Peppered Cory Stuck on Filter

[meegosh]

Hey all,

I haven't had any fish problems in quite some time *knock on wood*. I came home the other day after running to the store (I was only gone 20 minutes max) and saw one of my peppered corys stuck on the filter intake to my AC50. My corys are still young, just under an inch in length. I hurried up and freed him from the intake and he swam into the java moss. I kept a close eye on him for about 20 minutes and all seemed well. I cooked dinner and ate, and went to check on him. He was laying on his side breathing lightly.

He is still on his side this morning and his breathing is getting lighter and slower. He is loosing color and is really skinny. I know he is probably going to die but my question is:

Would getting stuck to the intake cause physical damage? All his barbels are still intact, along with all fins.

If not physical harm, did it just stress him out so much?

They all gobbled up their shrimp pellets the morning before I went to the store. They had nice coloring and were getting pretty big. Tested my water and everything checks out okay. I'm wondering if it was all caused by him getting stuck to the intake.

Thanks for any input, I'm just curious now more than anything.

 

[meegosh]

Any thoughts?

 

[nanoluvr]

you need to get a filter sponge. It surrounds the filter intake and keeps your animals from being sucked up against it i.e. shrimp, small fish etc. I killed a shrimp like that one time. Filter sponge....$3-$6 Healthy fish.....priceless!


Oh...yes, being stuck caused his problems in my opinion. I use AC 50's as well.

 

[jrp1588]

He could have been sick before and you just didn't notice. I've never had a healthy fish get stuck to the filter intake. I'd bank on him being sick in the first place if he hasn't recovered after a full day

 

[meegosh]

I bet jrp1588 is right, he was the runt of the 4 that I got. Next time I'm at the LFS I'll look into a filter sponge. I've seen some of my young (2mo) guppies get sucked into the AC50 intake and free themselves easily.

I moved the poor little guy into a breeder box with some moss so I can feed him at least. He did eat some flakes that I dropped into the box and nibbled on a small piece of a shrimp pellet. I guess its a good thing that he is eating, and seems to be getting some of his color back. He is still a bit on the skinny side so only time will tell.

Thanks to everyone who responded!

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Most fish have the swimming strength to avoid the pull of the filter intake if they are healthy. Unless you are using a pool filter in a 10 gallon, I don't think the intake is your problem.

Most of the times, weak or sick fish get stuck to the intake because they are already unhealthy. If you found the fish laying on its side with labored breathing after your freed him, chances are his weak state in the first place is what caused him to get stuck to it.