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Hello and thanks for being here. Noticed yesterday my six-lined wrasse was missing. Did not immediately panic, 'cause he's great at hiding. Today I am concerned, though, - it's been 24 hours since last sighting. No tell-tale bulge in the brittle star...no ammonia spike - it's zero. Checked the filters, surrounding area etc., - no sign.

At what point should I begin removing the rocks etc. to find this little guy...?

What size is the tank?

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

its's a 55 gallon tank.

When you don't see him for a week and you see some ammonia then I would start taking things down. Otherwise people have not seen a certain fish for months only to have them show up again. I didn't see the 4" goby in my 20g tank for 3 or 4 days.

I would only take things down if you are having a problem with ammonias or nitrItes/nitrAtes etc.

I've had fish literally vanish. At least in my tank, if an animal dies it's consumed by other critters within 24 hours, which means often I dont even get the chance to manually remove it.

If you're seeing differences in the overall health of the tank, now I guess that's a different story. Wrasses are mischievious though, and keep in mind they hide in the sand bed too. I'm inclined to think he may have died/decayed already though, because sixlines tend to be quite social once established.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish