as if it could still be alive... almost.