Cory in the Toilet! Update

***Question at the bottom***
I’ve had a really bad day and my new cory just had a worse one. I was scooping 5 corys out of the bag to put in my quarantine tank and I thought I had gotten all of them. I poured the bagged water into the toilet and saw a 1 second glimpse of an emerald Cory right before it went into the hole at the bottom of the toilet. I cried for about 5 minutes freaking out and knocking on the base of the toilet trying to get it out of the hole. I tried sticking something down there to scare it out and that took a couple of minutes. I ended up tapping the handle to move some water and saw him shoot out. A couple more minutes and I had him scooped out in my hands and ran him to the quarantine tank.

Does anyone know or have a guess whether or not he’ll live? He was down there for about 10 minutes. Right now he’s reacting to touch but not really movement, I think he’s in shock so I turned out the light and am going to leave it off for at least 24 hours.

 

Oh wow, at least he was saved! My concern would be if there were any cleaning agents used in the toilet within the past week or so as well as the chlorine in the untreated toilet water. He should make it given enough time to settle down. Cory catfish will sometimes excrete a toxin when scared or in distress, I'm surprised he didn't this time. When I net my fish I do it into a bucket, check the bag and water, then dump the water in the bucket from the bag down the drain and throw the bag away.

 

Oh wow, at least he was saved! My concern would be if there were any cleaning agents using in the toilet within the past week or so as well as the chlorine in the untreated toilet water. He should make it given enough time to settle down. Cory catfish will sometimes excrete a toxin when scared or in distress, I'm surprised he didn't this time. When I net my fish I do it into a bucket, check the bag and water, then dump the water in the bucket from the bag down the drain and throw the bag away.

I agree and was about to write pretty much the same thing. Had no idea about the toxins though, learn something new everyday.

 

Does anyone know or have a guess whether or not he’ll live? He was down there for about 10 minutes. Right now he’s reacting to touch but not really movement, I think he’s in shock so I turned out the light and am going to leave it off for at least 24 hours.

Reacting to touch? Please don't say you're poking at your fish. That's about the worst thing you can do. The best thing you can do is leave him alone and hope he perks up.

Since you got him out quickly and into good water, it's possible he'll make it, but you won't know for a day or two. Leave him alone. Don't stick your face up and stare into the tank, he's already stressed enough. Forget feeding until he's moving around normally.

 

I would add stress coat, and dechlorinatore like Prime, and keep the lights off for awhile.
chlorine is not an instant poisan, add he should be safe from that now. Its the stress, loss of slime coating, and chemicals in the toilet, but GOOD LUCK, let us know how he does!

 

He'll live, my guppy was in the toilet (accident) where I useD Domestos to clean the toilet. If the water parameters are fine (no NH3, NO2 and low NO3) he'll be fine, my guppy survived this and he still lives

 

Corys are pretty tough. Their ability to breathe surface air is an adaptation for survival in stagnant waters, and you got him out pretty quickly. He was potentially more shocked by the temp difference than the chlorination, I'd bet. As others have said, I'd just leave him be and see how he does. I can imagine the feeling of horror, glad you were able to rescue him!

 

Reacting to touch? Please don't say you're poking at your fish. That's about the worst thing you can do. The best thing you can do is leave him alone and hope he perks up.

Since you got him out quickly and into good water, it's possible he'll make it, but you won't know for a day or two. Leave him alone. Don't stick your face up and stare into the tank, he's already stressed enough. Forget feeding until he's moving around normally.

I meant when the other fish swim into him and the mystery hit him with her antenna. Only time I touched him was to scoop him out of the toilet because my fish net wasn’t working. I figured he’d be stressed which is why I turned out the light. When I was looking in there it was from the top. My 10 gallon quarantine is on the floor under my tank stand (I know the floor is not a good place but it’s the only place I had available for another tank and I needed a quarantine tank) the good news about that though is there’s a black cross bar that provides about 4inches of cover from the bottom of the 10 gallon tank so nothing walking by will be visible to him since he’s a bottom dweller.

 

Oh wow, at least he was saved! My concern would be if there were any cleaning agents used in the toilet within the past week or so as well as the chlorine in the untreated toilet water. He should make it given enough time to settle down. Cory catfish will sometimes excrete a toxin when scared or in distress, I'm surprised he didn't this time. When I net my fish I do it into a bucket, check the bag and water, then dump the water in the bucket from the bag down the drain and throw the bag away.

How do you know if they've secreted the toxin? Is it visible?

 

Oh wow, at least he was saved! My concern would be if there were any cleaning agents used in the toilet within the past week or so as well as the chlorine in the untreated toilet water. He should make it given enough time to settle down. Cory catfish will sometimes excrete a toxin when scared or in distress, I'm surprised he didn't this time. When I net my fish I do it into a bucket, check the bag and water, then dump the water in the bucket from the bag down the drain and throw the bag away.

Thankfully no chemicals have been in the toilet recently. I think I’m going to change the way I net. Recently I’ve been realizing that because of the water distortion from the bag it’s difficult to see if there are fish/shrimp still in there. Especially lightly colored animals.

 

Thankfully no chemicals have been in the toilet recently. I think I’m going to change the way I net. Recently I’ve been realizing that because of the water distortion from the bag it’s difficult to see if there are fish/shrimp still in there. Especially lightly colored animals.

I count as I take them out, and then look in the bag, and then check the tank and re-count, probably check again once or twice just in case!


they really bleep out l m a o? xD

 

I count as I take them out, and then look in the bag, and then check the tank and re-count, probably check again once or twice **** just in case!


they really bleep out l m a o? xD

I will definitely be double & triple counting from now on (I though the 1st two times I had gotten two and the third time the remaining one). I’ve never felt so horrible about something I’ve done with my fish.

 

I had a similar scenario where two Pygmy cories fell in the sink and almost down the drain! Luckily they're still alive and happy though. I hope your cory makes it!

 

One thing is decided... If he lives his name will be Lucky.

 

I assumed my Betta wouldn’t/couldn’t make it through a 1”x2” hole in the lid overnight but he proved me wrong. I felt horrible when I found him completely dried out and gone on the floor rug 6 feet from the tank and under my desk. Knowing he’d flopped all the way over there just to...

Anyhow, we’ve certainly all had our questionable fish keeper moment(s). Just hope we learn from them.

Hopefully your guy will be all right!

 

Probably anyone who has kept fish for a long enough period of time has had their share of misadventures, I definitely have.

I once won an auction for 7 Schwartz corys. They came divided up in two bags. I poured out 7 Schwartz corys into a bucket to acclimate them, and tossed the bags to the side. Got the fish acclimated, set 7 Schwartz corys loose in their new home. Enjoyed watching them explore for a bit.

Finally picked up the bags to take them to the trash. Something made me look twice...and I found an unexpected 8th cory trapped in a corner of the bag. No water in the bag, and it had been 20 mins or so since I'd poured the others (and water) out.

Horrified, immediately got him out and tossed him in with the others. And he was fine. So it can happen even if you're counting and coming up with exactly the number you expected to have, too.

[I did also contact the seller because I'd only paid for 7; they'd actually given me an odd one out, on purpose.]

 

He'll live, my guppy was in the toilet (accident) where I useD Domestos to clean the toilet. If the water parameters are fine (no NH3, NO2 and low NO3) he'll be fine, my guppy survived this and he still lives

I'm sorry but I really wonder how that happened lol. But to be serious I'm happy your guppy survived.

 

How do you know if they've secreted the toxin? Is it visible?

I have never personally had it happen, LFS/Captive-bred Cories are used to being chased with a net and the like so they will most likely never secrete it, only in what they deem to be highly-stressful situations. Some have said it looks like a milky substance being released from them, looks like if you were to take a syringe full of Plant fertilizer and squirt it directly on a plant in your aquarium, you can see the liquid dispersing throughout the water.

 

How do you know if they've secreted the toxin? Is it visible?

It is simple. Your fish would be dead.

I don't understand why this came up.in case of a Cory in the toilet.

 

I've dropped my betta on the floor before and she survived. I don't have her anymore, she died a few years ago.

 

I'm sorry but I really wonder how that happened lol. But to be serious I'm happy your guppy survived.

That'll be a secret how that happened

 

I went to feed my cory’s and found him dead. He was the smallest of the 3 green corys and I think it was too much stress for him.

 

I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm sure every one of us here has experienced a loss we personally caused, it is not a good feeling...