What Is The Scariest Thing To Happen To You?

Hey guys - Fishy Horror story here!

So today I was bagging my six female guppies so I could bring them over to their new home. I had netted 5/6 and they were in a jug, resting on the lid of the tank. Keep in mind my tank is up against the wall.

Then, as I was netting the final guppy, just before I placed her into the jug, she JUMPED out of the net, AND DOWN BEHIND THE TANK. I totally freaked - there is no way I can move this tank as its way too heavy, and this guppy is now stuck between a very heavy tank, and a solid wall with no room for manoeuvre. I thought she was going to die I was so horrified. My heart was racing and my hands were shaking as I desperately tried wedging my fingers down in the gap to rescue her.

After about 5 seconds of finger mushing, I realised my net is in fact, essentially a thin metal pole. So I wedged the net underneath her and carefully pushed her up to where I could pick her up. With lightning speed I used my hand to grab her and plop her back into the jug. My dad came in and asked me what was the screaming about

I then added a few drops of stress zyme and stress coat and monitored her for half an hour to make sure she hadn't been damaged in the ordeal. It was TERRIFYING for both of us. If that gap was just a multimeter larger, or if she was slightly thinner, I could have lost her

Thank the moon, she wasn't showing signs of stress, no fins had been torn and she was breathing normally (and still eating like a pig ) She, and the other girlies are now in their new home, safe and sound! (With hopefully no more HoudinI acts!)

Post your fishy horror stories below! I love a good read

 

That would freak me out! Glad she's safe, I'm very lucky in have no horror stories besides being freaked out by a ghost shrimp in some paper(they are really creepy outside of the water, and I love insects, but shrimp outside of water freak me out...), but this reminds me of when I was cleaning me RoboskI hamsters cage, put him into a carrier cage on the counter. Look over ever now and then. To my surprise(and panic) he wasn't in his carrier and was instead under a chair cleaning himself. So I rushed to put three large dogs behind a gate. Then I grabbed him so quick and was kissing his head, I held him so tight he couldn't move. Scared me half to death... Well maybe I have one horror story, it happened when I didn't check decor for a pleco, left out for a day and put in bleach. You can imagine what happened next.

 

Eeeek! It's SUPER scary and stressful when something like this happens! I have a similar story - I have tiger barbs, and they are big jumpers when they are being chased by a net. Well, one day I thought my tank had a leak. I was FREAKING out and quickly took some of their tank water and put it in a smaller tank and started placing the fish in it. I should have checked the tank better before jumping to that, but I was completely freaking out. Ends up the tank was not leaking and water had been spilled earlier in the day by my husband. Either way, back to the horrors of my story. I was placing them tiger barbs into a small 5.5 gallon tank and one jumped out! And here is the kicker - I was on the phone with my mom panicking, telling her what was happening. My husband wasn't home so I didn't really know what else to do but remove them and start taking the water out of the tank so it wouldn't leak everywhere. While I was talking to her and inspecting the tank I felt something on my foot and for a second thought it was my ferrets cold wet nose, then remembered she was in her cage asleep. I looked down and lo and behold it was a tiger barb! It then flopped under my couch! I was so scared to lift the couch because while it was lifted I couldn't even try to get the fish because I could drop it on the fish. I didn't think I had time to run for a flashlight to even be able to see. I was so panicked! I dropped the phone and I just stuck my hand under the couch and started feeling for it and right when I did it flopped out! I grabbed it and placed it in the tank and put the lid on it as fast as I could. Of course, all the while I was screaming and my mom was on the phone without a clue of what was going on.

NEVER AGAIN!

 

So I bought a school of cories a couple of days ago, when I was about to open the first bag (contained 5 cories) the bottom ripped and they all fell to the floor (thankfully I was sitting on the floor when this happened) I rushed and picked all of them and dumped them in the qt tank without acclimation! So far they are doing good and eating.

 

I have a CAE who did something similar. I went to move it from one tank to another, and after getting him into the cup I was using to move him, he decided to jump. He took a three foot fall to the ground and suctioned on. My floor is hardwood so I was having a pretty difficult time making him let go. I had to wedge me nail under his mouth to get him off the ground. Thankfully he was ok afterwards!

 

I had to put three platys and a baby BN pleco in a 1gal for a few days, and at this time I wasn't particularly intelligent when it came to aquarium stuff, so when the tank suddenly became super cloudy, I panicked and rushed to get my fish in a Rubbermaid tub so I could change the water. There was no lid on it and I only had a towel draped over it. The water quality must have been horrible (I know this now) so no wonder my pleco decided to take the leap!
I came over to continue acclimating them to the new water of their tank and while studying my platys I noticed there was no pleco. I swear, my heart skipped a beat and I ripped the towel off the tub (It fell in the cycling larger tank on the other side of the room!) in an absolute frenzy. Luckily, little Jimmy hadn't gone far and was latched onto the wood of my desk. It was difficult getting him off, especially with his little spines, but I got the stubborn little fish back into the water before he was hurt.
He's great now, about to find him a new home.

 

I decided to move a piece of decor to a cycling tank that I had just added ammonia to. Well a little while later, I went to turn the light off and saw something swimming around in what was supposed to be an empty tank at about 4ppm ammonia! It was one of my synodontis catfish! Crazy fish was obviously wedged into the deco.

I scooped him up real fast and put him back in his tank. The temperature difference was about 10 degrees higher in the cycling tank to promote bacterial growth so he is one tough little booger to have survived. I call him hitch hiker.

 

That would freak me out! Glad she's safe, I'm very lucky in have no horror stories besides being freaked out by a ghost shrimp in some paper(they are really creepy outside of the water, and I love insects, but shrimp outside of water freak me out...), but this reminds me of when I was cleaning me RoboskI hamsters cage, put him into a carrier cage on the counter. Look over ever now and then. To my surprise(and panic) he wasn't in his carrier and was instead under a chair cleaning himself. So I rushed to put three large dogs behind a gate. Then I grabbed him so quick and was kissing his head, I held him so tight he couldn't move. Scared me half to death... Well maybe I have one horror story, it happened when I didn't check decor for a pleco, left out for a day and put in bleach. You can imagine what happened next.

I'M CRYING OVER THAT PLECO. (I love plecos so much it's almost scary)

 

I didn't know that swordtails were notorious for jumping out of tanks. I came home one day and found my prettiest girl stuck to the floor.. A good six feet away from the tank. I was so confused and couldn't figure out how she got there because I did have a hood. The only logical explanation is that she made it through the feeding hole, which is just incredibly good aI'm for a fish. I felt awful. I now use bio bag mesh to cover the holes on the tank for the others.

 

I've lost one kuhlI loach from jumping either overnight or while I was at work...

A rainbow shark was temporarily being held in a tote while I put my 75 gallon together, when I heard somethting wet flopping around I had to go rescue him off the floor (thank god the cats were not around!!)

But my horror story involves a separate kuhlI loach who suddenly went missing. Looked everywhere for the little guy - around the tank, on the stand, on the floor, in the tanks' decorations, under the sand, inside the filter... I tore the thing apart and eventually gave up.

Just before heading up to bed, I thought to take a look behind the tank on the stand again with a flashlight. Nothing, but when I shone the light at the AquaClear real quick, wasn't the goon there underneath the media basket and smooshed up against the side so I could definitely see his stripes in the transluscent casing (thank god AquaClears aren't black plastic...)

I took out the media basket but had nothing small enough to get in there with. Removed the filter to try dumping it into the tank, and he's completely vanished again!! He'd wedged himself between the motor housing and the trim piece, right where the impeller is. So now I have a trapped kuhlI in no water and I'm in the bathroom trying to RINSE him out of his hideaway and it seems like every time I manage, he swims his derpy butt right back into it.

I DID eventually get him dumped into my water-change pitcher, but not without a lot of frustration and threats. Searched for gravel in the impeller in case he pulled a Finding Nemo on me, lol. Had a local aquarium club meet the next day, so I appealed for an unneeded pre-filter sponge and the club president came through for me.

 

Omg all these stories are so scary! Esp the fish that was on someones foot lol
I have a scary story too, well at least to me it was.
I had my 2 neighbors over visiting and they were sitting at my kitchen table that is home to my Quad tank of betta fish. I was at my computer desk doing something online when I stopped and looked over to the table, it took a few minutes to register but one of my male bettas had somehow jumped in the next cubical with my other male betta! I screamed and shot up out of my chair, grabbed my net and went flying towards the table, my 2 neighbors had no idea what was going on lol I fished Goldy out of Rains cubical and put him back in his own. On inspection of both fish Goldy didn't have a mark on him, Rain however had a bitten and torn tail.
It scared the life out of me, how Goldy got over and through a 1.5cm gap I will never know.
I do have another horror story too. Again one of my neighbors Pete was visiting me sitting at the table with my Quad tank. I'm at my computer desk doing something online when Pete starts laughing and says Sabrina look at this, while his pointing at my tank. I walk over to investigate only to see the tail of my betta Dags hanging out of the air pipe! I screamed at Pete that this wasn't a laughing matter and quickly pulled the lid off the tank and grabbed Dags tail and yanked him out of the air pipe! I was horrified. Next minute Dags was trying to get back in the air pipe again. I quickly pushed him away ran and got my net and told Pete to hold the net over the pipe. I had to think fast, so I came up with some panty hose and tied it around the air pipe with a rubber band. Much to Dags disgust he can no longer get in there lol

 

I had a denison barb jump out of the tank while wife kid and I were in the living room. We didnt even hear or see the barb on the floor until my daughter started reacting to it. Poor guy took like a 5ft fall, but hes doing just fine.

 

At the time this happened, I didn't know anything about aquariums. I was housesitting for a friend who has three aquariums, trying my best to keep her fish and snails alive for two weeks, and feeling pretty scared because she loves those things but my instructions had only been "Feed once a day. Throw in an algae wafer or two every other day. Add water if it gets low". She has a beautiful betta and I know she purchased it special after lots of looking.

Well, one day I notice the betta is hiding in a piece of driftwood at the bottom of the tank and he's not coming out when I feed him. I think maybe he's eating when I'm not looking, but the next day is the same thing. I think, maybe I'm feeding him the wrong thing--like I said, there weren't any instructions--so I go buy bloodworms, but again he won't come out. I start to get worried. It's been three days. I tap the glass and he wiggles but doesn't come out. I worry but don't know what to do. The next day he's STILL IN THE DRIFTWOOD. I feed him, nothing. I tap the glass, he doesn't move. I FREAK. I've somehow managed to kill my friend's fish. Her special fish. I'm going to have to call her and ruin her vacation. I get my husband to come over because I'm a mess, I can't even find a net, I don't know what to do! He reaches in to the tank and grabs the driftwood and pulls it out and the fish comes with it! OMG THE BETTA IS STUCK IN THE DRIFTWOOD! OMG DID HE DROWN BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET HELP SOONER?? CAN FISH DROWN?? Just then he gives a little wiggle! He's alive! But he's stuck! Fish are so fragile! How do I get him out? I can't just grab him! My husband gives a little push on the fish's head, but he's really stuck. I'm crying and wringing my hands yelling, "Don't hurt him!" I'm just a mess, convinced that we're going to squish him or something. I'm having visions of having to hold the driftwood at the top of the tank so the fish can eat, or swirl it around in the water so he can swim. My husband gives the driftwood a thump on the top of the tank, the betta doesn't move, I'm hysterical. My husband gives it another thump and PLOP! THE BETTA IS FREE! He's swimming! He looks ticked off that we dared to assault him!

You could easily see the dent in his skin from being stuck even when my friend got home. I don't even know what he was thinking, trying to squeeze into that hole. I left that driftwood out, and I wouldn't even put it NEAR the tank again. I probably messed up my friend's carefully thought-out tank and stressed her betta, but my heart couldn't take another scare.

 

Oh my goodness Mothecrow!!! That is a horrifying story!!! The whole time I was reading it I could see in my head the whole scenario, the betta stuck in the driftwood and you hysterical lol Your friend was lucky to have you look after their fish!

 

To all posting stories, these are AMAZING!! Hilarious now, but certainly not in the moment! Thank the moon there have been no casualties

 

At the time this happened, I didn't know anything about aquariums. I was housesitting for a friend who has three aquariums, trying my best to keep her fish and snails alive for two weeks, and feeling pretty scared because she loves those things but my instructions had only been "Feed once a day. Throw in an algae wafer or two every other day. Add water if it gets low". She has a beautiful betta and I know she purchased it special after lots of looking.

Well, one day I notice the betta is hiding in a piece of driftwood at the bottom of the tank and he's not coming out when I feed him. I think maybe he's eating when I'm not looking, but the next day is the same thing. I think, maybe I'm feeding him the wrong thing--like I said, there weren't any instructions--so I go buy bloodworms, but again he won't come out. I start to get worried. It's been three days. I tap the glass and he wiggles but doesn't come out. I worry but don't know what to do. The next day he's STILL IN THE DRIFTWOOD. I feed him, nothing. I tap the glass, he doesn't move. I FREAK. I've somehow managed to kill my friend's fish. Her special fish. I'm going to have to call her and ruin her vacation. I get my husband to come over because I'm a mess, I can't even find a net, I don't know what to do! He reaches in to the tank and grabs the driftwood and pulls it out and the fish comes with it! OMG THE BETTA IS STUCK IN THE DRIFTWOOD! OMG DID HE DROWN BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET HELP SOONER?? CAN FISH DROWN?? Just then he gives a little wiggle! He's alive! But he's stuck! Fish are so fragile! How do I get him out? I can't just grab him! My husband gives a little push on the fish's head, but he's really stuck. I'm crying and wringing my hands yelling, "Don't hurt him!" I'm just a mess, convinced that we're going to squish him or something. I'm having visions of having to hold the driftwood at the top of the tank so the fish can eat, or swirl it around in the water so he can swim. My husband gives the driftwood a thump on the top of the tank, the betta doesn't move, I'm hysterical. My husband gives it another thump and PLOP! THE BETTA IS FREE! He's swimming! He looks ticked off that we dared to assault him!

You could easily see the dent in his skin from being stuck even when my friend got home. I don't even know what he was thinking, trying to squeeze into that hole. I left that driftwood out, and I wouldn't even put it NEAR the tank again. I probably messed up my friend's carefully thought-out tank and stressed her betta, but my heart couldn't take another scare.

The betta was stuck in the wood for three days?
A betta? My first betta, Felix, got stuck in an air line tube and drowned in a few hours..

 

I accidentally poured a guppy down the drain once...

Long story short I was doing a water change on my QT tank housing a sick guppy girl. The tank was too small to fit a siphon into, so normally I netted her out into a separate container and then poured out the water. Well this one time my mom was talking to me while I was doing so, I tipped the tank over to pour out water and oh my god I just poured my guppy down the kitchen sink! Being preoccupied with talking I had forgotten to net her out... I panicked, immediately shoved my hand down the drain and tried to get her out but couldn't find her. Luckily our sink has this little bit of mesh that filters out large particles from water, and I was hoping like crazy that she got stuck on that part! All I could think was for her to not be impaled on the sharp blades or fall through the mesh somehow or else I would never forgive myself! My mom ran and grabbed my dad while I was failing to find the guppy and he took over while we stood by and freaked out, after what seemed like forever he managed to get the guppy out of there. She seemed absolutely terrified but otherwise okay.

Fast forward to today and she's fine and still swimming

I think I nearly had a heart attack that day, and lesson learned: talking really is distracting!

 

I bought 9 rcs, I was trying to avoid getting the stores aquarium water in mine so I poured the bag of shrimp into a net over the sink. The bag slipped and 1 almost went down the drain!!!! I hurried and used my free hand to plug the drain and the shrimp slid right over my hand. I am ultra careful handling shrimp now and I plug the sink BEFORE I pour them into the net.

 

About six months ago my two female mystery snails were looking for places to lay their egg sacks, so they would regularly leave the water. I knew what they were doing so I was careful and covered all gaps in my hood with cardboard. One time I was doing a water change and I took the top off. I finished my water change and two days later noticed that neither snails were in the tank. I FREAKED. my tank is on a dresser and I frantically tried to move the dresser away from the wall to look behind it. Using a flashlight I find both my snails lying in the floor behind the dresser. I grabbed them and quickly put them back in the tank. About an hour later, neither had moved. I went to bed with little hope. But the next morning, my two snails are sliding around like nothing happened and there are three small egg sacks just above the water line. I still have them and their babies today.

 

The betta was stuck in the wood for three days?
A betta? My first betta, Felix, got stuck in an air line tube and drowned in a few hours..

I have no idea if he was stuck the entire time. I know that he was hiding in the driftwood every time I looked in the tank, and he never came out while I was watching. Knowing that your betta drowned in a much shorter time, I sincerely hope that my friend's betta wasn't stuck for very long, and I'm even more terrified looking back at how long I waited!

 

I have no idea if he was stuck the entire time. I know that he was hiding in the driftwood every time I looked in the tank, and he never came out while I was watching. Knowing that your betta drowned in a much shorter time, I sincerely hope that my friend's betta wasn't stuck for very long, and I'm even more terrified looking back at how long I waited!

Well, the little boy is alive now, isn't he? I wish my little Felix could've held his breath long enough for me to find him... RIP

 

I have a aquaclear 110 in my 75g. It comes with two intake tubes which I switch out when the other gets clogged. Well, as I was changing the intake tube, one black molly swam right up and inside the filter, where the impeller is (withoutme noticing). I turned the filter on and all I heard was grinding. So, I unplug it right away and notice the poor molly. I felt bad for such a long time, as the my mollies are really curious about me and start nipping my hands and arms when I do water changes.
She didnt make it

 

I have a aquaclear 110 in my 75g. It comes with two intake tubes which I switch out when the other gets clogged. Well, as I was changing the intake tube, one black molly swam right up and inside the filter, where the impeller is (withoutme noticing). I turned the filter on and all I heard was grinding. So, I unplug it right away and notice the poor molly. I felt bad for such a long time, as the my mollies are really curious about me and start nipping my hands and arms when I do water changes.
She didnt make it

Oh no that's awful!!! SIP curious molly...

 

So I needed to take out my fish, because I needed to re-think my whole plan, I took my fish out, so it would be easier(I know not a good Idea). I found a couple of clean buckets, and filled them up with some aquarium water. I placed them on a short table, for a bit. While I was waiting, for all of the stuff floating around in my tank to fall, my dog(Malamute) started scratching on the door. I let her in, and she wen't to the back of the house. I was thinking everything was okay, until I remembered that's where I put the fish! I ran into the other room, to find my dog on the table staring at the fish. I grabbed her, and put her back outside. The fish where fine luckily, I was fast enough to remember. Maybe my dog was to interested in the fish, to get the thought of eating them. Never doing that again!

I love to read all of the stories, on this thread keep posting!

 

So just earlier today, I made the perhaps 2 hour drive to my uncle's house with my baby BN pleco. I've been wanting to let him go for months now, as my tank is only a 10gal, and I finally decided to take him to my uncle's tank. His tank is very large, probably a 55gal? That's my best guess, I don't know for sure. Anyway, I take the fish over there, fretting every minute of the way and making my parents stop to let me check every 15 minutes or so.
We get there, quick family reunion, drop the bag in the tank and wait. My uncle insists to just dump him in after twenty minutes or so (He's very old school, rarely doing water changes, never checking parameters) and I'm barely able to convince him to let me do the proper method, adding water, etc. After I've done that, Jimmy (The pleco) is finally ready to go into his new home. I'm quite worried, because, as said before, my uncle doesn't bother doing the necessary actions to keep his fish healthy, so I'm pretty sure little Jimmy won't get as much food and extra care as before, but in my tank he'll stunt, and that's irreversible, where as being underfed for a while can be fixed.
Jimmy's in the tank after what seems like forever, with my uncle constantly complaining directly in my ear. The tank is very bare, a single ship ornament, no gravel, maybe two fake plants? Jimmy decides he like the ship ornament and launches himself inside of it. Everything seems fine for about ten seconds, then it all goes spiraling towards disaster. Now, Jimmy is barely three inches, but this guy was at least eight. Jimmy comes shooting out of it, fast as a little guy like him and be, and right on his tail is this monster-looking (At least compared to Jimmy) plecostomus. This guy, we'll call him... Mark?... looks ticked that there's someone in HIS territory.
They go around the tank once or twice, when Mark goes off to pout in his ship ornament for a few minutes. When this started I almost screamed and was looking around frantically for a net. My uncle has no issue though, and is laughing his head off. Poor little Jimmy is absolutely terrified, butting his head at the front wall to get to me, as I'm the only familiar thing there. Mark is at the corner of the ornament, eyeing him again. I manage to find the net and get it into the tank, (brought my own, because it's really fine mesh and my uncle's is really coarse and old) where Jimmy is. He doesn't go into it (No fish would would willingly go into a net!) but he doesn't move either. I'm about to scoop him out, but my uncle grabs my arm and says "What are you doing? He'll be fine! I've always wanted to see fish fight, anyway." I get really angry, but I'm only thirteen, what can I say? I shake him off and tell him why I'm taking my fish home and, as politely as possible, tell him he's never going to have any of my fish. I get Jimmy out, back into his bag and tie it closed.
My uncle looks frustrated, but I'm able to get him to leave Jimmy alone in his bag. I can't take it out of the tank due to temperature issues and I don't want to stress him out even more, so I just leave it floating. Mark decides to ignore it, Jimmy calms down, and I'm able to go and meet up with the rest of my family. We got back about an hour ago and I've just got Jimmy back into the 10gal. He seems really happy to be back .
Are plecos supposed to be that aggressive? I get it, Jimmy was new to a barren tank that had been ruled over by that guy for years, but wasn't that a bit much? I didn't know he was in there, by the way, I'd never drop one of my children (that's what I call them ) into such a dangerous environment knowingly. Now I've learned my lesson about giving my fish away.

 

Yeah plecos are very territorial, this isn't that surprising since bam, new pleco in barren tank means competition. What type of pleco is it? I suggest heading over to the BST section and see if you have any takers.

 

Nicoldeme that's a tough predicament you're uncle sounds pretty mean...
Maybe you should try to upgrade to a bigger tank so you can keep Jimmy and you know he'll be safe and taken care of.
Maybe your parents will pay you to do some hard labor in the yard and around the house?
I'm sure they saw how upset you were. Maybe if you are open and talked to them, theyd go for it (every parent loves when kids are willing to work for their money)

 

When my brother graduated from college in 2012, he and his apartment-mates had had a way overcrowded 10 gal. He went to school in Ohio and we live in Virginia. So since I have a tank at home, and the tank was a roommates who didn't want to keep the fish, I naturally offered my tank as their new home (poor idea seeing that with the addition of his guppies, mollies, and black moor, my tank would be way overcrowded, but if I didn't these fish would've been homeless. The unforeseen problem was the 5 hour car ride home and no proper means of fish transportation. Solution: gallon ziploc bag half filled with water and with the fish. Every so often I would open up a tiny part and blow into the bag to inflate it and then zip it back up. This added air pressure increased the surface exchange of oxygen and all fish amazingly survived 5 hours in a ziploc bag.

Really no horror there, only potential for it.

 

Yeah plecos are very territorial, this isn't that surprising since bam, new pleco in barren tank means competition. What type of pleco is it? I suggest heading over to the BST section and see if you have any takers.

I edited my post to take out the offer, I'm sorry, I've asked to give him away on here, parents said no. My Dad doesn't even want me to get rid of him, he believes the old "fish only grow as big as their environment allows". The big pleco is your average common, and Jimmy is a Bristlenose. I'fe convinced my dad to let me put up an ad on Craigslist or soemthing like that, and I'll ask frank size, parameters, etc. Before I give him away, along with aime platy fry and maybe a few Java fern plantlets, if the buyer wants them.
Thank you for pointing me towards somewhere he would have gone to a good taker though, I appreciate it!

 

I edited my post to take out the offer, I'm sorry, I've asked to give him away on here, parents said no. My Dad doesn't even want me to get rid of him, he believes the old "fish only grow as big as their environment allows". The big pleco is your average common, and Jimmy is a Bristlenose. I'fe convinced my dad to let me put up an ad on Craigslist or soemthing like that, and I'll ask frank size, parameters, etc. Before I give him away, along with aime platy fry and maybe a few Java fern plantlets, if the buyer wants them.
Thank you for pointing me towards somewhere he would have gone to a good taker though, I appreciate it!

Sounds like a good opportunity to teach your dad about the Nitrogen Cycle and the reaity of stunting

 

Sounds like a good opportunity to teach your dad about the Nitrogen Cycle and the reaity of stunting

I wish he would listen! I'm only 13, and we don't really get along very well, we're just too stubborn! He's had fish before and they didn't do too horribly, so he thinks himself an expert. I'm sure he knows at least something of the nitrogen cycle, you can't keep fragile fish with absolutely no knowledge, but it's been a long time and he's probably forgotten. No matter what I do though, I won't be able to convince stunting is bad unless I actually let a fish suffer and die in a tiny tank, which of course, is NEVER happening while I'm around. Ever.

Anyway, I have another story! I told this one in a different thread of mine, but I thought I'd post it here. It's not much of a horror story, but I think it's just a little something you guys might want to hear. It's nothing new, just another bettas in Walmart tale...
So yesterday my mum took me to Walmart. I'm going to a party tonight and she wanted to get me something nice. I drift off in the fish section while she turned away (My signature tactic to escape!) Of course, the tanks aren't nice.
In a different thread I talked about my dad seeing crabs he wanted me to get, and I checked them out. They were fiddler crabs, pretty but I noticed a pile of body parts lying on the tank bottom. Gross. I saw some blood parrots, which looked extremely undernourished and were gasping horribly. Nothing new. In the other tanks, I saw some fish stuck to filters, dead baby pleco, about a hundred goldfish in a five gallon tank... you guys know how it goes. Then I go to the bettas.
There's only two left, and it's FAR from pretty. The first one I see in a VERY full cup, with almost no surface area. Water is sickly yellow and inside is one of the most terrible things I've ever seen, even for Walmart. It's like it isn't even a fish. Just rotten pieces floating around, a head, and tons of food. I think they continued feeding him even though he was dead! Honestly, absolutely disgusting.
The betta next to him is a female. She has less than an inch of water, and there's a puddle around her cup, so there's definitely a leak. The water is clear, relatively clean, and she doesn't look too bad... She's got stress stripes, but honestly, very good for a Walmart fish. Definitely shows the contrast of what stores could be and what they are. I tried my best to convince my mum to get her, but it didn't work.
I did, however, use the dead male as an example when a father and his two kids came by to check out the fish. The little girl asked, "What happened?" My response was, "Oh, this is what happens when you don't give Fishy a big tank with clean water. You've got to keep him warm and happy, but the people here don't really like Fishy, so they're mean to him. If you keep Fishy happy, though, he can become your best friend." The father, while the kids were looking (They were like 5 and 6) Asked what exactly happened. I gave him a quick review of what killed the crowntail and then he left, promising to learn more about fish and be wary of employees So it wasn't a horrible day, just wanted to share my Walmart experience.

 

Okay I will share my sad story. So I had a very pregnant red mm Platy in my 60gal. When I went to feed my fish I couldn't find her. I looked everywhere and didn't see her still. Next day I look again and still couldn't find her;(. I looked everywhere again! And still came up empty handed. Third day I looked for her and couldn't find her, but that night I did find her. Guess what happened? She was dead and torn to pieces .

 

Okay I will share my sad story. So I had a very pregnant red mm Platy in my 60gal. When I went to feed my fish I couldn't find her. I looked everywhere and didn't see her still. Next day I look again and still couldn't find her;(. I looked everywhere again! And still came up empty handed. Third day I looked for her and couldn't find her, but that night I did find her. Guess what happened? She was dead and torn to pieces .

Oh no that's horrific! SIP mama

I wish he would listen! I'm only 13, and we don't really get along very well, we're just too stubborn! He's had fish before and they didn't do too horribly, so he thinks himself an expert. I'm sure he knows at least something of the nitrogen cycle, you can't keep fragile fish with absolutely no knowledge, but it's been a long time and he's probably forgotten. No matter what I do though, I won't be able to convince stunting is bad unless I actually let a fish suffer and die in a tiny tank, which of course, is NEVER happening while I'm around. Ever.

Anyway, I have another story! I told this one in a different thread of mine, but I thought I'd post it here. It's not much of a horror story, but I think it's just a little something you guys might want to hear. It's nothing new, just another bettas in Walmart tale...
So yesterday my mum took me to Walmart. I'm going to a party tonight and she wanted to get me something nice. I drift off in the fish section while she turned away (My signature tactic to escape!) Of course, the tanks aren't nice.
In a different thread I talked about my dad seeing crabs he wanted me to get, and I checked them out. They were fiddler crabs, pretty but I noticed a pile of body parts lying on the tank bottom. Gross. I saw some blood parrots, which looked extremely undernourished and were gasping horribly. Nothing new. In the other tanks, I saw some fish stuck to filters, dead baby pleco, about a hundred goldfish in a five gallon tank... you guys know how it goes. Then I go to the bettas.
There's only two left, and it's FAR from pretty. The first one I see in a VERY full cup, with almost no surface area. Water is sickly yellow and inside is one of the most terrible things I've ever seen, even for Walmart. It's like it isn't even a fish. Just rotten pieces floating around, a head, and tons of food. I think they continued feeding him even though he was dead! Honestly, absolutely disgusting.
The betta next to him is a female. She has less than an inch of water, and there's a puddle around her cup, so there's definitely a leak. The water is clear, relatively clean, and she doesn't look too bad... She's got stress stripes, but honestly, very good for a Walmart fish. Definitely shows the contrast of what stores could be and what they are. I tried my best to convince my mum to get her, but it didn't work.
I did, however, use the dead male as an example when a father and his two kids came by to check out the fish. The little girl asked, "What happened?" My response was, "Oh, this is what happens when you don't give Fishy a big tank with clean water. You've got to keep him warm and happy, but the people here don't really like Fishy, so they're mean to him. If you keep Fishy happy, though, he can become your best friend." The father, while the kids were looking (They were like 5 and 6) Asked what exactly happened. I gave him a quick review of what killed the crowntail and then he left, promising to learn more about fish and be wary of employees So it wasn't a horrible day, just wanted to share my Walmart experience.

I know that feel. When you're young, people automatically think you're inexperienced. An annoying part of life that will seemingly never pass, no matter your age to be honest. As for the Walmart story, you did the right thing! Its much better to use the simple language and target the kids instead of parents (sly-ver move I think!) Those Bettas may not have been saved, but by not buying them you're telling Walmart that nobody wants their mistreated animals. And hopefully in the coming times they will stop altogether.

 

I know that feel. When you're young, people automatically think you're inexperienced. An annoying part of life that will seemingly never pass, no matter your age to be honest. As for the Walmart story, you did the right thing! Its much better to use the simple language and target the kids instead of parents (sly-ver move I think!) Those Bettas may not have been saved, but by not buying them you're telling Walmart that nobody wants their mistreated animals. And hopefully in the coming times they will stop altogether.

Honestly that's they only way to do it.
When it comes to big chains anyway. Just don't buy them because it just supports it. (Bettas in the cups or fish in the tanks)
Mom and pop shops though, you have a better chance of expressing your concerns. Wait to see if they change. If not, don't buy those either.
Fish, just like groceries or appliances..anything. You vote with your money.
If you buy processed unhealthy foods instead of organic healthy stuff, you're telling the company or store "I want this. Keep this and other things like it on the shelves"

I hope I explained that right... I wish people would understand it :/

 

Just had a scary moment!
I brought a Discus and 2 cory cats, I thought it was a bit strange but the woman put all 3 of them in the same bag to bring home. Once home I wondered how I would go about getting them out of the bag, my friend and I decided after they had sat in the bag in the tank for 10 minutes that the best way to go about it was to put a bucket under a very large net and slowly pour the fish into the net. So he held the bucket and the net while I slowly poured the water out of the bag, the cats went right into the net but all of a sudden the discus got stuck on the bag! I shook the bag a little bit which gave my friend a fright and his hand jumped, the net came flying out of the bucket and almost landed on the carpet! I grabbed the net while yelling at my friend and safely put the fish into the tank. It was a close call, poor darlings got the fright of their lives.

 

- A few months after I got my tank back when I was five, I came home to my sister pouring the entire tub of flake food into the tank! Of course my dad spent the entire afternoon getting every last bit of flake out of there (with my help) and the next week was filled with daily water changes.

- More recently: When I had finished cleaning the filter and refilled the tank, I plugged back in my filter and it didn't start! I was seriously freaking out and in my hysterical panic, I called my mum upstairs to have a look. She took it apart played around a bit, but couldn't see what was wrong. Then she plugged it back in and it started! THE POWER OF MOTHERS!! After that I started to look at new filters

- Here's a really odd one: I once had African Dwarf Frogs in my 34g years ago with some neon tetras and Endler's. However after a few months of having them, I started to notice the neons were disappearing; no bodies or anything. At first I thought they had died and been eaten, but then one of the ADFs started growing a load larger than the other and the disappearances continued. I took the frog back to my other LFS where I'd brought it and found out it was a coloured morph of this albino toad thing which had got mixed up in the ADF tank!

 

Just got a big fright!
I woke up 2 hours ago, after awhile I did the routine fish feeding of all my tanks. Sat back down at my desk and watched my fish eat, except for some reason my Discus did not come out for a feed. Staring at the tank something told me to check the temp in the tank, I walk up and BAM the temp was 19c and the heater was switched off!!!! Yesterday I put a new plant in that tank and while I did that I had turned off the heater and forgot to switch it back on!!! I hit panic stations, quickly took out 30 liters of water and in with 30 liters of warm water to bring the temp back up to 25c!! The Discus are still alive but I don't know if this will have caused them any damage
The cory cats seem fine swimming around but the Discus are hiding. I can not believe I forgot the turn the heater back on and if for some reason I didn't check the temp when I did this could have been fatal for my fish!!

 

My daughter put a bunch of pink playdoh in her 20long. The fish ate a lot of it and they were pooping pink. So far no one has died

 

I'm just curious what the scariest thing to happen to you all was. I find that talking to other people about stuff like this can help (if I even find the nerve to tell others, that is).

This is mine (it’s not that scary now but at the time I was terrified). I take medicine for anxiety and depression, and I have the pills in in this little organized container with sections for every day of the week in the morning and evening, but one time I mixed them up, so effectively I accidentally took double the dose of Zoloft (an antidepressant) and double the dose of Celexa (another antidepressant), and it caused some seriously scary stuff for me. I felt nauseous and was, how should I put this, ejecting my previous meals. I was also trembling uncontrollably, my vision was all weird, and I was completely disoriented. This all passed after a few hours, but I was convinced I was gonna die. Needless to say I’m fine now and I make sure I take the right medicine.

 

I started choking on some food. Wasn't worried at first. Then I found myself on the floor, desperately hoping whatever's in there dislodges. I was alone; no one to help me. It escalated so quickly. I was actually thinking I might die. Obviously, it did not come to that. I guess it wouldn't have been a agonizing death, when I think about it, but still a stupid way to go, especially when there's sunshine and butterflies outside, and plans to go to the beach. Was it the scariest thing I ever experienced? Nope. In a strange way, I'd say public speaking was scarier, which I eventually overcame. I think some of my scariest moments were worrying about others and not really myself.