Black Calvus burying itself?

[jrthor_85]

Several weeks ago someone had posted asking if it was normal for their Calvus to disappear from time to time, and I had responded that mine had just reappeared after I thought it eaten and missing for 2-3 weeks.

This time, my Black Calvus has just reappeared in my 125 African tank after 3+ weeks of being missing. Over those three weeks, I had removed every decoration in the tank twice during water changes and yet the fish was still nowhere to be found. Yesterday I went to feed and was shocked to see the calvus back out and about, looking a little slimmer than I remember but still beautiful. I couldn't image where he had been hiding, but my wife suggested maybe he had buried himself in my sand/crushed coral substrate, which I had never considered.

Are calvus known to bury themselves for any length of time (3+ weeks of no eating) even after I confirmed there was no structure in the tank for him to hide in?

 

[lorax84]

It's more likely that he was just wedged in the crevasse of one of your decorations. In the wild hide in cracks the way shell dwellers hide in shells. They push themselves in, then push their body against the side of the crevice so they cannot be pulled out. Depending on the decorations, the fish could easily be missed.

 

[Pharaoh]

Yeah, he was most likly hiding in one of the decorations. They are known for hiding inside of deco and being impossible to get out.

 

[jrthor_85]

Yeah, he was most likly hiding in one of the decorations. They are known for hiding inside of deco and being impossible to get out.

Thanks for the reply, but as I said, I removed all the decorations from the tank. Decor is mostly stacked, smooth sided rocks, a couple broken terra cotta pots, and then one plastic "log" decoration that does have many nooks and crannies. All of the decor was removed from the tank until after the water had drained and refilled, and then I replaced the decor. The decor was out of the tank, out of water completely for over 90 minutes on two different occasions. I do not think a fish wedged into that would survive for that long out of the water. The plastic log I have is hollow, and has had fish in it before several months ago, but I then hot-glued some screen mesh over the openings so there is no possible way for any fish to get in there.

With the decor out, the only possible hiding places in the tank are up behind the sump returns (which is above the water line when doing a water change), and in the 2-4" deep substrate. There is simply no other possible hiding place.