Hollow cholla wood warning

[Chiz]

After searching the forum, I have found some old posts about this but nothing recently, so I thought I would post a fresh warning about the risks of cholla wood (or other small hollow things) as I was unaware.

I recently noticed that a cory was stuck in a small hollow cholla. I broke it apart and got it out, but there was a bunch of abrasion on one side of the face, and he died about 10 days later. I simply thought it was a fluke until I was cleaning another tank and found an empty nerite shell stuck in a piece of cholla. And over the weekend, I thought I spotted a couple of shrimp on the carcass of yet another cory stuck in cholla! I broke this one apart too, and it is very much alive. Maybe the shrimp were trying a rescue?

ALL cholla is out and I am sticking with traditional driftwood from here on out.

 

[Fishfur]

After searching the forum, I have found some old posts about this but nothing recently, so I thought I would post a fresh warning about the risks of cholla wood (or other small hollow things) as I was unaware.

I recently noticed that a cory was stuck in a small hollow cholla. I broke it apart and got it out, but there was a bunch of abrasion on one side of the face, and he died about 10 days later. I simply thought it was a fluke until I was cleaning another tank and found an empty nerite shell stuck in a piece of cholla. And over the weekend, I thought I spotted a couple of shrimp on the carcass of yet another cory stuck in cholla! I broke this one apart too, and it is very much alive. Maybe the shrimp were trying a rescue?

ALL cholla is out and I am sticking with traditional driftwood from here on out.

I have lost the odd ramshorn to cholla wood and don’t use it anymore for that reason though it can be cut in half. You still get some of the look but critters can’t get stuck if the tube’s been cut.

 

[fishpdx]

Great idea on cutting the cholla into halves lengthwise... I just had my first bad experience with a fish trapped in it after having no issues in the past; I've had the wood in the tank for nearly a year. My newish German black ram never struck me as a fish that would even be interested in trying to get inside one of the logs, he's always up and active as soon as he spots me anywhere nearby and comes right up to the glass (which is how I knew something was wrong). I was genuinely puzzled for a good while until I discovered he was trapped in a cholla log where it apparently narrowed in the middle. The ram is still pretty young and on the smaller side, but I still never would have expected him to even fit into a wider end, because they're quite narrow. Some patience and steady whittling of the log in the water with a pair of clippers allowed me to free him, but I'm unsure if he will pull through. I did not see any noticeable damage to his body, but I can only imagine that was a high stress situation for him and probably for at least a few to several hours. I mainly have several smallish cholla logs for my amano shrimp who love to explore them, but I may need to rethink that.

 

[briangcc1997]

I don't understand why one doesn't stuff some black sponge media into the cholla to keep the fish/snails/whatnot out. Or go white/blue/green if you want a contrasting color. Might cost a $1 or 2 at most. Easy fix.

BTW: I've had to cut/massage/whatnot Mopani driftwood for the same problem. Had a piece where a pleco wedged himself into an opening. So problem is not unique to cholla.

 

[Chiz]

I don't understand why one doesn't stuff some black sponge media into the cholla to keep the fish/snails/whatnot out. Or go white/blue/green if you want a contrasting color. Might cost a $1 or 2 at most. Easy fix.

BTW: I've had to cut/massage/whatnot Mopani driftwood for the same problem. Had a piece where a pleco wedged himself into an opening. So problem is not unique to cholla.

Well, yes, exactly the point. Either cut it in half, or plug the ends. Unlike driftwood, cholla has a small open mesh all along the stem. In my case, I believe that the 2 cory (and the nerite) were not exploring tunnels, but hunting for sinking pellets that had dropped into the cholla holes. They went in to eat, and got caught in a trap.