Fish in my Canister!!! - Pics!

[David14259]

Approximatly 2-3 weeks ago, my female guppy gave birth. I was out of town at the time, and by the time I got back, there was only one baby left in the tank. I assumed the others had been eaten, and when the remaining baby vanished by the next day, I was sure this is what had happened.

Well, tonight Marconis asked me to check on the water level inside my XP2 canister filter. So as I shine my flashlight on the canister...what do I see? At least 4 not-so-small-anymore baby guppies!!! They've been living in my canister for at least two weeks and apparently thriving as they are much bigger than when I last saw them.

I can't believe it. I've heard stories of baby shrimp getting sucked into canisters and living, but it never occurred to me that this could happen to fish too!

I know, I know, "Pics!" you'll say. I promise to take some first thing in the morning.

 

[kaz]

very cool story
my guppies gave birth and out of all of them only three survived and they are well, and to tell you the tooth its more of there house the tank is than any other fish because their where born there lol nice

 

[LandGhoti]

Neat!
Pics, yeah!

 

[theotheragentm]

I had the same thing happen with my Platy fry. I didn't realize it until I was cleaning it out.

 

[SparKy697]

NPNP

 

[squawkbert]

I just stuffed a few potscrubbers into the bottom of my Eheim, so this will be something I'll have to watch for if I ever have anything hatched in my tank...

 

[Idealconcepts]

I had the same thing happen to me about 2-3 times with my African (Malawi) Cichlids. They were Juvies about .5 to.75 inches long.

 

[David14259]

Gah! You guys have no idea how hard it is to get a picture of a fish in a canister filter...

Alright, here is a shot, nothing wonderful, but the best I could get.

 

[theotheragentm]

You filter looks a lot cleaner than mine was when I found my fish. It was more like split pea soup.

 

[David14259]

Yeah, the filter has only been running a month at the most.

 

[LandGhoti]

Well I see one for sure.

What's the next step for the little guys?

 

[David14259]

Well I see one for sure.

What's the next step for the little guys?

Yeah, I couldn't get them to pose in the same shot. There are 4 baby guppies, and at least a dozen pond snails.

I'm not sure what to do with them. If I put them in my tank, they'll get eaten. Then again, I don't especially want them living in my canister forever. It's an ethical dilemma.

They've lived in the canister for 2 weeks just fine... so for now they can stay in there until I decide what to do.