Goldfish Got Stuck Behind My Filter Tube~please Help~

Hello everyone,
I am so very sad to say that I lost my goldfish today and I am looking for help as to what I can do to ensure this doesn't happen again..

I have a 55 gallon,planted tank that has been running for just under a year. I have a Whipser 60 filter and I do 20% water changes weekly.

I had 2 goldifish that turned a year in February. This afternoon I came in to find my common goldfish stuck between my filter tube and the back of my tank. Unfortunately, I didn't get to him until it was too late and I lost him. ;0(

I am wondering if there is anything I can wedge behind that tube so that this cannot happen again? I want to get anther goldfish but I don't want to see this happen again. Plus, I just saw my other goldie swim behind that tube a few minutes ago. He is slimmer than Hercules was so he fits, for now, but if there is something I can do I would like to do it now.

Thanx for any help. I am so depressed about this! I swear that golfish was almost like a puppy! He would let me "pet" him when I cleaned his tank... ;0(

you can put a block of filter foam behind the filter intake. Then just take it out each week and clean it.

Colin_T said:

you can put a block of filter foam behind the filter intake. Then just take it out each week and clean it.

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Thank you, that is a great idea. Do you think I could cut a chunk of foam out of one of those pool "noodles" and wedge that behind there?

I don't know what a pool noodle is. If it is foam like filter foam, then it should be fine. Just give it a good wash before you use it.

Colin_T said:

I don't know what a pool noodle is. If it is foam like filter foam, then it should be fine. Just give it a good wash before you use it.

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Thanx so much. I wedged a piece of foam behind my filter about a week ago and so far it seems to be working well.

My other fish seemed very stressed out being alone so i got him a tank mate yesterday. He has immediately calmed down and seems much happier now..

Unfortunately, the new fish is probably 2 inches smaller than my other goldie but that was the largest goldfish I could find. I called about 5 other fish stores and no one had any larger goldfish.. So far they seem to be getting along very well.

Thanx again very much for your help. I really appreciate it. Sorry it took me so long for my reply. I didn't see your post until today..

Here is a pic of the new "baby"..

Aslong as it doesn't fit in the other ones mouth they should be fine. Also helps if they are of similar species variety my babies and various other goldfish all live in one pond and so far none of the babies appear to of been eaten over the winter and uptil now atleast

saltynay said:

Aslong as it doesn't fit in the other ones mouth they should be fine. Also helps if they are of similar species variety my babies and various other goldfish all live in one pond and so far none of the babies appear to of been eaten over the winter and uptil now atleast

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Thanx so much for the reply. No, he can't fit into the other fish's mouth so I think I am OK..

I didn't really realize just how big my 2 goldfish had gotten.. Wish I would have seen the gap between the tank back and the filter intake as being a problem.. I can't believe how sad I am about losing that goldfish!

How long have you had a pond? I would LOVE to have one. I think I may look into putting one in sometime in the next few years. Gotta wait a bit til the kids are a lil older..

Thanx again for the reply.

The pond was there when we bought the house 15 years ago and we got some goldies back then but all but one were eaten by heron and kingfishers, we thought all were dead as we never saw the one that was left until 2 years later. As we didn't expect anything in there we had stopped breaking the ice to allow gas exchange dad randomly went outside one day and there was a fish popsicle it had become trapped in the ice. we have always had newts, frogs and plants in there but never added any more fish. Then 3 years ago I decided to add some goldies about 12 and ever since they have been breeding and growing to size suitable to sell to my LFS, I have 7 of the originals left and they are about 8+" long and the babies from summer which now average 1" long there are 2 which I call the killer whales as they have the exact same colouration the rest are still browny black as they are to young to show true colours yet.