melanarus

sasharotty

Moved on to my couch
When do you start getting concerned about a missing melanarus? He came out of qt and into the dt. He immediately darted to the back of the tank disappeared and I haven't seen him since. My tank has a canopy and is sealed all the way around. He could jump but he would land on the eurobrace and id see him. I've also looked into overflows and nothin'. How long has yours disappeared for?
 
In the days I did everything wrong my wrasse would hide for weeks at a time. At the time I didn't know that they did this. Each time he came out was like a happy surprise. Three weeks was the longest he was gone. Now , three years later, I can set a clock to him- he buries himself between 9:30 and 10pm, out and about by 8:30 am.
 
Does anyone recommend un-burying wrasses to get them to come out and feed?

I just placed a Potters leopard wrasse in my DT and he has been buried for a few days now. I can find him from underneath the tank and he has shifted a few times so I know he is still alive.

I just think 3 weeks is a little long to wait to make sure a fish is feeding. Whats the reasoning behind this length of time? A dead fish would be long decomposed and polluting the tank more or less quickly in the sand bed by that time.
 
Does anyone recommend un-burying wrasses to get them to come out and feed?

No if you dig them up your just stressing them out. Being buried in the sand is like their safe zone. And right after you dig them up and stress them out they're probably just going to dart right back into the sand worse for wear.
 
So if he is buried for a couple weeks it shouldn't be a problem? I was going to ask about feeding, but I guess if he's hungry enough he'll come out of hiding. And its only been 9 days (I think)
 
No if you dig them up your just stressing them out. Being buried in the sand is like their safe zone. And right after you dig them up and stress them out they're probably just going to dart right back into the sand worse for wear.
+1

Digging them up is akin to giving them an execution.

They hide due to stress. Digging them up just adds more stress.
 
When I added one to my tank it dove into the sand and hid for over a week. I wouldn't worry at this point. Then as said above after a while it would dive into the sand at the same time every night.
 
Mine only hid for a couple of days,before comeing out and eating.But like others have said it can last a couple of weeks or more.Keep us updated.
 
Well still no sight of him :( Im wondering if he's coming out at night because I'm seeing my hermits and nassarius (sp?) snails coming up dead. Nothing else in the tank would be taking them out. My lfs has another in great health and wondering if I should pull the trigger or wait awhile longer. Can 2 coexist if I get another and then this one appears?
 
Adding another would not be advisable if you believe you may still have one.
Well I've had no spikes in parameters and no body. Unless he died under the sandbed somewhere. But I've had cuc come up dead so I'm wondering if he's coming out at night.
 
Digging in the sandbed for a wrasse that may be sleeping in there is a terrible idea.

He's been sleeping now for 5 weeks lol. I guess i'll just hold off digging or buying another for now. I would have thought he would have came out by now. The only other sand diving wrasse ive had was a green coris and he was out the 2nd day.
 
It may be coming out when you are not around picking off the pods around the tank and shooting back into the sand when you get within view of the tank. I had this happen with mine for the first week or so. Just seen a little sand in the water column when I got near the tank. Mine still darts into the sand everytime I have to go in the tank and hides for a couple of days.
 
Our yellow hid for 9 days when we put him in the tank. We discovered he was coming out when the lights were off & we were at work. He eventually got used to us. Then one day he disappeared. For 30 days. We figured he was dead under the sand somewhere, then one day we came home from work & there he was, waiting to be fed.

DO NOT DIG for your fish. You have to have patience in this hobby. If he's dead, you'll know if you get a parameter spike. If there's no parameter spike, then he's coming out when you're not there. If you dig him up, he'll always hide.

You can't control livestock or coral behavior, you get what you get as far as that goes. For the most part, nothing will do exactly what you want it to do. Anemones move where you don't want them, corals grow the opposite direction, shrimp, snails, or fish don't "fix" what you bought them to fix or act how you want them to act. This is nature & cannot be controlled by you. What interests me in my tank is watching nature take place, and if something does exactly as I want it to, then I'm very happy LOL. Otherwise I just watch & learn & enjoy.
 
Well believe it or not i saw him come out this morning before lights were on. As soon as i saw him my solor wrasse and 2 b/w clowns were chasing him and nipping. He was out for literally 5 min and dove back into the sand. I didnt think the solor was supposed to be aggresive? Will the aggression subside or should i remove the clowns and solor? I really want to keep the melanarus as hes a stunning looking fish.
 
Back
Top