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 Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 5:27 pm
Don't deny it. There has been some point in your fishkeeping experience when you thought you would try out some "brilliant" new mesh/net contraption to temporarily separate two fish, only to realize they can travel vertically, and that you set up a perfect death ring. Perhaps you decided to answer the phone, rather than pay attention to just how quickly the water flows out of your gravel vac. Maybe you started the suction with your mouth, and didn't quite pull it away from your face in time. Don't forget that time you spent hours coaxing a piece of driftwood (which you could swear is bigger than yourself!) to sink and stay on the bottom, arranged the rocks just so, attached some plants, started thinking you were the next "Amano" . . . only to realize you put the wood in backwards. Sometimes all you can do is laugh lol (and yes, I have done all of the above!) So what's your story?
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:13 pm
trying to catch all my fish to move them from the 10gal to the 20gal turned into a funny experience besides for my betta's ripped fins.
i had never felt a pleco before and didnt know how spikey and hard they were. my poor greengot got stuch in the net and i had to grab him and tug a little to get him out. he was fine but he did give me a small cut lol not to mention catching my cories was a nightmare, i have to use my gravel vac to take out almost all the water, just 4in left and it still took me another 15min to catch the little buggers lol
not to mention when i got back into fish and kept only bettas in their own tanks i forgot to put the dechlorinater into jesus's tank when i put him in. it took me a while before i realized i had forgotten, the poor thing was breathing so hard. i felt really bad
ive also just sat and watched as all my guppy fry got eaten by my otehr fish. i would have felt bad but i had put in loads of hiding places for them and they still stayed out in the open so i had no sympathy for them
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:40 am
A few years ago I tried to start a female betta sorority. I was trying to keep them well fed so they wouldn't decide to attack each other over food. Well, I kept them too well fed and they exploded.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:30 am
Shanna: Why don't aquariums just come equipped with drains in the bottom large enough for a fish to pass through? Open it up and let 'er rip! wink
Vanilla: I have always heard stories of that, but have always assumed it was more of a myth! Now, of course I have seen things like a lionfish which attempted to eat a fish larger than it's esophagus, and threadfin rainbows are notorious for their esophagus being narrower than their mouth. What exactly happened, and what did it look like? For example, did it appear that there was bruising from internal hemorraging, or did they literally split open?
I wonder if the issues arise from something like blockages in the intestines, and the muscles continuing to compact food down the intestinal tract, or if they literally eat more than they have room for. What really gets me is that in the wild fish have a nearly constant supply of food--if you watch a video they pick constantly at plants, algae, and whatever surface may contain little invertebrates and vegetable matter.
Perhaps it has to do with activity levels? I have always had fairly large tanks myself, keep schools of fish rather than individuals, and keep the decor mirroring a natural environment as much as is possible. I have always fed them real meat, invert, and vegetable meals in small portions, but multiple times a day. On top of whatever is growing or living in the tank, I leave little things for them to snack on when I'm not around, such as zuchini slices. Perhaps fish with a higher energy level due to a varied environment, schooling behavior, and high energy diets allows them to digest faster? I've never had a fat fish, and many of my fish have lived past their captive life expectancy, regardless of the fact that they seem to gorge themselves by some people's standards!
Very bizarre, I can't imagine coming in to see my fish all burst open! Do you (or anyone else reading) have any idea what could have caused this to happen? Anyone else have this happen to them? What was the fish's environment at the time of the "incident?" Of course, another question would be--how much did you feed them? eek Of course, if you would rather not say that's fine. I know when I first started keeping fish I did a few things I felt really bad about later. Like moving an agressive fish to his own temporary tank, and promptly forgot I put him in there until a good 4 weeks later. Don't ask me how I managed to pull that one off. We'll just say the fish didn't fare so well. ninja
While on the subject though, it reminds me that I haven't seen much in the guild regarding fish nutrition. Methinks that will be my next topic. 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:48 pm
It's probably because the pellets expand in water, so when the fish eat them they expand in their stomach. Their stomachs split open. They looked almost like they were in ammonia shock, floating near the bottom etc, except for their stomachs were open.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:58 am
Vanilla eXee
A few years ago I tried to start a female betta sorority. I was trying to keep them well fed so they wouldn't decide to attack each other over food. Well, I kept them too well fed and they exploded.
Oh my gosh, I have never seen that happen. At first I laughed and then I felt bad.
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Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:38 pm
I've sucked aquarium water into my mouth more times than I want to think about when I start my siphon. ~_~
Also, the first fry I ever saw from my wild-type sailfin mollies was eaten by my male krib 5 seconds later...ah well, circle of life and all that!
Don't know if this could be considered a mistake, but...I've got a heavily planted 10 gallon, and I put 8 adult white cloud mountain minnows in it over a year ago. I'd heard they were easy to breed, but I didn't think anything of it.
...I've now got roughly 30 white clouds in there and they're STILL spawning constantly x_X;;.
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:40 am
Feldspar I've sucked aquarium water into my mouth more times than I want to think about when I start my siphon. ~_~
I forgot about this, a few weeks ago I was doing a water change, I forgot to rinse my filter before turning it bac on, and all the muck on it backed up into my tank! It then killed the filter, luckily I had a brand new one sitting in my closet and I was able to switch them but the water was brown for hours. No deaths though.
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:27 pm
Ooff, I had an incident with a tank devider too. I needed to seperate my male honey gouramis, and I wanted something that looked natural. I wanted to make a row of bamboo sticks, but I couldn't find bamboo so I just too a random arts and crafts wood and cut it down to small bars and laced it tightly with rope. Not only did I find out that the fish could squish themselves through the sides, I also found out that some woods are poisonous to fish and can really ruin the water quality. Thankfully no fish died and I always have 2/3rds worth of prepared back up water in my appartment. I had a lot of incidents of combining the wrong fish species at first. My first tank was a 10 gallon and the 'centerpiece fish' were supposed to be a male and female pair of bettas. The breeder said that since they were raised from the same nest it would be no problem. The male nearly killed the female, so I separated them and medicated her. Since the male stayed in the comunity tank he healed slower. For reasons beyond me I placed her back in the same tank. She killed the male over night. Later I decided to try again and placed another male with her, which didn't last long eighter. Neighter did angelfish, male guppies, ghost shrimp or fidler crabs. ^^; Another deathly mistake I made years later. I have a bad habbit of buying the fish that are left over in the store. The ones that are all alone in a tank. A small, nameless, bright blue chiclid caught my heart and eye, and I decided to place it with my tempremental male angelfish. It turned out to be a juvenile elictric blue hap, an african chiclid. In a 20 gallon, you can guess the result. I angrilly returned the fish the next day. I also had a trio of Blood red highfin swordtails that I was planning to breed. After introducing them to the tank I forgot to close the hood. Next morning I found the male dried out on the floor and the store had no more males in stock and never bought any more of them (only one pet store on the island). I've also lost a german ram by forgetting to place the nuzzle on my hub. I'm not sure if the fish intentionally swam into the tube or got sucked in, but it was quite dead. When siphoning water from the tank I've also sucked up a tetra or guppy or two a few times, but that never lead to any deaths or trauma. A guilty confession, I like the taste of clean aquarium water. And though it's not as acurate as a test kit, I can taste and smell the difference between good water and bad. PH differences are most noticable I find.
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:08 pm
My supervisor at the aquarium can do that....tell the quality of the water by the scent.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 3:55 pm
Quote: It's probably because the pellets expand in water, so when the fish eat them they expand in their stomach. Poor dears. From what I understand, another good reason to soak pellets first is that air bubbles can cause digestion problems. Don't remember quite what the issue is beyond physical blockages, something about bacteria and dropsy. Quote: I've sucked aquarium water into my mouth more times than I want to think about when I start my siphon. ~_~ You know, I have yet to do that one, although I think I would much prefer that to a shot to the face and water up my nose! Quote: Also, the first fry I ever saw from my wild-type sailfin mollies was eaten by my male krib 5 seconds later...ah well, circle of life and all that! And a healthier meal compared to some of those flake foods on the market! wink Quote: ...I've now got roughly 30 white clouds in there and they're STILL spawning constantly x_X;;. I understand that one, I had a swarm of fancy guppies at one time. I swear every morning I had a few new additions. I had an enormous school of long-finned danios once, as well. Someone asked me how much it cost to purchase such a large school of fish. "Oh, about 8 bucks..." xp Quote: I forgot about this, a few weeks ago I was doing a water change, I forgot to rinse my filter before turning it bac on, and all the muck on it backed up into my tank! It then killed the filter, luckily I had a brand new one sitting in my closet and I was able to switch them but the water was brown for hours. No deaths though. That reminds of the demise of my one and only saltwater tank. Had an algae blockage in the intake of a powerhead which promptly fried it. Somehow it caused a power surge which electrocuted everything in the tank. Hell, it even killed the algae. I always check the quality and surge fail-safes inside all the hardware I purchase now, not to mention run everything through surge protectors. Quote: Ooff, I had an incident with a tank devider too. I needed to seperate my male honey gouramis, and I wanted something that looked natural. I wanted to make a row of bamboo sticks, but I couldn't find bamboo so I just too a random arts and crafts wood and cut it down to small bars and laced it tightly with rope. Not only did I find out that the fish could squish themselves through the sides, I also found out that some woods are poisonous to fish and can really ruin the water quality. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, right? It's just too fun to build things for the tank rather than simply purchase them, besides! Quote: For reasons beyond me I placed her back in the same tank. She killed the male over night. Later I decided to try again and placed another male with her, which didn't last long eighter. Neighter did angelfish, male guppies, ghost shrimp or fidler crabs. ^^; Personally, I have always found the females to be a bit more aggressive than the males in a "community" situation. They can be downright mean little buggers when compared to their male counterparts, despite the stereotype the males have. Quote: I have a bad habbit of buying the fish that are left over in the store. The ones that are all alone in a tank. A small, nameless, bright blue chiclid caught my heart and eye, and I decided to place it with my tempremental male angelfish. That one is so tempting. I have a soft spot for the sickly little Wal-Mart fish, myself. I have never bought them, but I do end up with my face glued to the tank as if I was seeing a doe-eyed pound puppy being lead to the euthenasia room. I really detest the selling of fish at Wal-Mart... Quote: After introducing them to the tank I forgot to close the hood. Next morning I found the male dried out on the floor The only fish I have had do that was a male betta. Go figure--you wouldn't think he could get up to speed with those wild fins! Luckily I heard him hit the floor and got him back into the tank without any major trauma. Quote: I've also lost a german ram by forgetting to place the nuzzle on my hub. I'm not sure if the fish intentionally swam into the tube or got sucked in, but it was quite dead. That does not surprise me in the slightest. I really have to watch my Rams when I am vaccuming the tank. They like to hang out and peck at the mouth of the tube where the water flow is the strongest, while all the other fish are running in fear. Very curious and fearless fish, they are. I'm opting for intentional on the part of your Ram. Quote: A guilty confession, I like the taste of clean aquarium water. Probably cleaner than city water! wink
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 6:42 pm
KerriganBryce although I think I would much prefer that to a shot to the face and water up my nose! KerriganBryce That reminds of the demise of my one and only saltwater tank. Had an algae blockage in the intake of a powerhead which promptly fried it. Somehow it caused a power surge which electrocuted everything in the tank. Hell, it even killed the algae. I always check the quality and surge fail-safes inside all the hardware I purchase now, not to mention run everything through surge protectors.
I have everything in my room on surge protectors. In the summer, the upstairs power always goes off like once a day because we use too much power. So all my fish (except the ones in my brother's room) and my tort are on a surge.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:02 pm
i feel so lucky, the tube i use to get water out of the tank has a small thing that i squeeze to get the water going and a little plastic mesh thing to keep fish from going in the tube ^.^ it was the cheapest one at the store too
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:15 pm
At home I just fill the tube with water then shake it up and down while holding the other end with my thumb to start the vacuum. I only really use it for getting up debris though, Then I use a pitcher to get more water out until I think I've taken enough. I just got a water conditioner, so now instead of having to wait until the weekend when I can get water, I can do changes more often if needed =D
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