I have a question as to what you do when the unfortunate happens and you lose one of your fish. The other day I counted my guppies and was short one. I have a mountainside looking piece of decor that my fish can hide in and I can't see in. I decided to give it a day in case they were hiding out, but alas, when I lifted the mountain out, I found the remains. I removed what I could, but they deteriorate so fast. How bad is this for the rest of the fish? I performed a partial water change, and my parameters are fine, but I worry about the other fish getting sick. Now I have some shrimp and I found one dead this morning. If he died in the mountain I wouldn't know and his body would decompose as well.
How bad would that be for my tank? Taking the mountain out is a big hassle with the long leaves of my plants and my Pleco hides out in there all the time. If I don't see him for a few days I worry about him too. Its 20 gallons, a rotting fish would pollute it pretty fast I think. Should I avoid decor that I can't see in, or is this something that everyone goes through?

This will happen in fully stocked tanks and if the tank is balanced out and mature it will have no effect on other life other then providing some food.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I don't like decor that has the small hole underneath that allows fish to get up inside it...and most pieces will have these holes to help it sink. Since your tank is planted, why not go fully natural and get some driftwood?

The entire mountain is hollow, with a few holes for the fish to swim in. It really looks good with the Cryptocoryne spirals, and the female guppies like to hide from the males there. My Pleco lives in it too. When I bought it, I didn't think of fish dying in there hidden. I'm new to the hobby, this is my second tank, which I started three weeks after my first. In future, I'll look for pieces with hidey holes I might be able to peer into. Overall I'm pretty proud of my tank. The guppy and shrimp are my first and only casualties, and I really like the real plants. I'll try not to worry about it so much if it doesn't hurt the other fish. Thank you for the feedback guys.