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I was planting some plants in my 29 gal. which sits a little high on my counter and having a difficult time because of the hight. I did get them all planted with out actually getting in the tank to do it. LOL That night I done the fish count and was missing a three lined corry. It drove me nuts, no body and all. The next day while still searching for a body I found it while viewing the tank from the other side of the counter. It was covered in about an inch of gravel next to the glass. I felt really bad and using a long soup ladel scooped up fish and the gravel surrounding it. With a real wonky zip this corry took off for any where else. That was about 5 months ago and the sad part is it is scared beyond belief of me now. It will not come out of hiding if I am anywhere close to the tank and even managed to convince its mates to hide from me. I have added a school of panda's and one of bandits since then but that particular fish hides all the time. I don't blame it, but I really did feel awful about the "planting".

the pleco in my 55 gallon tank jumps out of the tank on to the hardwood floor and was accually moving it self around the room i had no clue wat it was at first because i looked in the room from a distance and saw my dog like smelling it and just staring at it so i figured it was just his toy or something of that sort but it had been 15 minutes and he would not leave it alone and i went over and saw my pleco 15-20 from the tank then i threw him back in and i thought he would die but he was fine in the end

i once carelessy took a half eaten piece of zuccini out of my tank and put it in a small bag on my kitchen counter. within minutes, my wife was yelling and searching for the fly swatter to kill the "mutated slimy thing" dragging itself across the counter top.

turns out an african dwarf frog was lounging on the zuccini when i took it out. both the frog and my wife survived.

Oh yea, i had 2 male bettas living in the same tank for a week before i noticed.

(it is a wierd tank, and the reflections are wierd)

I noticed that the food wasnt being eaten in the other tank, and i was wonderin what was wrong, and here the betta jumped in the other side.

They didnt really do anything to each other. But i dont know what happened to them next.

that was a LONG time ago

This is not an extremely exiting story, but I have two guppies that have survived TWO tank cases of severe ich and fungus. All the other fish in the 29 gallon died. They are currently healthy and "getting it on" with the male guppy I bought for them. They deserve a little "sump'n sump'n" after surviving all of that!]

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

Picture this if you will:

Racso had a 46g bowfront tank with a full grown oscar, an 8-10 inch synodontis catfish and a well over 12 inch plus common plec. Yeah, overstocked, but that's not the point. This was before he knew any better.

Racso's family moved, so his grandparents, who were staying in the old house, were left to care for the fish. That wasn't such a good idea. On the days they fed them at all, they put waaaaaaaaay too much food in the tank. Then they just kinda stopped caring for them all together. The plec died. If any of you have ever smelled a dead plec, your gag reflexes should start working about now. Racso didn't find out about the plec until a few weeks later. Now we have a rotting carcass and a catfish and oscar swimming around in a substance that made toxic waste seem like spring water. The oscar developed a severe case of hole in the head, and the catfish showed signs of it too. Yet, both fish survived! They healed beautifully and now they are doing just fine.

><>Dani<><

A story a little like Bonke's, from about a year and half ago (I guess)...

My main tank is next to my bed, I was laying on it one morning trying to get motivated to get moving for the day, and was watching my tank from an upside down position (i.e. my head at the foot, I flip round like that to watch the tank sometimes) anyways...

I saw this sudden spurt of movement and them something shoot out of the tank, bounce on the mattress then fall down between the bed and the tank... Looking down I discovered an old gold CAE of mine, flapping about in the dust and cig ash (yes, I smoke *blush* and used to be messier) anyways, I grabbed him, coated in slime and dust etc and dropped him in the bucket of aged water I keep in my room for the next water change... swirled it round a bit, and gave him a dose of MelaFix... he didn't seem too happy at all... moved him back to the main tank a little later to get him back up to temperature, and he spent the rets of the day just sitting on the bottom "gasping"... come next morning though, he was fine and zooming about as per... he had gotten thru a gap about half an inch by an inch between the filter and the side of the tank (which was promptly sealed with plastic and tape), he was FLYING when he got to it and it was the worst kind of luck cause the rest of the tank was sealed tight... he grew to be 6 inches and then became "feral", so was returned to the pet shop. You can say what you like about CAEs, and we all know what thus they can be, but you have to hand it to a fish that can roll about it cig ash and live (It's why I currently have a couple small ones who were destined to end up in my big CA/SA cich tank when I get it finally, till I had a word with John Stone (I believe) who said that they can even have goes at full grown Oscars, so they are destined to get sent back too (when I finally get up energy to try and catch them, which is always fun))

A shorter, and cuter, story: when I got my current BN 2 or 3 months back, it was teeeeeny... I was using a DynaFlo HOTB filter at the time, and the outlet cascade plastic spurty thingy (the technical term for it) was in contact with the water in the tank... Once again, I was laying on my bed trying to get moving in the morning ('cept this time the right way round) and heard this splashing noise from the filter... looking, I found the BN in the BACK compartment. This means the little would-be-salmon had gone up the outlet bit from the tank into one chamber, then sucked her way up the filter pad (which owing to being ready for it's twice weekly clean was overflowing a bit) into the back section... I freaked, having visions of her getting spooked and jumping out if I tried to move it, so placed a net over the top and was trying to ease the pad out so I could get the net down to get her when she just casually swam out and back down the stream into the tank

Dex

Edit: I'll learn to spell some time, honest



Last edited by dextroze at 27-Oct-2004 06:24

I came home one day, went about feeding the fish, not even paying attention to the floor. My BF's moms dog Blacky was visiting us at the time, and I told him to go lay down, and went by him to feed the 10g tank occupants. I just started to put my foot down and felt something squishy. Well, having 2 cats, I assumed it was hairball or something and recoiled instantly. There was my female weather loach!!! She was all covered in white slime and I thought for sure she was dead. I picked her up and sure enough a weak wiggle. I popped her back in the tank, held her gently swishing her like one would a catch and release salmon, and she took off leaving the white gross slime in my hand. She was literally black and blue for weeks (huge bruise down her side). I think Blacky stepped on her (20lb dog not heavy unless you are a 4 inch fish).
On a sad note, 2 days ago I watched her swim over to the food area and lay over on her side. The 2 male weather loaches came bolting outta nowhere, and stayed by her side for the 5 minutes it took for her to pass away. I dont think she ever healed internally from the episode 4 months ago of jumping outta the tank.
It was so sweet that her "boy friends" stayed with her while she was in her last moments. She looked peaceful, just layed down and went to sleep forever.
RIP my lovely weather loach
female weather loach

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Mine isn't even mine. A friend of mine also kept bichirs, and one day found that his largest ornate bichir had become stuck in a ceramic brick decoration at the bottom of the tank....this was particularly troublesome since bichirs need to be able to breach and gulp atmospheric air periodically, or drown. He reached into the tank and did everything he could to ree the bichir, but it was stuck fast...so he did the only thing he could...wrapped the fish and brick in a towel, carried them out to the garage, and hit the brick with a hammer....dusted off the fish, dropped him back in his tank, and he was none the worse for wear after a few minutes.

Mine's not a story of a jumper or mechanical injury. Mine is the story of my baby Odessa barb.

I got 5 Odessa barbs and was keeping them in my 10 gallon tank. Some of them were quite sickly... one died within a week of the time I got them, but three of them were doing pretty well. One male. They did great on the fresh foods I was feeding them and showed breeding colors and behaviour. Unfortunately, they and the other fish in the tank ate any eggs that were produced. Except... One day I decided to move one of the plants from that tank into the tank next to it that was looking pretty sparse (no fish in the other tank). So I just grabbed the plant, shook the gravel out of it, and put it on the next tank. I don't think I rinsed it, but I may have. Anyway, about a week and a half later I saw some movement in the tank. At first I thought it was a worm or some other thing making its home in the tank that came in on the gravel that had been used for the other tank, or one of the plants I had gotten at a closer time to when it appeared. Then I saw it was a tiny baby fish. I figured it was something that came in as an egg on one of the plants I had bought, even though I had washed them very carefully. Before long, I noticed that the little fish had a black spot on the caudal peduncle. So I was wondering what it could be... well, as he got bigger I noticed the characteristic barb shape. An Odessa barb! Before I put the fish I planned in the tank he was in, he was big enough to go in with his parents. Didn't take him very long to grow that big at all. And now he's full grown, and looks just like his daddy (beautiful breeding colors and all). There are only three of them surviving in that tank now, but they're doing great. The baby, his daddy, and one of the females (not sure if she's the mommmy fish or not). I love that fish

><>

When we moved last year we had to have a neighbor keep our fish as we were in a hotel while the house was being completed. Anyway, when we went to claim our babies the tank was so filthy you could not see through it. There must have been three inches of crud floating around the bottom of the tank. We did not loose one fish... brought them home, cleaned out the tank in the yard and basically started over. All of them are alive to this date.

Barb

I just thought that this is a topic that would interest people: fish survival stories. Some hobbyists have had fish that have been through disasters with the least-possible chance of survival, yet they do survive. I think that all hobbyists who have had their fish experience this post here and recount the story for us to weep, laugh and cheer! Go on and post! &lt;img src='/images/forums/thumbsup.gif' border=0&gt;

This is an old one, from back when I was around 15 or so. I had this goldfish, which I kept in a fishbowl. I know now this was bad, but back then I didn't so no flames please. Anyway, that bowl was standing on an antique oven (not in use) and every day our cat would jump up there and drink from the bowl. At most it would playfully paw the water surface but nothing more until that fateful saturday. I was in the kitchen when I heard this awful crash and the cat came zooing out of the living room. She had managed to push the bowl off the oven, dropping it onto the stone tile floor... of course it broke. The goldfish was flopping around and ended up under the over, where it got completely coated in dust, it was totally grey when I managed to get it out. Next I ran to the kitchen, filled a longdrink glass with cold water from the tap and dumped the fish in there, never believing it would live. Only hours later I managed to get hold of a new bowl, the fish meanwhile was kept in a small vase. The fish survived, how I don't know, and for almost a year he/she lived in a new round bowl which was cleaned every weekend. Then my parents decided to make a nice big pond in the garden, about 10 by 3 meters, kidney shaped. The goldfish was the first fish in there. a couple of days later we added 6 white goldfish (whitefish?). Then next spring my old goldfish had doubled in size and the pond was full of fry, which later turned out to be partially gold and white. My old fish had procreated A definite survivor.

my arowana is in a tank in my bedroom -all the better for a midnight peek . one night i heard a bit of a thump... and the dog started barking wildly by the bedroom door (not unusual so i told her to shut up and go back to sleep). a while later i heard a wierd scraping at the door (and it was starting to freak me out...) so 10 min later i finally went to turn on the light only to find my arowana flopping around on the floor - must have been there for at least 20 min out of water! i put her back in the tank... swished her around a bit to get some water moving over her gills and get some of the lint off her scales, then went back to sleep hoping she'd be ok. sure enough she was swimming around with no more damage than some torn fins the next morning

OHHHH you had to didnt' you Tim


Tims fish that thought he belonged half way across the living room carpet.

Guess mine would have to be my sisters betta that I thought deserved better care than what it was getting. He was in about half a gallon of water, in a vase, that hadnt' seen a water change for months, and didnt' have a heater...@least there was a plant to consume some of the waste ....and all the leftover pellets that he just didnt' feel like eating when the temp was 58. He did nothing but lie on the bottom . By the time I got a 20 gallon to put him in ( dont' ask) and a heater he was showing signs of dropsy, but a few peas, heat and no pellets for a about a week (and tiny_clangers hand holding all that long time ago) allowed him to pull thru and live another year or so...not bad for a run of the mill petstore betta that went thru what he did.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*[/font][/font][/font][/font][/font]

I had a male blue gularis that jumped out of the tank, and ended up getting stepped on by babelfish's right foot.. and it kinda twitched a few times when we put it back in the tank.. but it didn't make it...

On the other hand, back in the day when i first started fishkeeping, i had 4 fantail goldfish in a ten gallon along with some decorations including a really big conch shell. Wake up one day and do a fish count, only to find three... nothing on the floor, the cat didn't look guilty, and we couldn't find any remains inside the tank. On some twitch of a brain neuron firing, my sister thought to look inside the conch shell. I twirled it a few times, and by some stroke of luck, out plops this limp goldfish. My mom started pushing it around the tank with a net to get some water past it's gills and my sister and i went off to school.

Well, the motherly touch worked, it was swimming around when i got home, and Dale ended up outliving the other three fish and becoming the largest of them all

My daft dwarf Gourami is constantly wanting to get to the food before the other fish. So much so he leaps out of the water to try to snatch the food out my hand. Countless times he's has leapt out and landed on the support bars. Twice he's leapt clear out of the tank I scoop him up and put him back in and he's not bothered. This is probably the equivalant of a twenty floor drop for a human ! Latest episode was tonight


Maybe I should put a rubber band on his tail so he can go bungee jumping ]

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

i was doing a head count in one of my summer ponds, *i had 2 tiger barbs, a small 1 in oscar* and whole turning over a rock i must have squished my fav tiger, i turned it back over and he was just lying there, no gill movement, no fin movement *it wasnt a flip over and flip back it must have been like a min or 2* so as fast as i could i started fish CPR it took like 3 min to get him to breath, i thought for sure he wouldent make it, i stayed with him for it must have been like 30 min before he started trying to swim on his own, a short while litaer he was back wih his buddy, but sadly a month or 2 later they both sucumed to ick they were cover so bad, and i did all i could i tryed all these meds, i took them to my grams when i went on a short vacaction and treated them untill their last breath, it was a sad day, and i know it was my fault

My clown loach jumped out of the tank, and we thought it was a mouse (we have pillows behind our tank, and we heard like a wierd sound) so we threw our cat over there, and he just walked away, we got brave, and saw our 8" clown loach out of the tank. He had to be out for at least 15 minutes.

But he is still alive today, and gonna turn 16 next summer (june)

Mine is a short WCMM story, happened a couple months ago.

At the time, my WCMM tank was on the kitchen counter and has a pebble substrate, so rather than gravel vac I just used the suction tube to clean &amp; water change directly into the sink.

At the same time I had a bucket filling with water to replace. I wasn't paying attention and found one of my red long finned WCMMs stuck to the side of the sink awhile after I was finished. No movement, even after I added some water.

I figured it was a loss so I rinsed the sink and started cleaning my other 5g. Big surprise when I took out the strainer and when rinsing the sink again up floated the white cloud, ALIVE.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean