Suicidal fish... (longish cautionary tale)

[Ripples]

I thought I'd post this as a warning to some of you to be very very careful checking the ornaments you put in your tanks..

I picked up my 75g this weekend (hurrah) and on the same day experienced the apparent suicide of one of the clown loaches that I bought the tank for (sob).

While I was at my lfs (spending an obsene amount on the new tank) I picked up a fake dead tree root. It looked like it had a little cave in it and stood above the gravel with some roots to hold it up. I put it in the old 25g while I moved some of my lava rock across to the new one to help with cycling (here bacteria.. here baccy baccy baccy!). So.. my favourite clown goes barrelling straight into the tree root cave. Hurrah I think, it loves it..

Then it fails to emerge for two days. Finally I take out the tree root to see where it's got to - because even algae wafers aren't tempting this fellow out and the other clown is going ape. And it turns out that there isn't just a little cave at the top - the rooty bits that support it are also hollow. And my little clown has wedged himself in so badly he's died... (there weren't holes at the bottom of the root things, we had to saw one off to discover his body).

Which - beyond dampening the excitement of my new tank and depressing my now lone clown loach - is something I'm definately going to learn from.. a) either stick to natural decor or b) really really carefully check a £20 ornament for fish safety before buying it.

Idiot fish and sad (obviously idiot) owner
R

[cloud]

Sorry to hear that ripples. One of my corys got wedged head first into a hole in a piece of drift wood. it was round the back so it was dead by the time i found him. had to take the whole piece of wood out and prise his little body out with a pair of tweasers. Wasn't a pretty site. He was one of the oldest guys in the tank too so i was gutted. filled the hole with a couple of marbles so i can't happen again though.

[ashdavid]

Sorry to hear about your loach. I had a cichlid(cant remember what it was) and it kept digging at my rock display and what do ya know it fell on top of him and he died. I also had a bala that liked sky diving, but he always returned for more, usually feeding time. On a serious note, sorry about your fish again.

[Ripples]

Thanks guys.. it kind of spoiled the whole 'new tank, new toys' excitement - but I'm sure I'll get over it.. kind of ironic given the new tank was expecially for him and his friend.. stupid fish!

Ah well.. and thanks for being sympathetic.
R

[Holly9937]

sorry to hear that :( !! Its strange, you would think they would know better or something. Then again, my jack russell sticks her head through the gaps on our staircase railings. She has to turn her head way to the side to get in and out. I guess a fish that gets stuck in the wild would become lunch. In our tanks the poor things are just doomed... very sad!