Bad Clown Bad!

[saphphx]

I did, out of curiosity, a head check tonight on my clown loach grow out tank. I counted 5 [edited: its been a long week already ]. There should be six. So I removed everything, moved the filter up (fluval 2, stuck to the sides with sucky cups, at an angle to give them another hid out and a current to play in) and nothing. So I get frustrated, take ALL plants out, air out, pull the filter out of the sucky holdy thing, and there he was, squished between the cup and plate, and the actual filter, like you know where it slides down and together? in the slide down bit! But alive! His stomach is a bit bruised looking, and kinda swollen to one side, but he is swimming around with his mates, and appart from looking squished, is swimming and acting normal.

So, I mean, is he going to be ok? I have taken the filter off the holder, and used the holder to prop the filter on, so its vertical and kinda held up, but loose between the glass and the holder, so there's nothing to get trapped in, but I'm wondering if I should treat him with something? What are the odds of internal injury? I didn't know he was there as I checked between the cups and looked all around it before moving it as I know they sit on and under it, but never thought he could get between the sucky cup plate and the filter top! No idea how I would have removed it/him if I had known, prob same way I did but more carefully, but, I don't know! I mean is he going to die? I am freaking out, but slightly feeling better because he is swimming around with the rest of the pack like loonies, but he just looks horrible! I can't get him to hold still for a pic :/

Ideas?

my poor loachy..

[LUVaLOACH]

sorry about your loach, I wouldn't worry too much as I bet he learned a lesson from that. I would just keep a close eye on him and watch his behavior...he will let you know.


Good luck and keep us posted,
Krista

[saphphx]

sorry about your loach, I wouldn't worry too much as I bet he learned a lesson from that. I would just keep a close eye on him and watch his behavior...he will let you know.

I treated the tank last night with 1/2 a dose of tonic. This morning he still looks a bit wonky, but much better, and all still bopping about in clown loach behaviour. I hope he learned something, I did. I always knew they loved small spaces from watching my husbands, but not SUPER MEGA TIGHT lol. I can't even get a butter knife in there to swish food out, so I have no idea how he managed it.

Sure thing is I will never use filters hooked up with the sucky cups again when clowns are about!

[shari2]

I counted 6. There should be six.

Did you mean there should be seven?
In any case, I'm glad he's out and about. They do have a tendency to get into places they really should not be able to. . .

[Emma Turner]

How's the clown looking now?

Ages ago one of my smaller (and unusually marked) clowns was shadowing a larger loach to the point where the bigger one got so annoyed that it tried to shake off the follower by swimming into a relatively small gap between two bogwood pieces. This didn't deter the little loach who continued to swim by the side of the larger fish and got a little squished in the gap. For a few weeks this little loach had quite a deep indentation on one side of his body, which was low down and towards the tail end. This gradually filled out and now you wouldn't even know it had suffered this sort of injury. I think as long as the internal organs haven't been compromised and any squashing has occured in a fleshy area, the fish should make a good recovery.

Good luck,

Emma

[saphphx]

Did you mean there should be seven?
In any case, I'm glad he's out and about. They do have a tendency to get into places they really should not be able to. . .

Should have been: I counted 5, there should be 6. Use to have 7, but one got into the filter, and it was messy. So swiched filters, so they could shove themselves behind it like idiots - geh. I can't win! I keep thinking of making a plastic box with some sponge in it with small gaps for them to wiggle in, but being sponge, give enough so they don't get stuck and wiggle out. Should keep everyone happy, but look tacky, safer then filters though lol!

How's the clown looking now?

No idea, the six of them are going mental (its happy hour again, they swarm food, the burn it off in a mass freak out, then nap in a tube, then start again) but as they are ALL swimming like mental patients, I think he is ok. Can't really tell him out to much, just still slightly warped looking. Will try to get a pic of them later when they are napping.

Ages ago one of my smaller (and unusually marked) clowns was shadowing a larger loach to the point where the bigger one got so annoyed that it tried to shake off the follower by swimming into a relatively small gap between two bogwood pieces. This didn't deter the little loach who continued to swim by the side of the larger fish and got a little squished in the gap. For a few weeks this little loach had quite a deep indentation on one side of his body, which was low down and towards the tail end. This gradually filled out and now you wouldn't even know it had suffered this sort of injury. I think as long as the internal organs haven't been compromised and any squashing has occured in a fleshy area, the fish should make a good recovery.

I have hope he will recover as well. Sounds like they are memory foam fish or something lol!! Good to know I'm not the only squished loach owner. I figure if his internal bits were squished he would be sitting about on the bottom, but he started the loach swarm last night for food, first in last out, so I think he will be fine, will just look weird and have filter flash backs for years to come lol. Hopefully he will learn filters are fun at a distance, but bad nap time hold outs. Silly fish. Thanks so much for your story, I feel so much better How do you mean unusual marked? I've only ever seen them with stripes etc Have a pic?

[Emma Turner]

Sure.

This is a good read and some of the clowns in the photos at the bottom of the article are mine: http://www.loaches.com/articles/clown-l ... variations
(mine are top left, middle left, and bottom right). I do have many more with strange markings, but haven't added any more pics recently.

I'm glad your loachie seems to be behaving normally, that bodes well for a good recovery.

Emma

[saphphx]

Sure.

This is a good read and some of the clowns in the photos at the bottom of the article are mine: http://www.loaches.com/articles/clown-l ... variations
(mine are top left, middle left, and bottom right). I do have many more with strange markings, but haven't added any more pics recently.

I'm glad your loachie seems to be behaving normally, that bodes well for a good recovery.

Emma

Wow! They are sooo cool! I want one!!! lol! We only ever see the standard looking ones around here. Very cool.

Yup, he's all bopping about and getting in a fit about me going over and looking at him every 30 seconds lol. I love my loaches Such personality!

Thanks

[fishnose]

My two kuhlis could have chosen between a coconut shell, a nice rock with space underneath, a lovely sword plant with plenty of places to get stuck in, or the filter. Guess where they take vacations? It is not unusual for them to dissapear for a day or two, but they once spent a week and a half inside my filter.

The skinner one seemed fine exept for a chopped-off tail fin that regrew, but my fatter one was not round anymore when he came out. there is a dent in his side that runs all the way down, and it has only filled out a little really but he is still happy as a clam after a few months so I'm not worried.

My bumblebee cat used to live in the filter. He would swim up the output stream and hide in it. When watching the tank, one would frequently see a black and orange form come shooting out of the filter.

He actually has gotten in fights with the impeller, he once jammed it and needed to be rescued with a chopstick, another time he lost an entire barbel.

The fish do seem rather memory-foamish in thier ability to bounce back so don't worry.

[saphphx]

thats insane! I am so glad I blocked off all inlets and outlets in the big tanks! I would freak if I found fish in the filter, live or not. I love fish but do NOT do well with ill or dead fish, to the point that I have made someone come home to fish dead fish and ill fish out. I am getting better, but fish in a filter would do me in lol!!

Silly bumble bee! I would just freak lol. Good to know there are more then a few memoryfoam loaches out there I feel much better now, except the same squished loach just got a massive snail shell stuck on his nose and thrashed for a bit to get it off, then tried another. (he wasn't eating the contents as someone beat him to it, I guess he was just licking out the dish? lol ew.)

I guess he is accident prone?

[saphphx]

He's quite bruised looking today, but eating well and swimming about like a normal loach nuttie