Miracle Fish!

[FishySarah]

Last Friday I went to the lfs and bought some fish. (2 mollies one platy). I was in a hurry, and after acclimating the fish for about 20 minutes I let them into the tank and tossed the bag into the garbage.

Then I went away for Memorial Day, and was gone until Tuesday.

Sometimes on Wednesday, I gathered up the trash to bring it out for garbage day. And to my horror, I saw a fish in the bag! My female platy never made it into the tank. In my rush I threw out the bag with her in it. Sadly, I lifted up the bag- and to my amazement, she moved! There was only enough water in the bag to cover her- yet she survived for 6 days in the garbage!!!!

I can't believe it. Soon she was swimming happily around my tank and is doing great. I don't usually name my fish, but I had to name her- Miracle, Mira for short. I am so happy! I've now had her for over a week in the tank and she is doing fine, frisky as anything.

What a story! Has anyone else had a story of fish survival like that?

 

[CrystalClear16]

Poor lil platy! Maybe she deserves a few treats to make up for it

I haven't had anything quite as dramatic but the other week I did managed to bury a clown loach alive. They had burrowed into the sand underneath the slate, but I thought it was just a little hole so I filled it in. I cleaned the rest of the tank and my boyfriend pointed out he could only see 5 loaches - it turns out they had made a huge cave under the slate and I had buried one of them when I filled the hole in!

He looked a bit miffed.

 

[the biffster]

in the fish room one night changing filter wool in bubble up the filters
i was tipping them out in to fish room slop bucket
i did every week anyway changed them all and started
the next day doing graval cleans any way went to pick up the slop
bucket to clean it out as i needed it to syphon the
old water in to anyway could you imagine my shock
when i looked down and there was baby bristlenose
swimming around the bottom of the slop bucket

 

[furry catfish]

Very resiliant fish .in about 2006 my family had a tropical tank but all the fish died in their so we turned off all life support (heating,filteration,food) and just left the tank in the hall (I wasn't perticulary interested in aquatic pets back then) then in 2009 I cleaned out the tank so I coulhave an axolotl and found a fish!,it was a weather loach that dissapeared in the last days of the tanks life but it had managed to live,I understand how it lived without heating as it is natuarlly a cold water fish sold as tropical and I understand how he lived without filteration.But to this day I have no idea how he lived without any food for 3 years.

 

[FishySarah]

wow, maybe he ate algae? What a story!

 

[SlyPolak]

You left water in an empty tank in your house for 3 years
EW!!!!! STANGNANT WATER ANYONE??

 

[the biffster]

i i shut a tank down i used to drain it
take all the stuff out of it and fill it
back up with clean water then i used to use it
to do top ups and W/C and stuff like that
but it would get all used in a week and need filling
again and always there if i needed a tank with water in
could have a Q/T up and running in ten mins

 

[SlyPolak]

ALSO.... would'nt even 1000 gallons EVAPORATE over 3 years No matter how cold...

 

[the biffster]

ALSO.... would'nt even 1000 gallons EVAPORATE over 3 years No matter how cold...

never thought about it like that i wonder how much water
is lost out of a tank over year through evaporation

 

[furry catfish]

it was only 25 gallons but after 3 years it had only evaporated 1 third down

wow, maybe he ate algae? What a story!

Yea that's what I thought fo a while but weather loaches are quite big so I don't think he would have sustained on algae for long

 

[JoshuaA]

The question is what did you do with that 3 year old abandoned fish?

 

[furry catfish]

I kept it for a while in my axolotls tank (obviously before i bought the axolotl) and then gave him to my lfs

 

[SlyPolak]

it was only 25 gallons but after 3 years it had only evaporated 1 third down

ONLY a third in 3 years really??? Yoou MUST live in cold weather because here in florida I can lose 3/4 gallons a week thats why I do water changes EVERY week on the week..... Im so used to doing those water changes its like breathing...

 

[Larkspur]

Yeah I keep my tanks at 80 and I lose at least a half inch a week on my 5.5 gallon tank.

 

[furry catfish]

I live in Englanndand it was in the hall so yea it was pretty cold