Bristlenose Catfish Stuck In The Filter Case!

[rgwatson]

I am fairly new to fish keeping and have just bought two Bristlenose catfish. One of them has jumped onto the filter case and swam down a hole in corner. I have a Juwel aquarium with a internal filter. I cannot get a net into get it out. Is there anything that I can entice it with to come up to the top?

 

[Bloo]

Grrrr - one of my main reasons for really disliking those filters (life is much much better now that I've removed it).

Unfortunately there is little you can do. The more you try, the further he's going to wedge himself down the shaft - nice and securely safe (he thinks). I've had fish stuck here before and they got their fins badly torn. If you leave the filter on, you stand the chance of having your fish injured. You can't leave it off either for more than a couple of hours, or else the beneficial bacteria start dying off.

You can perhaps try and put some tasty off around the top and see if it comes out. Leave the filter off for a couple of hours and see if that works.

Does anyone else have any better ideas?

 

[rgwatson]

I have tried putting some food around the top, he comes half way up but still cannot get him out. He seems to be happy living in the shaft but I'm worried that he will get caught on the heater or the pump.

 

[QuotheRaven]

I don't have a suggestion but yeah it seems like a really tough situation...is he actually STUCK or is he staying in there feeling safe??

 

[rgwatson]

He's not stuck, he's swimming up and down the shaft quite well. I think that he is hiding. He seemed quite active when he was in the tank so I am surprised that he hasn't come to the top of the filter which has more space.

 

[QuotheRaven]

is there a way to turn the filter off and get a thing up behind the catfish and coax him up out of the filter???

 

[Bloo]

is there a way to turn the filter off and get a thing up behind the catfish and coax him up out of the filter???

Those shafts are way to narrow to do this. The fish will definitley be injured if this is attempted. Bristlies love caves - so as long as he's nice and comfy, he's not going to come out I'm afriad And with the filter siliconed to the tank (another daft design) it makes it even more difficult (actually impossible).

If he *does* come out, ensure that lid stays securely down.

 

[DarkEntity]

One main reason i binned the internal filter from my Juwel also....heard a few horror stories of fish getting stuck.

What if you push foam up from the bottom through the hole, the fish will need to come out when there is no room left. Once out id suggest lowering the water level so he cant get back in, save some cash get an external filter and remove the Juwel one.

fingers crossed for the fishy

 

[littleme1969]

Bristles as mentioned above love filters. They like to feel enclosed and mine even nested and reared a couple of broods in the top of one of mine. But it was a standard internal filter and he was in the bit at the top that can be removed to add on hoses so no moving parts thank goodness. I think the likley hood is he wont come out unless hes very hungry and the likleyhood of you being around to get the top back on is minimal. Cant you get your hands on a cheap internal filter that you can transfere media into until you can get him out. Its cheaper than going the external route, and means you have a spare if the other break or you have a similar problem.
Hope you get him out OK

 

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

My Bristlenose love algae flakes, in fact go mad for them. What about placing a couple of those outside to see if he comes out?

 

[rgwatson]

Thanks everyone for you suggestions. The Catfish is finally out of the filter after living in there for a week. . I took everything out of the filter case including the heater and pump. When I was cleaning the filter sponges he swam out through the side hole into the main tank. He seems quite happy in the tank now. I have also stuck a plastic mesh over the wire holes in the lid and blocked the empty shaft so hopefully he won't get in there again!