I feel like such a killer !

[Bloo]

I have a couple of Twig catfish. Or should I now say one ?
For those of you who have some - you'll know how incredibly lazy and inactive they are. Often not moving for hours. And sometimes I have to physically remove mine from a piece of wood or slate if I'm cleaning the tank - because by just lifting it, they just won't let go.

One of mine sometimes hangs onto one of my internal filters I have in the tank. And sometimes hides behind it a bit. Nothing wrong with that. Or so I thought......

Yesterday morning I noticed he was at an angle behind the filter but thought absolutely nothing of it - completely "normal". I came in very late last night and did not check the tank. Complete rush this morning and didn't check it either (just a fleeting glance). Tonight I see he's still in the same position and decide to just move him a bit. Only to find out he's dead
His long snout must have somehow got stuck and he couldn't free himself and just died there!
I feel absolutely awful that I did not have time to check and could have quite possibly saved his life. I'm totally gutted and feel like a killer

Quite alive a few weeks ago

 

[IMCL85]

poor little fishy

 

[kimbowee]

Awww sorry about your loss.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

hey bloozoo dont balem yourself it wasnt your fault

and sorry for your loss, they certinyl are interestign fish

 

[Bloo]

Thanks guys - I really posted this more to warn others with twig cats to be aware. Or just in general to check fish - I thought I did, but on this occasion I just did not notice the problem for what it potentially was

 

[Lynz781]

Maybe he just died anyway and it looked like he got stuck there?

 

[zig]

These things happen bloozoo from time to time, the other day i had to rescue a danio that had got stuck between a rock and some bogwood in one of my tanks, there he was just wriggling away....stuck...., but he was lucky i happened to be there at the time or he would probably have died from exhaustion trying to free himself, but the thing is that tank has been set up like that for probably 6 months with absolutly no problems.

Now obviously i have now rectified the problem and moved things around, but i suppose my point is that this problem was unforeseen by me and no matter how hard we try and make the enviroment safe for our fish, unexpected things will happen.

Anyway dont feel so bad, you can always make yourself feel better by a little shopping for another little fishie at you lfs

 

[Ben]

Agreed with Lynz
Although its very sad,(sorry for your loss ) i'm sure it wasn't your fault.
Sometimes, when ever one of my fish die, the first place i look when i notice they're missing is the filter,they were more or likley put there by the current.

Your one looked pretty big(well judging by the pic) maybe it died from old age?
and have you tested the water to see if anything was wrong there?

Sorry once again,

DD

 

[Bloo]

Thanks everyone. To make me feel better I'm going to my lfs today to see if they still have some in (I just saw a new batch in last week). He almost certainly did not die of old age or ill health - his nose was very firmly wedged into the bracket behind the filter
Judging by the new stock they have in at the moment, he wasn't quite fully grown yet, so still had a long life ahead of him in theory. Oh well, c'est la vie. We live and learn. Next time I'll know better