PLEASE READ! need help with fish ID

FishN00b83

New member
so I was cleaning a part of my tank and I noticed something looking at me in the overflow. I quickly counted all the fish and they were all in the main part. I looked back and it's still looking at me...*** this is a random new fish I've never seen before and it looks like NOTHING else in the tank. how the hell did it get here and what the hell is it? I have a yellow and PBT, 2 fatheads, 2 clowns, royal gramma and a six line. where could this thing come from? should I put it in my display? I'm so confused right now...any advice would be great!
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PLEASE READ! need help with fish ID

I put 3 frags in last weekend...before that it must of been the 2 fatheads prob 5 months ago. before that probably the rock with sympodium and a other frag a real long time though
 
It looks like an Anthias that has lost his color. Did you have any anthias and if so, did one go missing? I'd put it in the display.
 
PLEASE READ! need help with fish ID

I have 2 fatheads...I did have bartletts a very long time ago..but I don't remember one going missing and would it have really stayed alive for a year with no food and stay that small?
 
It could probably survive in the overflow, but I doubt it's happy in there. The small size is likely space and/or food-related stunting. Definitely put it back in the display, and turn the lights off for a little while- it's not used to them any more. Also, keep an eye on the sixline, those can be problematic with new additions.
 
The wife has confirmed it. One did go missing...this is crazy. I want to ask if its going to make it, but its made it this far LOL

I turned off the lights for the rest of the day and I guess I'll see what happens when they go on tomorrow. I cant believe this fish survived for THAT long in the overflow...that's absolutely crazy.
 
The wife has confirmed it. One did go missing...this is crazy. I want to ask if its going to make it, but its made it this far LOL

I turned off the lights for the rest of the day and I guess I'll see what happens when they go on tomorrow. I cant believe this fish survived for THAT long in the overflow...that's absolutely crazy.

At least that confirms my suspicions. Not as crazy as you may think. Food goes through the overflow and there are no predators in there to harass it or compete with it. If you run a durso or similar overflow setup and your overflow is always full then you have a nice small environment for one to live in. Many of these Anthias are found in deeper waters where lighting is fairly minimal. As such, while the overflow is small, it can provide a fairly decent home for one and given that food passes through the overflow and pods likely congrats in there, it's not out of the realm of possibility that one could thrive in there for a long time without even being noticed.
 
I went with a clear overflow in my new tank just so I could see when fish get caught in there. I have an ocellaris clown that I have to get out of there at least every couple of months. You think he would learn to stay away from the overflow but for some reason he always hangs out by it.
 
My LFS occasionally has to get small fish out of the overflow/sump thing below their small-things sale tanks. Stuff jumps down the drain-pipe things. Oddly, the shrimp and such don't usually end up in there.
 
I went with a clear overflow in my new tank just so I could see when fish get caught in there. I have an ocellaris clown that I have to get out of there at least every couple of months. You think he would learn to stay away from the overflow but for some reason he always hangs out by it.


lol that's funny. the wife and I are currently looking for a house. she's on board with a 180 peninsula tank so I won't be having these two huge towers in my tank anymore...these are crazy...they take up a huge amount of space in the middle of the tank.

At least that confirms my suspicions. Not as crazy as you may think. Food goes through the overflow and there are no predators in there to harass it or compete with it. If you run a durso or similar overflow setup and your overflow is always full then you have a nice small environment for one to live in. Many of these Anthias are found in deeper waters where lighting is fairly minimal. As such, while the overflow is small, it can provide a fairly decent home for one and given that food passes through the overflow and pods likely congrats in there, it's not out of the realm of possibility that one could thrive in there for a long time without even being noticed.


yeah I didn't think of it like that. I haven't seen her since I put her in the main part, hopefully she didn't go back!!
 
That happened to me when I purchased a tank with two Occelaris. They thought they had died but they had actually dissapeared into the filter compartment in the back. I had left about 4 inches of water in the bottom when I transported it from the original owner's house and then when I was adding live rock I saw one of them and reached out to the owner to see if maybe the fish had just dissapeared instead of dying like they thought it had. They then said that both had actually just disappeared and to look for the other one. I'm not sure how long they had been in there, but they were healthy.
 
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