zowie717

well, I lost one of my melachromis interruptus. he was my domiant male and beautiful.

during my DIY project that was nearing completion, i removed all the rocks from the tank to prepare for the new aquascape. (posted in diy thread) i left in a few plants, did a cleaning and put in a plastic cave grotto that has air that comes out of it but i dont hook it up. they loved this little thing it had holes they can swim through..but i noticed that on the bottom and in the middle there is a hole you can see that goes down into the bottom of the thing...i noticed when i first had it in my tank long time ago when they were just baby babies...they would go in and out and i always thought when they got bigger they wouldnt fit in there. well i became uncomfortable with it and of course rearranged my tank alot..so i took it out......well i just wanted to throw something in couple days ago cause i had all the rocks out of the tank and didnt want to put them all back in too take them all back out..so i put this in and thigns were fine......

i took it out yesterday and drained it over the tank like i normally do.... because it holds water at bottom... well today i noticed my yellow lab was very very agressive towards other fish....and he was the dominant male.....so i started looking for bully boy.... so my only conculsion was he was in the plastic grotto i got form petsmart....... i filled up the bathtub with water and in hopes of him mabye being alive i put condintner in the water and waited......but i found him in the deep hole when he floated up......i didnt know it went that deep.....basically its all hollow and that hole they can swim anywhere in there through the whole thing!!!!

i still cant get him out......but am so mad....... number 1 because i always.....always do a head count anytime i clean, rearrange so forth because you never know.....i didnt yesterday.... and number 2...... because i shouldnt of put this back in the tank.....and number 3.......because this shouldnt be made like this........ so want to let everyone know to be careful when you buy stuff from the stores and take heed to my irresponsibility and check you decorations before you take them out......... i will miss my bully boy........he was the coolest........i did have a causaulity free tank until today..... so please be careful...and plug up holes if you have them...they can fit anywhere cause they are so agile.....





i will miss you bullyboy.......so sorry..........

ABCDemily

Oh I am so, so sorry about this I had a similarthing happen with a Platy, and it's just heartbreaking. Sending you my fishy prayers

aquarist48

Oh no!!!!! Sorry to hear about your loss. Try not to beat yourself up over it. Sometimes things happen that is out of our control. I'm sure he had a wonderful home life and a great Mom.
Thanks for the heads up Zowie!
Ken

Lucy

I'm so sorry that happened.
Thank you for posting this. It serves as a warning to us all.
Hopefully this will prevent the same thing from happening to others.

In fact, I have a decoration in Scarlett's tank (my betta) that she could swim up into if she tried.
I'll be plugging up those holes now.

RIP bully boy, you were beautiful.

zowie717

it bites....how did yours get stuck .....i would of rather dropped a rock on him or something....not knowing that he was probably suffering as i had that sitting outside the tank to dry off...i will not use anything like that ever again.. and i pretty much have all my rocks and home made aquascaping now.....but thats something you could throw in a quartine tank or something.. but thank you...... i cant believe i did this to him....feel so bad.....

zowie717

they get so crazy when you are in the tank....first they think FOOD then they are like whats going on and scattered.....no i know to be extra extra careful....i dont have anything in my other tanks like that so i should be okay....but yes plug those puppies up.......i would of never thought he would of went in there he was a big boy....but should know better......he was a cichlid and loves the holes..... thank you for your empathy.....i feel like the worse mommy in the world......but if it prevents something bad happening to someone else......then i can feel better about it....

ABCDemily

Mine just buried his way under and got stuck, she must have shredded himself trying to get out because he was really beat up when I found him.

bolivianbaby

So sorry you had to go through this Thanks for the warning. Maybe it'll save another life

harpua2002

Glad you posted this. When I first started keeping fish I had the same thing happen with a gourami that got stuck in a fake log ornament from Petsmart. I couldn't believe that the whole inside was hollow like that. I haven't bought a fake ornament since and have had MUCH better luck with natural decor.

Sorry for the loss of your fish, I can definitely relate.

gmen4life

i feel your pain i bought a big wterfall from petsmart and somehow a red tiger barb got stuck inside of it at the same time my pictus did so i cut the plastic with a razor knife saved the pictus wich is still here but the barb was dead!!!i was mad how do those idiots design a horrible product like that? sorry for your loss deco desiginers need to think a little more

Shawnie

oh no zowie!! im so sorry for the loss of your lil man dont be hard on yourself...ive had bettas for years and years and one of my boys got stuck in a part of a deco that id never dream of him going into recently...part of an eye on a skeleton ...sometimes we underestimate them and things happen...he had a great life with you and sometimes we all learn things that are hard ...I hope you get another bully boy soon!