Hope the little dude, and @Deanasue 's betta, make a swift recovery!
I haven't sucked up a larger fish (yet), but have had several guppy fry and a few small shrimp take a trip through the tube without my realising until I checked the bucket. I used to be really worried about gravel vacc-ing when I had my first guppy fry, the idea of accidentally throwing out tiny guppy fry without knowing really upset me. Have a system now though that means I don't worry anymore.
Couple of tips for anyone keeping anything tiny that might go through the syphon:
Start the syphon, then hold your thumb over the end of the tube that's in the bucket. This gives you a lot more control over the flow. Just remove your thumb when you want it to suck, place your thumb back over it when you want it to pause.
Useful to do this so you don't end up draining most of the tank water before you've even finished your gravel vac. Just place tube in gravel, let it suck until the gack is gone, pause the flow and let gravel fall again, move the tube to the next section you want to clean and gently use the tube to nudge any fish or shrimp away; replace tube in gravel and remove your thumb again; repeat until you're done with gravel cleaning. Having this control allows you to stop the suction if something gets too close to the end of the tube. You can even pause the flow while the fry is still in the large tube bit, allowing you to take the tube out of the water and gently pour it back into the tank before it goes through the hose. Just angle the tube slightly upwards, keeping your thumb over the end the whole time; lift out of water to break the suction, then put close to the water and gently tip the fry back in. Very useful if something larger that might get stuck in the hose gets sucked up and you spot it in time.
Also, get some white or other light coloured buckets for water changes. I had a purple fish bucket at first, but it was impossible to spot fry in there. With a white bucket, the little eyes and movement are easy to see, so I can net them back out and into the tank. Tiny shrimp are harder, since they're almost completely see through when small, and they hide among the mulm at the bottom of the bucket. Let the water settle for a few minutes and watch for movement. Moving the bucket into a windowsill or outside so natural light shines on it makes it even easier to see. If there's a lot of muck in the bucket, you can stir it, pour some into a second lighter bucket, let that settle, and check that smaller, less dirty amount for movement. Makes the process slow and more work, but I saved some tiny invisible shrimplets by doing this that I would have missed if I'd just checked the full bucket once then tipped it out.
Last one - if you don't have a gravel cleaner with a bulb to start the syphon, this method lets you start a syphon without risking a mouthful of nasty tank water:
. Cory pauses the flow when gravel cleaning too, by crimping the hose, but personally I find the thumb over the end of the tube easier.
I haven't sucked up a larger fish (yet), but have had several guppy fry and a few small shrimp take a trip through the tube without my realising until I checked the bucket. I used to be really worried about gravel vacc-ing when I had my first guppy fry, the idea of accidentally throwing out tiny guppy fry without knowing really upset me. Have a system now though that means I don't worry anymore.
Couple of tips for anyone keeping anything tiny that might go through the syphon:
Start the syphon, then hold your thumb over the end of the tube that's in the bucket. This gives you a lot more control over the flow. Just remove your thumb when you want it to suck, place your thumb back over it when you want it to pause.
Useful to do this so you don't end up draining most of the tank water before you've even finished your gravel vac. Just place tube in gravel, let it suck until the gack is gone, pause the flow and let gravel fall again, move the tube to the next section you want to clean and gently use the tube to nudge any fish or shrimp away; replace tube in gravel and remove your thumb again; repeat until you're done with gravel cleaning. Having this control allows you to stop the suction if something gets too close to the end of the tube. You can even pause the flow while the fry is still in the large tube bit, allowing you to take the tube out of the water and gently pour it back into the tank before it goes through the hose. Just angle the tube slightly upwards, keeping your thumb over the end the whole time; lift out of water to break the suction, then put close to the water and gently tip the fry back in. Very useful if something larger that might get stuck in the hose gets sucked up and you spot it in time.
Also, get some white or other light coloured buckets for water changes. I had a purple fish bucket at first, but it was impossible to spot fry in there. With a white bucket, the little eyes and movement are easy to see, so I can net them back out and into the tank. Tiny shrimp are harder, since they're almost completely see through when small, and they hide among the mulm at the bottom of the bucket. Let the water settle for a few minutes and watch for movement. Moving the bucket into a windowsill or outside so natural light shines on it makes it even easier to see. If there's a lot of muck in the bucket, you can stir it, pour some into a second lighter bucket, let that settle, and check that smaller, less dirty amount for movement. Makes the process slow and more work, but I saved some tiny invisible shrimplets by doing this that I would have missed if I'd just checked the full bucket once then tipped it out.
Last one - if you don't have a gravel cleaner with a bulb to start the syphon, this method lets you start a syphon without risking a mouthful of nasty tank water:
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