Hagen ladder from Co2 system

[houndour]

Hiya,

I posted a message in the general forum but I figured you guys here would benefit more from my experience...

Wednesday night my boyfriend noticed a guppy was missing...on inspection he was stuck in my hagen ladder for the CO2 to diffuse from. There is a hole just at the bottom on the left hand side and it leads all the way through to the top.

Luckily then he must have only been stuck for 10 mins max as I had only just fed them and all were present (apart from my botia...haven't seen all 3 together for about a week now).

Anyway, I feel really irresponsible...I should have blocked the hole there and then or removed the ladder, but I didn't

Last night I came home to find the same guppy missing and he was stuck in the ladder diffuser again I thought he was dead, but he wasn't. He must have been in there for a long time and he's panicked and ripped his entire tail off. :'(

I rushed out to Pets at home and got some melafix and put it in the tank straight away. I dont have a hospital tank, so I've put him in a breeder compartment cos the other guppies were trying to bite his wounds. He's still alive this morning and looks healthy. I hope he pulls through. I think if he's survived this long then the only thing that might kill him is if it gets infected. It says on the bottle to continue dosing for 7 days. So I will do that.

I've had to remove my CO2 completely for now because I couldn't find anything to block the hole with. I guess a bit of sponge would do the trick.

It's not likely that this would happen to anyone else, but I thought I'd let you guys know, so it's up to you if you block the hole.

Sam

 

[George Farmer]

Actually I have lost a Rummynose tetra that way. Now my Vallis is too thick and blocks the fish from getting too near the diffusers.

 

[jimbooo]

yep so far i've has a cardinal tetra, 2 guppies and 3 otto's all stuck in there at various times. all survived though - stupid fish.

you may have noticed my fish have been demoted to "living plant fertiliser" with my priority being the plants. it's funny how things change as time goes on.

 

[George Farmer]

you may have noticed my fish have been demoted to "living plant fertiliser" with my priority being the plants. it's funny how things change as time goes on.

I know what you mean Jimbooo. I see fish as almost moving decorations that combine with plants and enhance the view of the overall picture. That's why I think one or two species on display is more visually stunning than lots of different species. It depends on whether one prefers a fish tank or a tank with fish.

Not that I perceive fish with less importance; on the contrary I do everything in my power to create a comfortable environment for them. I probably have 8 times the biological filtration required for my stocking levels and use almost 25 litres of RO water a week in water changes. I feed them 5 different types of dry food supplented with various frozen foods. Obviously looking after plants my will in turn help the fish too. Healthy plants - Healthy fish.

 

[houndour]

Well for me it's my fish that are important. They have feelings. I'm trying not to go off on one but just recently I saw a post of someone saying they weren't going to bother with a 95 cents fish. My guppy only cost me £2 but he's still a life and I'm doing everything I can to save him. I'd sooner risk my plants temporarily without CO2 than risk another fish hurting themselves in my ladder.

Sorry, rant over.

 

[George Farmer]

Well for me it's my fish that are important.

If that is directed at me then you seem to have misinterpreted what I have said.

I Quote myself "Not that I perceive fish with less importance; on the contrary I do everything in my power to create a comfortable environment for them. I probably have 8 times the biological filtration required for my stocking levels and use almost 25 litres of RO water a week in water changes. I feed them 5 different types of dry food supplented with various frozen foods. Obviously looking after plants my will in turn help the fish too. Healthy plants - Healthy fish".

 

[houndour]

it wasn't directed at anyone. I was just giving my opinion as to what is important to me. I didn't take jimbooos comment too seriously, jimboos lucky none of his fish were hurt.

I'm not being bitchy or anything. I was just a bit upset last night when I found my fish. It's really quite a horrible thing to see a fish with no tail, and I feel awful about it because it was my fault for not removing or making the ladder safe sooner.

 

[jimbooo]

i dont think that was you gf225, no question your fish are happy as a pig in mud.

and hondour: just to clarify i do love my fish but after a while all you can do with them is feed,clean and watch.

i'm a fiddler so my time goes into the plants (or i'd end up with 50 tanks full of fish)

 

[George Farmer]

it wasn't directed at anyone. I was just giving my opinion as to what is important to me. I didn't take jimbooos comment too seriously, jimboos lucky none of his fish were hurt.

I'm not being bitchy or anything. I was just a bit upset last night when I found my fish. It's really quite a horrible thing to see a fish with no tail, and I feel awful about it because it was my fault for not removing or making the ladder safe sooner.

No worries.

 

[smithrc]

we/ve had black phantoms stuck behind it too...

hmmm i thugh it was just our fish that were too curious for their own good...

 

[houndour]

Guppy is still alive and active Fingers crossed the Melafix will help heal him.