Missing fish

Question
Hi I have a small 10 gsl. tank with: 3 neon tetras, 2 male guppies, 1 cory catfish, 1 algae eater (little-not sure what kind) and I HAD 2 mickey mouse platys.  Both platys have disappeared.  One a while back, and one in the last couple of days.  Any idea who ate them?  I noticed this a.m. the little algae guy is misshaped and looks like perhaps he ate one.  Is this possible?
Thanks
Alice


Answer
Hi Alice,
  It is very unlikely that one of your other fish simply ate the platies.  Two other scenarios are most possible.  It could be that they jumped out -- look carefully on the floor around the tank.  Fish do this all the time if the tank doesn't have a complete cover.  You would be how small a space a fish can jump through and then they flip around on the ground and end up behind the furniture as what are often called "potato chips" (all dried out, unfortunately).  
 The other possibility is that the fish died and then the other fish ate the bodies.  The algae eater might have eaten a big chunk of the body unfortunately but that shouldn't cause any permanent damage.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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