Where are my new critters?

[jjz_13]

Okay - starting to get worried now. I added a royal gramma and 2 skunk cleaner shrimp last Friday night. Left the lights off until 11am the next morning - but these new guys are AWOL. Whay would they still be hiding?

I can actually see one of the shrimp hiding in the back of the tank kind of behind/under a piece of rock. I have not seen the royal gramma or the other shrimp at all. I do have quite a few hiding places with the rockwork.

Here is my setup:

150 gal tank (it's open on the top back, but I can't see anything that jumped out anywhere)
I have a fuge-style sump below with some chaeto growing in it. (No fish or shrimp in there either!)
4" DSB - deeper one in the fuge
The current inhabitants are 2 false perc clowns, 1 six-line wrasse, 1 foxface, 3 green chromis, some xenia, kenya tree coral, leather coral, and green star polyps.

I have 2 96watt actinics from 11am-11pm
3 250 watt metal halides cycle throughout the day from 12pm-10pm

I'm telling you the light because I read that maybe the gramma is trying to acclimate himself to the higher light?

I acclimated them for over an hour before adding them to the tank and they looked healthy going in. Of course they went and hid right away, but I figured they'd be out the next day.

My parameters are all okay.

temp 80-82
Sp Gravity 1.024
Alk 3.2 meq/L
ph 8.1-8.2
Calcium 400-420
Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and Phosphates are all 0

What else should I be looking for here or is this normal behavior?

Thanks for any help.

 

[alfa1023]

For what it is worth, I have had my Royal Gramma in my 92 corner for almost a year now, and there are many times when he is way up in the rocks and I have no clue where he is. The other fish will of course come to the front of the tank begging for food but Mr. Gramma usually only makes his grand entrance once there is in fact food in he water. They are a cool fish with lots of personality, but definitely not the most social (unlike my clown, tang, and damsels).

 

[flfirefighter13]

those shrimp and that fish can disappear for a long time, I wouldnt be surprised in a 150 that you cant find them. I only have occasional siteings of my skunk cleaner and thats in a 75

 

[jjz_13]

well I found the royal gramma. :-(

He was stuck in a small hole in one of my rocks. Looks like he's been dead a couple of days.

I can still see the one shrimp hiding. No sign of the other one yet.

Anyone else ever lost a fish this way? Can a fish actually swim in a hole and get stuck unless there's something else wrong with him?

 

[boydx6]

AWOL

AWOL

How big is your Foxface? I had a Foxface that was about 6-7 in and he love to eat ghost shrimp. He would eat 3-4 for every 1 that the Marine Beta would eat.

 

[jjz_13]

he's about 3.5"

 

[lakee911]

Ya. Guy I bought my tank from mentioned he had an angel that tried to swim through a hole and gotm stuck. Said he took a hammer to the rock and broke it in half so the fish could swim away.

Jason