Gutted!

[Navarre]

Just got home from work and everything looked fine with the tank. Sat down and made a few replies to posts etc then i went to feed th fish, thats when i noticed that my hammer coral wasnt moving in the flow as much as it usually does. That was strange i thought, everything seems to be fine yet no flow coming across the hammer. Checked out the powerheads and these were working fine, then i looked at my largest pump (large ehiem) and saw that it wasnt kicking out any flow. I checked at first to see if it was plugged in and that was fine so i picked it up to giveit a cleanout. Thats when i saw my poor Potters angel rammed deep inside the pump with only the tip of its tail exposed to the eye
This was such a beautiful little angel and very rare down here. Im gutted when i lose fish like this, as anyone who knows me will tell you, i lost a few fish in hte past to this and i designs gaurds for all my powerheads, the opening to the eihiejm is very large to the flow ito it isnt as fierce , what must have happened was hte angel probaly swam into it as it was a very active fish that explored everywhere. It probably swam i n too deep and the flow suddenly kicked in as the neck of the powerhead got thinner.

This is my first loss since i got the tank back on its feet from the oodinium, I dont know whats worse to be honest, losing a fish to disease as i have in the past (that felt rotten i can tell you) or losing a fish needlessly to a stupid powerhead!

 

[fraservet]

Perhaps the fish had something wrong with it.
As you know, it is much more likely for this sort of thing to happen to a sick fish than a healthy one.

 

[Navarre]

Nah it was definately healthy Really bossy too! What might have happened was that it darts down this end of the tank regular to keep the Venusta Angel out of its territory. This means they dart around the powerheads and liverock whilst the Potters showed it who was boss. Possibly the Venusta made a turn and wrong footed the potters and it got caught in the flow
This morning before i went to work it was out and feeding like it always has been.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...I lost a fish in a 'DIY"....a casette tape case that fits over the intake great of the nano cube that adjusts it to surface skim. I came home and my firefish had gotten behind the cassette and was mercilessly trapped against 600 GPH flow. It was always out and about, compared to the replacement firefish that now spends 95% of the time under the rock (at least while I'm at home).

It's funny how these little guys seem to pick up a personality after awhile. I'm sure they are a bit brighter than we give them credit for. The other day my clown came up when I was doing some light maintenance and he gave me a light nip on the finger...it was a definite 'hello, I"m hungry'.

Our systems are not perfect and we can't recreate with perfection the very reefs that our fish came from. HOWEVER, I can say that they probably live longer in our homes than they would on the reefs, protected from predation. I think it's quite obvious that Navarre takes quite good care of his animals.

Sorry for your loss Navarre. Heads up. Knowing you, there will be some new, bright animal back in there very soon. There is a very lucky fish out there somewhere sitting in a teeny tank. SH

 

[superman]

Navarre, I feel the same way when one of my fish dies. Even if I know there is nothing I could do to keep it allive, I still beat myself up over it. My wife has to keep reminding me of how careful I am and that sometimes things happen that are out of our control. I look at these fish tragedies as this...If we come through knowing more about what can go wrong and better ways to guard against such tragedies, then we are better equipped to not only succeed in our own aquarium endeavors, but to help others succeed without such hardships. You are a better aquarist for having gone through such tragedies as the oodinium outbreak, and having a prized fish get caught in the pump intake. In a really wierd and twisted way, you are more valuable to our whole society for having gone through what you have. So keep up the good work, and go forth to tell others of what you have experienced. You'll get over your loss, the pain you feel over your fish death is proof that you are a good person, and not some heartless average fish warden.

 

[andywg]

Sorry for the loss Nav. It's always bad to lose a fish, especially if you think you could have done something a little different to help it survive.

 

[Navarre]

Thanks for your kind words everyone, I wish i could have gaurded this powerhead but hte inflow is just too large, all my other are safe against this as i have lost fish in the past to exactly the same rason. I really must try and get a couple os streams as i feel this will help safeguard against this happening again... Just gotta convince the wife its a worthwhile christmas pressy for me

 

[boozybears]

Awww Nav, sorry to hear about the angel! It was a stunning fish.