ORA Yellow Assessor

[bobbychullo]

so,

my first fish. he was out and eating and checking me out the first day or two (the second day he ate like crazy, was swimming all around grabbing bits of food: mini mysis and a DIY food with shrimp/squid/clam/mussel). I knew a couple little hiding spots he seemed to like. now i haven't seen him in 2 days. i feed the tank in the morning, everything else comes out to eat except him.

I know they like caves and like to hide and are shy but this just seems kinda unusual to be hiding for so long. it could be he came out while i was not home...

I have a small tank, 34G rimless cube AIO (solana). there are not many places for him to hide that I can't see but that doesn't mean he didn't find some hidden cave in my rocks. He's not in the sump, not on the floor (ive scoured a 5 foot radius around my tank everyday, numerous times). and i have not seen any remains floating around the tank (I observe it for at least an hour a day, usually at least 2 hours).

tank params are all good. amm 0, nitrate/nitrite 0, phos <.01, PH 8.2 SG 1.025... all my other livestock are thriving and reproducing: snails, brittle and serpent stars and hitchhiker ark clams etc.

lots of copepods, isopods and amphipods in my tank. is it possible he is eating those and is content and happy to stay hidden?

thanks in advance for your help!

 

[cwoods8]

depending on his/her cohabitants....try to feed the tank when the lights are out....mine almost always hides due to heavy traffic, but shows up either early in the morning, or when the lights go out.

 

[ricde]

I purchased an ORA yellow 4 months ago. It arrived at the LFS in great shape but a little on the small side. Since I have an adult blue assessor in my tank, I decided to play it safe, so after a couple weeks of quarantine I put the new assessor in my 20 gal refuge to let it grow and acclimate to the new tank.

It ate great and was out and about for the first couple days (I really like the way it swam upside down, sideways or rightside up), then it disappeared out of the blue. After a couple days of looking I gave up and wrote the fish off. I figured it either jumped out and became a doggy snack or passed away and the CUC made quick work of it.

Fast forward 4 months and I'm thinning out some of my fuges macro's when I caught a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. Turns out the assessor is alive and well and living in a little cave in one of the rocks.

If I can lose one in my 20, I'm sure it's not hard for it to go MIA in your 34.

FWIW, it's still in the refuge, fat and happy as any fish in the display. It seems to come out more in the dusk/dawn hours and seems to shy away from the bright lights.

Hopefully your's turns out to be a similar story. If you have a lot of pods, food shouldn't be a problem (mines doubled in size, with no food at all added)

Wish you the best on tracking your's down

 

[bobbychullo]

thanks for the replies!

with the long hours ive been working, the only time i could feed was with lights out. i fed a couple times to see if he would come out but he stayed hidden.

good news tho, this morning was the first morning i was able to be home when the lights came on and there he was, looking around

i rushed to get some food ready lol and dropped it in. he appeared to sample some. i didnt want to get too close, just let him eat in peace. he looked fat and calm so i was happy... i went to the LFS and bought his buddy that was in there with him last week LOL! he is checking out my tank as we speak, he seems more adventurous that the first guy.

I got some other varieties of food too. wish me luck and again, thanks for the replies!