My amphibians are vanishing without a trace!
Hostile 17
phenomenon in my little 5 gallon freshwater tank. First, a little
fire-belly newt that everyone loved just vanished one day without a
trace (had him for five months). After a period of mourning, I bought a
paddle-tail newt to replace him. Then my little African dwarf frog
vanished without trace (had him for six months)!
The tank is a closed model (Regent) with no space to escape anywhere.
Moreover, I tore the entire first floor of the house apart when the
first newt went missing. There's no evidence of decaying parts or bones
for either of these animals inside or outside the tank.
The other denizens of the tank are a Betta, two fancy-tail guppies and a
single neon tetra. There is also a golden mystery snail which has grown
to significant proportions since being added to the tank in the last two
months. Can snails eat amphibians?
Does anyone know what could be happening here? Both the frog and
original newt were much beloved by my family and visiting friends. Are
any of these species carnivorous? I was told upon each purchase by the
pet store that my aquarium inhabitants were all compatible with each
other - now I'm wondering if that is true.
Any help would be appreciated.
John
Jennifer
<snip disappearing critter stories>
> Does anyone know what could be happening here?
I don't know about the eating habits of your critters, but I can tell
you two similar mystery stories, one of which remains unexplained to
this day!
1. I had two newts in a 10 gallon aquarium for almost a year. No
other creatures in the tank, and it had a mesh screen lid that was on
24/7, unless I was cleaning the tank. One day, BOTH of them were
gone. Poof. The lid was on the tank securely, and they were never
climbers anyway. There was nothing to eat them; they were just...
gone. If they escaped, I never found them.
2. My husband had an african frog when he was a kid. One day, the
frog was gone. His family guessed that the frog had escaped, but
couldn't figure out how, and couldn't find it anywhere. Several
months later, his mother rolled the refrigerator out for spring
cleaning, and found a small froggy skeleton stuck to the floor. The
kitchen was three rooms away from the aquarium.
Your critters were probably aliens in disguise, visiting from another
planet in another dimension, and the mothership came and picked them
up... or else, they're underneath a major appliance :)
--
Jennifer