you have to read this ridicouls story I heard today

[tropicfishman]

I went and visited my buddy today to see his new home him and his wife just bought, when I got there his mother was up there and we got to talking about fish tanks out of nowhere, she told me that they had an old 30 gallon tank, when they got tired of it they gave away the fish and tore it down and left it in the basement with a few gallons of water and the gravel still in it, well a few months later they decide they wanna set it back up and they begin to fill it back up, leaving the odl water in there, as they were filling it up, supposdly now, there was two guppy type fish still alive in the tank, buried in the gravel ( yeah my suspicion rose to ) have you ever heard of anything so crazy? I don't believe its all true though, I can see a guppy or something living off whatever bugs landed in the tank or left over food at the bottom for a few days but not a few months, but they all swear up and down it happened, what do you think? lol

 

[hulkamaniac]

It sounds fishy (pardon the pun) to me. It's certainly possible as guppies are very hardy fish, but I still think it's unlikely.

 

[Laser]

I suppose that it is possible. Do these people enjoy making up stories for the sake of conversation? I guess only you would have an idea if they're telling the truth or not.

 

[Qays]

Easily possible.

 

[MACATUA]

Actually, I broke down my 55 gallon fresh water when I moved to my new house. I left it in my garage for about 6 months with about 3 inches of water in the bottom of it with all the gravel and silk plants still in. After 6 months I was going to clean it out and set up my current cichlid tank. Low and behold I had left my old Pleco in there, and he was still alive. I took him out, cleaned the tank and he is still alive today, in my cichlid tank.

So yes, it is possible.

 

[Ky'smommy]

i dont think the people you mention have the lying problem i think its something else

 

[Guest]

It is possible for some fish to survive in all sorts of conditions. Isn't it ironic that mo matter how good you take care of your tanks, fish can still die, get parasites and all kinds of diseases. Then you hear stories like this, go figure.

 

[pkillur]

I went and visited my buddy today to see his new home him and his wife just bought, when I got there his mother was up there and we got to talking about fish tanks out of nowhere, she told me that they had an old 30 gallon tank, when they got tired of it they gave away the fish and tore it down and left it in the basement with a few gallons of water and the gravel still in it, well a few months later they decide they wanna set it back up and they begin to fill it back up, leaving the odl water in there, as they were filling it up, supposdly now, there was two guppy type fish still alive in the tank, buried in the gravel ( yeah my suspicion rose to ) have you ever heard of anything so crazy? I don't believe its all true though, I can see a guppy or something living off whatever bugs landed in the tank or left over food at the bottom for a few days but not a few months, but they all swear up and down it happened, what do you think? lol

As crazy as it sounds, I bought a 75 gallon show tank with 75 (ish) pounds of rock in it. When I finally got to setting the tank up a few days later the rock had almost completely dried out (I was kind mad about this because I was trying to keep bacteria alive, but my wife forgot to "feed" it with fish food while I was gone for a week or so.)

I filled up the water and as I went to put our goldfish "Googly" in it a few days later, I noticed a TON of little baby fishes in there. Like 30.

How they survived I have no idea. The sad part is that Googly and our Danios slowly but surely picked off the babies.

And yes, I know you shouldn't mix goldfish with other tank cyclers. I was a noob running off of information I had from Petco at the time

 

[Elmware2000]

Sounds like you had eggs.

 

[tropicfishman]

thats insane, I never would have thought a fish could survive like that

 

[Guest]

I would I've sen it to. I had a 55gal that I got of my bother and set it up in my with around 3inches of water in it. It set in my shed for 4 to 5 months and I got it out and was fixing to clean the old nasty water out when. My brother looked at me and said so that's where they are. Launghen he pointed in the tank and there was not just a pleco in there but there was are 20 to 30 baby guppys and two adults in there.
he had thought they had dyied so he was moving the gravel around to find them but never did. While we found them. LOL I still have the pleco and some of the guppys. So yes I beleave it can happen.

 

[src]

If you ever watch those documentaries about the desert/african plains, they always show a "rainy season" segment, where it pours rain for a couple of days, ponds/lakes/rivers appear, and then all of a sudden they are filled with fish/frogs/etc. that would seem to have come out of nowhere. It is not uncommon for eggs to remain dormant until the right conditions occur. Granted, you don't think about guppies/etc. being hardy like that, but nature has a way of taking care of itself when given half a chance.

 

[Creamhorses]

Interesting that when tanks go into hibernation or neglect, the water and substrate are not always removed Can't imagine moving a good size tank without removing all that weight.

Anyway, my tale is of a 90 gallon left in place, with lights out, heater off, water left to evaporate only adding water only to hide white stains from calcium lines on glass. Anubias plant lived, and is currently growing in same tank today after bringing tank back to active use. To the best of my knowledge, the plant is 20+ years old.

CH

ps Is it possible that guppies could survive in moist gravel?

 

[hc8719]

while researching two newer fish i got (moonlight and kissing gouramis) i learned they have this labrynth organ, which if they stay moist they can actually breath air.

please no one test this out, i'd hate for some 10 yr old tossing their parents prized moonlight gourami on the floor, and cry when it dies

 

[tropicfishman]

but a pleco lol they aren't labryth fish are they? I know some catfish species are

 

[MACATUA]

The pleco had just enough water to stay submergerd.

 

[jibboo]

this reminds me of Jurassic Park, when Jeff Goldblum is trying to explain chaos theory with the drop of water on his hand ... basically, "life" will find a way

 

[Musket]

Awsome MACATUA I bet you were so surprised. Glad to here he is doing so well. Yeah Pleco!

 

[hulkamaniac]

I heard a story once (don't know if it's true or not) that I guy was dumping out his tank and all the gravel in it. He dumped all the gravel outside on his patio or some place where he figured he'd sweep it up and throw it away later. When he went back a couple of hours later after getting his tank set back up someplace else, he discovered a banjo cat in the gravel. It had set outside for a couple of hours. He scooped it up and put it back in the tank and it survived.

 

[tropicfishman]

I'd say the story bout the banjo cat is true, cat fish can survive and breathe air as long as they are moist, talk about survival skills, sounds liek all these fish people have mentioned need to be documented as the luckiest fish ever to have lived lol