Clown Loach Stuck --- Please Help ASAP!!!!!!!

[demurefemme]

Hi everyone!

I'm quite freaked out right now as I write this, and I hope that someone *anyone* has some advice...

For the last few days, every time I've seen my clown loach, he's been in the same place, his favorite place, in a hole in a piece of bogwood that I have in my tank. This didn't really seem all that strange, as he is almost always lodged into that bogwood somehow.

Tonight, however, when I went to take the bogwood out to clean, my poor loach wouldn't budge. Usually the minute I begin to agitate the bogwood to get it out of the tank to gravel vac, he plops right out of it. Sometimes I'll have to dip it in and out of the water once or twice, but I've never had him stay in it through that.

I've been fiddling with the piece of bogwood for over ten minutes now. I've dipped it in and out of the water a few times, but I'm afraid that if I keep doing this, he'll asphyxiate. I've tried GENTLY (oh, so gently, gingerly, softly, as lightly as i can) tugging on his tail to try and get him out (only the very end of his tail is sticking out), but this just makes him squirm further into the crevice.

Now that I'm watching him more intently, he seems to be trying to free himself to no avail. He'll move forward and back, forward and back. I feel so guilty, because over the last few days, I had noticed his tail flipping a bit, but since he's always burrowing himself into that bogwood, I didn't give it more than a passing thought.

At this point I'm convinced that he's not staying in that bogwood of his own volition. I'm terrified that he'll starve if he doesn't come out, and I'm terrified that if I keep trying to get him out, that I'll end up killing him.

What should I do?! Has anyone experienced something like this before? I've had the bogwood longer than I've had him (well over 3 years now), and this has never happened before! If I leave him alone, will he get smaller due to lack of food and be able to free himself? If he keeps struggling will he injure himself? Can I safely pull at him to try and get him out? It breaks my heart to think that he might be scared and stuck!!!

Thanks a million in advance!
~anya

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

It takes a long time for a fish to stop being able to breathe when it is out of water. It can still breathe until its gills dry out. If he can't get himself out, most likely his fins are getting stuck against the wood when he tries to back out. You need to find something thin that you can slip up beside him to hold down the fin that is getting caught. It could be very tricky.

 

[Andos99]

Wow....this is a tense situation you have here. Unfortunately there is no common resolution for dealing with this type of situation. Can you see his head? Or only his tail? I would think that the edges of whatever he is wedge inside would be fairly smooth so you might be able to tug his tail to get him out without doing too much damage. He is probably extremely stressed and will die before he thins up enough to wiggle out. I see your only course of action is to gently pull his tail and try to pop him out. You may want to have someone a little less squeamish give it a go. Good luck....let us know how everything turns out.

 

[demurefemme]

thank you so much for the response! i'm looking around the apartment trying to brainstorm what i could use, but i'm afraid of hurting him. i'm guessing i'm right in ruling out anything made of metal or anything with sharp plastic edges. would the corner of an envelope hurt him? it seems flexible enough and is somewhat rounded, plus would be softened a bit by the water. i thought about aquarium test strips, but those seem way to pointy. does paper sound like my safest bet? thanks again!

EDIT:

hey, andos99, thanks for your input! i can see his tail through the large hole, and through a much smaller hole i can see the top of his body right below his head. he definitely can't fit out through that hole, but i might be able to fit something small into it (a q-tip wrapped in plastic wrap, or something of a similar size, but not a finger). i guess i should redouble my efforts to try and get him out.

i will definitely keep y'all posted on what happens...i'm hoping i'll soon be writing to say he's safely free! i'm guessing some extra water conditioner for his slime coat and a dash of aquarium salt could help after the fact....

ok, headed back to the tank...

thanks again!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Yikes! I agree with the others that it seems your only option is to wiggle him out as best you can.

Don't be afraid to pull too hard, you will need to in order to get him out, but don't be too agressive. If you cannot get him tonight, try inverting the bogwood and let him go overnight. Maybe the little extra gravity will help his plight.

Hoping for the best!

 

[Andos99]

Would you possibly be able to break the bogwood open? Maybe cut it with a pair of large wire cutters or something and pull the wood apart enough to set him free? I'm trying to picture your situation..... anyway you could take a quick picture and post?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My yoyos do that all the time too. They eventually get out. I wouldn't worry too much. The fish will get more stressed with you trying to get him out. The holes in my driftwood were not very deep, and I think my yoyo's keep digging deeper into the driftwood. Do they do that? They now go so deep, you can't see them, and they are over 3 inches long each. And with 2 of them in there, it's mighty cramped, and they still come back out. If you leave him in overnight, bet he'll be out in the morning. I never had any luck getting them out, just have to let them come out on their own.

 

[demurefemme]

SUCCESS!!!!!

Thank you all so, so, SO much for your great advice! I never would have had the courage to do what I did if I hadn't heard from y'all.

On Apocalypse_Gold's suggestion, I grabbed a Q-tip and wrapped it tightly in plastic so it was a small, smooth, flexible, and waterproof apparatus with no sharp edges or rough spots; I poured some extra slime coat over it for good measure to help lubricate. After looking in to see where his fins might be getting stuck, I took the Q-tip and gently eased it around his body from all angles.

I was terrified of hurting him, but with both Devilishturtles and Andos99 assuring me that getting him out was the only way to help him, I Q-tipped and tugged, pulling him out of the water to try and see exactly where his body was making contact with the bogwood.

After about 5 minutes, maybe a little more, of this Q-tipping and tugging, he slid almost entirely out. Then when I pulled the bogwood out of the water (my asphyxiation fears assuaged) for a couple of seconds, the head followed suit!

At first he seemed a bit shaky, and seemed to have a little trouble coordinating his fins so he could swim normall; I could see a slight indentation down one side where he had been pressed against the bogwood (similar to what happens if you fall asleep on an object and wake up with its imprint - seeing this made me 100% positive that he had been stuck!), but other than that, he looks perfect!

Now he's swimming around normally; I threw in quite a few shrimp pellets, and he's currently in a corner noshing as I type! I'll keep an eye on him throughout the night to make sure there's nothing else wrong with him, but he seems to be hungry, weak, but pretty much ok!

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I have no doubt that your advice helped save his life! I'll post a pic as soon as I get a chance so you can see this grateful fish for yourself!

 

[Andos99]

Congrats!!! I feel so relieved for you and your little friend.

 

[donttaptheglass]

nobody's said it yet, but I'll pipe up . . . .PLUG THE HOLE!! two days from now he'll see it and forget the whole incident and say to himself "Hey, there's my hidin' spot!" and you'll be back at square one.

Little trick I've used . . . stuff a couple of those segments from the plastic plants that you can adjust the height on. Does the trick and doesn't look entirely hideous.

 

[Jarred Darque]

I was thinking that some aquarium silicone in the hole might work? I dont know how big the hole or the fish is though, so it may not be feasible.

I had to dig a smal spotted raphael out of a peice of driftwood twice last week :/ ended up flipping hte piece over so he cant get back in is a bit hectic, I had the raphael out of water for about 15 minutes, using pencils to hold his fins to his body to get him out, was very worried I would snap one of his fins.