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I've killed one of my favorite fish. My sweet, brave Clio fell victim to the gravel vac when I wasn't paying attention. If you'll remember my previous thread about her, she was the betta girl who was hugely eggbound. I returned her to her community tank only to kill her not long after with my stupidity.

I was cleaning the tank when I stopped to pull some nasty algae off of a rock. I thought I had securely buried the gravel vac into the gravel while I did so, but apparently not, because when I looked up, she was in the intake tube. I couldn't cut off the suction quickly enough and she got stuck to the top, her side suctioned to the hole that leads to the hose.

It probably wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't had the scales ripped off her side by Liberty, the first male I tried to breed her with to relieve her of her eggbound situation. Unfortunately, she still had thin skin on her sides and the suction was enough to well... things that should be inside her were hanging out and she was bleeding.

I feel horrible... I couldn't stand to watch her suffer, so she was euthanized. I don't think anything short of surgery would have helped her, really. She still wasn't 100% since her eggbinding incident, so I suppose that's one of the reasons she couldn't escape the suction of the vac. I mean, I've had my girls snoop into the vacuum tube before and they've never had issues getting their nosy little selves out of the way.

So, a warning to you all... make sure you know where that gravel vac is going! And a moment of silence for one of my brave girls, one of the very first fish to go into this tank. She helped me cycle this tank without a bat of her eye, she was my alpha female and brought everyone together in her betta girl community. I guess I sort of thought she wasn't going to be the longest lived of all my girls (after that eggbound incident, she just never seemed to get back to her normal self), but I didn't mean to kill her! *sniffles*

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

im sooo sorry i just lost my only girl too, she devil although i dont think i feel worse than u im very sorry

I have eight more of her friends, but still, it's going to be hard, going to feed them and not counting out nine little betta heads.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Try not to feel so bad that you beat yourself up. I suspect that the average betta, male and female, don't live very long or happy lives. Before her accident you provided her with the equivalent of betta paradise.

I certainly hope so... she and the rest of the original five betta girls have been with me about a year, and the other four were added gradually since then.

They get a wide variety of food and my girls often get handfed or jump to grab food out of my hands... I think they like their home. They let me pet their smooth sides and like to nibble at my arms and hands when I clean the tank.

I've just... I've had fish get in the way of the vac before and even go up the tube, but they've never had a problem getting out of the way! She was still waddling a bit (perhaps still a bit eggbound) and should probably have been in a hospital tank, though I don't have one) so she couldn't get away, I guess. Just stupidity on my part and an unfortunate accident for my lovely little girl. *sigh*

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I'm so sorry for your loss. That situation happened to me too I was panicking when I realized my swordtail got stuck in the vac, my dad reached in and grabbed the gravel vac and pulled the tube off of the hose and the fish fell back into the tank unharmed but don't blame yourself for it fish are fragile and stuff happens.
Kat


Last edited by adoptbettafishes at 28-Jan-2005 18:07

Sorry about your loss. Next time pay more attention & do one thing at a time.



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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com