View Full Version : Beware of the Hair Net
Charleen
08-21-2006, 4:25 PM
I was using a hair net to temporarily hold java moss next to a rock so it would attach itself. I got up in the morning and couldn't find one of my Emerald Green Cories. I finally discovered that he had gotten his fins stuck in the hair net and he was thrashing around. He was okay when I finally got him detached from the net, but I think he could have drowned if I hadn't found him soon enough. Poor little guy -- what a scary thing to have to go through. I couldn't have made the hair net any tighter around the java moss or I would have squished it. I won't try that again.
plah831
08-21-2006, 4:58 PM
ooh, good warning. hair nets do look just like a miniature version of gill nets used by fishermen...
Charleen
08-22-2006, 3:02 PM
Sheesh, I never thought of that. What a fish nightmare!
kblane
08-22-2006, 3:49 PM
Poor Corys!
I find these guys get themselves into a mess frequently--and they're so unassuming!
If it's any consolation, I've been keeping fish 20 years and had to rescue a pygmy cory last weekend from the power head . . . don't ask . . . the little sucker was just the right size to get hauled into it. He has survived and is doing fine though . . . I just don't understand why they're the frequent victims of circumstance in the aquarium!
Kev.
jmkeuning
08-22-2006, 6:28 PM
Because they're stupid? OK, I don't want to harsh a fish, but I have heard more stories about Cories getting in jams than any other fish. For that reason, I always make sure my Cories are not stuck somewhere.
One lady told a story about her Cory always got stuck swimming into the stalks of plants. He just couldn't swim backwards and would wedge himself places and not move until she reached in and gave him a boost.
Ha!
Charleen
08-24-2006, 5:07 PM
Stupid, maybe. But they are soooo cute!
Puffernewbee
08-24-2006, 10:35 PM
He was okay when I finally got him detached from the net, but I think he could have drowned if I hadn't found him soon enough.
Let me start with "THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK", it is a question.
Can cories actually drown? I know sharks can because they need to keep moving to keep fresh water flowing across their gills. My cories are always just sitting there and seem to be able to pump water without moving so I never thought of them being able to drown.
Charleen
08-29-2006, 12:32 PM
Can corries actually drown? I read that when they shoot up to the top of the tank like they do, they are gulping air. If they have to gulp air at the top of the tank and they can't get there to do it, couldn't they drown?
Corys breath through gills and won't drown if they can't do their little surface thing.:)
I've been using hair nets for years without problems with fish getting caught up in them, but I make sure that they are really tight and there is no room for any fish to get into. Otos have been reported to curiously dive into hair nets as well. My advice would be to tie them tightly and keep an eye on them.
Len
phanmc
08-29-2006, 3:43 PM
Fishes that gulp air (cories, gouramis, plecos, etc.) normally comes from water sources that are low in oxygen. In an aquarium, there is usually enough oxygen in the water due to the filter and surface agitation that it shouldn't be a problem.
Java moss are very hardy plants, it'd be very hard to squish it with a hairnet.
plah831
08-29-2006, 9:06 PM
the gulping air can also be to inflate their swimbladders. The more "primitive" fish like loaches do this. My dojo loaches do this once in awhile, by popping up to the surface a few times a day, but are not breathing at the surface for long periods of time (like if they were oxygen-deprived as phanmc said).
I forget what kind of swimbladder cories have, whether it's connected to the gut (which needs to be inflated by gulping air) or just inflated through gases in the blood.