Water Change Tragedy

[Lesley]

Had a major disaster happen this evening. Was doing a 25% water change, syphoning with half inch pipe as normal, when my Golden Gourami got nosey and shot up the pipe. Was wedged tightly. I placed the whole pipe into the tank whilst I found the scissors - cut off the pipe containing the Gourami and placed it in the bucket. There I managed to carefully snip the pipe away. The fish was probably stuck in there for at least two-three minutes - during which time I kept it under water as long as possible.

The Gourami is now very subdued, and has a bit of blood (like bruising) on its Pectoral Fin - other than that it looks ok. Do you think she'll be ok? I feel so guilty - but it really was an accident

Any suggestions?

 

[WILDER]

Bless him but you did a good job, he will be stressed from the ordeal, as for the fin all i can sugest is maybe some melafix, as he could have internal bleeding.

 

[Lesley]

Thanks for your fast reply Wilder. Since making the post he is already swimming much better. I will get some Melafix in the morning - thanks for the recommendation.

I hope he's gonna be ok

 

[WILDER]

Me too, good luck and fingers crossed bless him.

 

[Matty]

if you use a dechlorinator/stress coat like i do, you might want to add some of that to the tank. also, keep the lights off and put him in a quiet room. Good luck and good thinking!

 

[comedykicks]

So sorry that it happened to you! But as long as he didn't "break" anything, he'll be ok as soon as he recovers from the shock.

I have the same problem when I'm cleaning my fry tank but the good thing is that they're so small, they ususally don't get stuck and somehow manage to swim out just fine.

 

[fishdisease]

can you please tell me why no one on this site will reply to my forum topic - is it because its boring???
i want to know if my 60 litre tank is overstocked or is it okay.
i have 6cm discus-15 cm ghost knife- 3cm cat fish -5cm angel and 5 cm bala shark, thanks

 

[Bignose]

fishdisease, it is fairly rude to hijack someone else's thread -- your reply had nothing to do with this question. Also, to expect a reply in 7 minutes (3:40 when you posted your original question and 3:47 when you posted in this thread) is pretty darn unreasonable. Considering that someone did get back to you in 13 mins, that' pretty good.

And, as to the original poster, I think this pretty much goes to show that if you give the fish the proper care: good water, good food, and do all the required tank maintenance, that fish are not quite the fragile creature we make them out to be sometimes. In fact, they can be downright hardy and resilient. Case in point, how many times have there been posts of someone finding fry after leaving a tank to sit (no filter, no food, nothing) for like 2 months? Several that I remember.

 

[Lesley]

Thanks everyone for your support. Phew he's back to his usual self this morning, he's back swimming round with his partner - thank god for that - I laid awake in bed for ages worrying about him.

A few of his scales look ruffled (best way to describe them) - will these get better? I went to the local fish shop this morning, no Melaix in stock but they are expecting it this afternoon - so will pop back and get some.

Will it be ok to put Melafix into the tank - there are some fry in there (all three of them) - they are in a floating fry tank. Am in the process of getting a quarantine/fry/hospital tank - when we decided to get this tank we didn't realise the amount of highs/lows we would experience.

Am reluctant to do any more water changes after this has happened - anyone got any suggestions?


Thanks once again,

Lesley

 

[Littlelady]

Thanks everyone for your support. Phew he's back to his usual self this morning, he's back swimming round with his partner - thank god for that - I laid awake in bed for ages worrying about him.

A few of his scales look ruffled (best way to describe them) - will these get better? I went to the local fish shop this morning, no Melaix in stock but they are expecting it this afternoon - so will pop back and get some.

Will it be ok to put Melafix into the tank - there are some fry in there (all three of them) - they are in a floating fry tank. Am in the process of getting a quarantine/fry/hospital tank - when we decided to get this tank we didn't realise the amount of highs/lows we would experience.

Am reluctant to do any more water changes after this has happened - anyone got any suggestions?


Thanks once again,

Lesley

I really do not have enough experience yet to advise you about the melafix but I can say that I siphon water out of my tank (and dirt) during water changes in the same way that you do and have often wondered/worried about fish getting sucked in so I usually hold my thumb really close to the tube opening and if any fish come anywhere near I just pop my thumb over the hole and wait till they move on, another way as long as you are not trying to suck up debris off the substrate is to hold the tube opening against the front glass.......good luck next time and don't be put off - the water changes need doing
I know what you mean about the highs/lows - I wasn't prepared for them either!!

 

[Jules H-T]

I use the opportunity offered by water changes to vacuum the gravel using an implement that for want of a better description looks like you could attach to a hoover and "enlarge your manhood". It's a 12" pipe 2" in diameter, open at one end and tapered into a 5 ft long 1/2" diameter tube at the other.

For starters the suction at the open end isn't that high, also it's stuck in the gravel, and finally you've got 12" of fat pipe before the going starts getting really rough for the fish.

If you can't get hold of something like that, then just angle the end of the tube horizontally into one of the joints between the walls of the tank. Should allow water, but not fish, to get sucked out.

 

[WILDER]

I would go in with half a dose of melafix with having fry, good news he back to his old self, thank goodness.

 

[Torrean]

Is the melafix supposed to be for internal bleeding...sorry wilder I'm a little confused by your post. I think the melafix would be a good idea for any fin damage or damaged scales but I wasn't aware that it was good for internal damage. If so then cool just one more thing one of my favorite meds can do.

 

[WILDER]

No it's not for internal bleeding, it's for the damaged fin just to make sure it dosn't get infected.
Nothing can be done for internal bleeding.

 

[Tolak]

I do the thumb over the end of the siphon trick as well. With 3/4" i.d. hose, sometimes they go for a ride into the 35 gallon can. I just net them out & toss them back in the tank.

If you are using the hose just for draining, poke a hole in a piece of filter sponge & slide the sponge over the end in the tank, similar to a pre filter. This is the only way to do water changes on tanks with small fry.