Twoapennything
Aquarium Advice Freak
We almost lost Lady, our fancy goldfish, today, due to an accident with a piece of aquarium decor (pictures below). Lady got into this castle and got stuck inside it in a small circular chamber. Obviously, this piece was meant for smaller fish and frogs. Thank God my son noticed that Lady wasn't swimming around the tank - we practically dug the whole aquarium out before we found him in the castle. At first we thought he had died, but then he started moving, and we spent about 10 minutes trying to help him navigate his way back out of the castle. He finally swam out, barely managing to squeeze himself through one of the holes. He lost two scales in the process (anyone have any recommendations about lost or torn scales? Do I need to medicate Lady?). I just wanted to share this as a gentle warning that it's important to think of our fishes' safety when it comes to aquascaping before we think of decor and what looks nifty. I didn't do that well enough, obviously. It never occurred to me that Lady would have managed to get into that castle - I thought the entrances were far too small for him. I was totally wrong and underestimated my fish's curiosity.
I am definitely rethinking how I keep my tanks. This prompts me to think about dabbling in live plants sooner than later. Yesterday, we lost our betta, Charles, because he got wedged in between two very stiff "branches" on a plastic plant. If it had been a real plant, Charles would have been fine. Believe me, I'm not throwing stones or trying to be a know-it-all. I have just learned - very abruptly - that items made for fish are not necessarily safe for them, and that it's good to really look closely at the items we're considering for our tanks and see if there is any potential danger.
Lady seems to be just fine and is acting like his normal self - I'm just concerned about the torn scales. Pictures 1-3 are of the small space that Lady squeezed through to get into the castle, and picture 4 is the area that he was wedged into when we found him.
I am definitely rethinking how I keep my tanks. This prompts me to think about dabbling in live plants sooner than later. Yesterday, we lost our betta, Charles, because he got wedged in between two very stiff "branches" on a plastic plant. If it had been a real plant, Charles would have been fine. Believe me, I'm not throwing stones or trying to be a know-it-all. I have just learned - very abruptly - that items made for fish are not necessarily safe for them, and that it's good to really look closely at the items we're considering for our tanks and see if there is any potential danger.
Lady seems to be just fine and is acting like his normal self - I'm just concerned about the torn scales. Pictures 1-3 are of the small space that Lady squeezed through to get into the castle, and picture 4 is the area that he was wedged into when we found him.
OMG, I cannot believe that! What a curious fish! I'm impressed by Yoshi, and that he managed to survive three different incidents is truly amazing. He was one lucky fish, LOL!
