Darn disappearing pictus cats!

[Ash]

Hey guys,

I got 3 pictus cats about a year ago & they all disappeared for a while, then only one resurfaced not long after - he/she's now grown to about 15cm & is a pretty cool fish so when I had some store credit today & thought why not get another one?

So I put him in & the first time I leave the tank alone for 5 min he's gone!

Are these guys super houdinis or is my luck just really bad with them? I don't usually have these sort of dramas!

I suppose my big synspilum might have munched him, though with the solid as pectoral fins on these guys I don't think he'd swallow him whole (he should theoretically get stuck if the synspil tried)

So has anyone else had these dramas with pictus cats just vanishing in the blink of an eye? I'd really like to get a school of them happening but with a 1/4 record thus far I'm a bit hesitant to waste any more money.

Thoughts?

Cheers

Ash

[Cuong]

What other kind of tank mates are in there? They might be a little scared? In the past my pictus have never disappeared for more than a day. They generally just cruised around the bottom in plain sight picking off the neon tetras at night . It were the kuhli loaches that were the houdini's in our tank.

[Ash]

5 x synspilums (one 25cm+ male, 4 12-15cm mostly girls)

1 x 15cm pictus (the lone survivor)

1 x 20cm+ Gibby

There's a Universal rocks background that isn't siliconed in but it's pretty tight, also a bit of wood & rockwork for them to hide in.

I really don't think the big synspilum could have swallowed him outright, they have tiny mouths for their size. The Gibby is a bit agro about his spot with the other pictus- though if he injured/killed the new smaller guy (about 8cm) surely I'd find him?

He disappeared in less that 5 min.

He's probably found a tiny gap & got himself behind the background

[r.d.m]

mine used to disapear for months on end ,they must find enough to eat because they keep growing!