well for the last two days, i cant find my catfish, my oscars are 4 inch, my catfish was 3 inch, and he isint here anymore he has gone fanished not a sighn that he was ever there, and he is not hiding have checked and checked, he must have been eaten xxx : dry:, lifted my tree stump there he was happy days sunday my huppy looked just in time to see my catfish in my oscars mouth, he was given a violent shake and sadly he died, i will miss you my little plec xxx

very sorry Kazzy, it happens, some people have got away with small fish others like you have lost them. I take it you checked filter pipes and on the tank condensation cover if you have them?

Oscars all have different personalitys, I had a pair before which you couldnt trust anything under there size with them, then i had a four inch a few months ago,which owned my tank even my 13inch snakehead,would eat anything you put in the tank,didnt shy on eating my snakeheads frozen fish which where twice his size,lol
Now the pair i have are real softies,they used to live in there old tank with a small variety of plec which is 3inches,now that plecs in with my chocolate cichlid...

reason iam getting is you will learn your oscars temperment, i hope you find it soon,

Oscars love small catfish and algae eaters.


Allthough Marcus' idea may be more logical.
I lost my drarf puffer lately, for he found a way into my filter... :angry:

yep checked every where he has gone xxxx

Do you have dogs or cats? He could have decided to kamikaze it out of the tank and then someone decided he looked like a nice snack...

I had a Pictus do that, he got caught in the carpet and I ran to get the scissors to get him out (we have Berber carpeting) and when I got back my son was trying to keep my dogs at bay. lol

sometimes fish squeeze into a small hole or crevasse and don't come out for a long time. I have had that happen before where I didn't see a small fish for months, then all of a sudden there it is. Or when take apart your filter and/or move your decorations you find a corpse. so look good, and the fish seem to deteriorate also.

cebosound wrote:



I agree.

Either do some tank deconstruction or check those water readings more frequently...a dead fish in the water for days or weeks (especially one at least 3 inches)will probably muck up your readings and you'll know he's in there somewhere, and obviously you'll want to get him out. Here's to hoping he's just still being really sneaky. You'd be amazed at how good they can hide sometimes. I would completely take apart the tank until I was sure he wasn't in there or the mystery is solved.

A 3 inch catfish would be a tall order for complete consumption by fishes only an inch larger, and possibly fatal for both fish should one attempt it. Most likely you would have also found some sort of debris.
I remember when I was a child my father had a community tank and the small plec disappeared and we found him weeks later wedged under some rocks...decaying. He was really, really well hidden, someplace you wouldn't even think he could get into...maybe that was his demise, although it seems as if some fish will hide like that when about to expire, or unwell.

johnnyphoenix wrote:

x2, i got my latest tank from a friend who quit the hobby for her fish just kept dying.
When i took apart the tank, it smelled like dead fish.
I could not find anything so i had to take out the siliconed background.
There i found a corpse of a rotting fish...

Noddy wrote:


Ah the good ole days...reminds me of an ex...

johnnyphoenix wrote:


Sick! LMAO

johnnyphoenix wrote:

lol. ahhhh, come on man... Peeee uuuuuwwweeeee.