Where Is He????

[Loryen]

Well, on Wednesday I brought home my new betta boy, a red hump-back/plakat named Finnegan. He settled in wonderfully, and he was living in my 5 gallon Fluval Chi (heated, filtered, and cycled).
The day after I got him, I went to the dentist, and after that went shopping. I was out for about three hours. When I came back, Finn was gone. I mean, LITERALLY, gone. He wasn't in his tank, no matter how hard I looked. I thought he may have jumped out (though I did have a lid on the tank), and looked all over the floor. No Finn. I took apart the filter to see if he was sucked in. No Finn.
My question is, do you have any idea where he could be? Have any of you had this kind of problem before?

Thankyou,

Loryen

[Betta Slave]

The same thing happened to another member a year or two ago... very odd.
Do you have any pets at home who could've eaten him?

[LittleBettaFish]

When bettas jump out, not only can they jump far, but they tend to flop around quite a bit which takes them even further away from the tank.

They are also smaller looking than you would think out of water, and easy to miss. I have found bettas several feet from their tanks, and if you have cats the movement might have attracted them and they might have found him before you did.

I'm sorry if he has jumped out. You always get that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you should have checked sooner or put a lid on. With my bettas and plakats especially, I drop the water level down by about 2 inches if my tank has no hood or lid. That way they are less inclined to jump.

[Loryen]

Well, I do have a dog but he wasn't the door was locked that lead upstairs to Finnegan's tank. I suppose he probably jumped out, but I did have a lid on top of the tank. It was just mesh, though, with some spacing for the filter water feature, so he may have been able to squeeze out some how. Will he start to smell soon? (because then I may be able to find him :p)

[xswornxoffxjello]

Yikes! I'm sorry that that happened. I don't know if this helps, but one time that I thought I'd had a fish disappear, I found him underneath the tank! (It had a net at the bottom. I never imagined he could squeeze himself in there.) Another time, I had an African Dwarf Frog that somehow got out of his tank. I found him three feet away, dried up on the floor. :( I hope you find him!

[Oldfishlady]

Its amazing how small a hole these guys can jump through....I had one just a month or so ago jump through a dime size hole in a QT I had him in and have never found him and he was on loan too...dang the luck......I had one jump once and I found it stuck to the drapes, I have found them stuck to the wall before and one under the lip of a throw rug ans so true they are much smaller out of the water since their fins are all clamped together...really hard to spot them sometimes and once they dehydrate...even smaller.....I have not found that they have a smell or at least mine have never had a smell once I found the dehydrated body....sorry for your loss......

[Littlebittyfish]

A few days ago the same thing happened to me. I took my lil guys whole tank apart. He wasn't in there anywhere and his tank had a hood on it...unfortunately I didn't think to close up the 1"x2" hole in the hood for cords...somehow he managed to jump out during the night..and he didn't make it.I have learned my lesson though..Even the tiniest hole in the tanks hood will now get closed with something!
Some fish can survive the fall.My fish Cleo's tank got knocked over in December and he fell really far! but he still managed to survive.. I hope you can find him soon and he is ok.. Check every nook and cranny!

[Pekemom]

Loryen,

I have the same tank and I lost a tiny female initially, too. I couldn't find that fish anywhere and it was driving me crazy. Finally, hours later, I took the intake apart. And there she was, stuck high up in the filter intake. I learned my lesson and now cover the intake tube with a piece of stocking. Have you taken the intake completely apart?

[fleetfish]

Loryen ... I'm so sorry, I know how much anguish you can go through when you've not only lost a betta, but you've lost their body. Hope you can find you betta boy and put his spirit to rest.

I always have covers on my tanks ... I've learned the hard way too many times not to. I lost my favourite betta ever because he had jumped through a slightly opened lid. I found him several feet away, close to the heating vent. It was far too late to save his life.

[tracyalexa]

Sorry to hear this. Will be going straight home to close up all holes. I didn't realize they could get through such small areas...or that the aim was that good!