What's the longest time a fish has hid on you for?

fishoholic · #1 09-27-2009, 12:00 AM

On July 18th I added a geometric pygmy hawkfish to my reef tank. After 2 weeks of not seeing it (at all) I feared the worse. However on Sept. 15 I saw him, it was just for about a minute, but he looked in good health

I couldn't believe that almost 2 months went by before I saw any sign of him in my tank. Well he must be getting braver because I saw him today, he was still sort of hiding in the rock but I could see him clearly and he stayed there for awhile, and he looks great

Not the best pic's but you get the idea
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Just wondering what other peoples experiences were.

parkinsn · #2 09-27-2009, 12:04 AM

I have a geometric hawk, i thought he was eaten by my trigger for sure but 2 or so months later he showed up and now i see him all the time. Now my lineatus wrasse has me a little worried, put him in a month or so ago took me a week to figure out where he was hiding and now i cant find him anymore

Skimmerking · #3 09-27-2009, 12:20 AM

my leopard wrasse it was like 3 months i thought he was dead.

Ian · #4 09-27-2009, 12:29 AM

Not a fish but I have a lobster that I have only seen 3 times in the 14 months he has been in my Bc 29.....

christyf5 · #5 09-27-2009, 12:43 AM

trimma goby, 3 years. Sadly the day I found him was also the day he died due to an unfortunate tank moving incident

bignose · #6 09-27-2009, 12:45 AM

My firefish went into hiding for a month when I added a fish.

fishoholic · #7 09-27-2009, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

trimma goby, 3 years. Sadly the day I found him was also the day he died due to an unfortunate tank moving incident

3 years! WOW! and I thought 2 months was a crazy long time for a fish to hide for. Sorry he died though

christyf5 · #8 09-27-2009, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishoholic

3 years! WOW! and I thought 2 months was a crazy long time for a fish to hide for. Sorry he died though

I know, I thought he had died in a tank overheat 3 summers before. I was totally shocked on moving day when he was hanging out in the tank after I'd taken all the rock in. And devastated when he died only a few hours later. Very cryptic fish. You'll also find that with your pygmy hawk. I had one of those as well, I had previously kept him in my nano tank and decided to move him into my 90gallon. Didn't see him for a couple of weeks and thought maybe he didnt' make it but about 2 weeks later there he was, cranky as ever, flipping me the bird from his hidey hole. As he got more comfortable he would spend more time out in the open so I saw him more often. He bit it in the tank move too. *sigh*

Delphinus · #9 09-27-2009, 01:00 AM

2 or 3 months for me too, was a lubbock's wrasse. Thought he was a total goner then one day he showed up.

Also had a sixline disappear into my sump earlier this year and had written him off before noticing him one day down there. Was also in the ballpark of several months.

fishoholic · #10 09-27-2009, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

I know, I thought he had died in a tank overheat 3 summers before. I was totally shocked on moving day when he was hanging out in the tank after I'd taken all the rock in. And devastated when he died only a few hours later. Very cryptic fish. You'll also find that with your pygmy hawk. I had one of those as well, I had previously kept him in my nano tank and decided to move him into my 90gallon. Didn't see him for a couple of weeks and thought maybe he didnt' make it but about 2 weeks later there he was, cranky as ever, flipping me the bird from his hidey hole. As he got more comfortable he would spend more time out in the open so I saw him more often. He bit it in the tank move too. *sigh*

That sucks your tank move didn't go so well

I had a firefish jump out during a tank move and it really sucks to lose a fish that way.

Seems like they are a pretty cryptic fish, there's not a lot of info. on them so I didn't know the were like that. I do love their colouration though.

On a side note, I'm surprised by how long fish will hide for. I always used to think a fish couldn't hide without being seen at all for any more then 2-3 weeks.