Freakish Tank Accident

Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#1
I awoke this morning to find my guppy looking like this:

(Can't get images to upload. Images coming soon.)

His tail isn’t shredded, despite how the photos look. It is all in one piece. It appears as if his body was pinched in the middle. (There is a large white indentation on each side where he was pinched. It may be difficult to see in the photos.) My guess is that he was stuck somewhere and his body was pinched; then, all the blood became unable to travel to his tail. It’s extremely sad to watch. He swims awkwardly, and gasps at the surface for air. However, he will still eat. I cannot figure out what caused this! All I have in my tank is bunches of hornwort, gravel, a breeder’s box, a heater, and a filter. The heater is submersible, and I don’t believe it caused this. The filter could have begun to suck up his tail and then pinched his body, but this seems highly unlikely since he was perfectly fine the night before and swam normally. It is possible that he somehow swam between the breeder’s box and the tank wall, and then was pinched trying to get out. However, the box is always tight against the wall and it seems unlikely such a small fish could’ve moved it. Also, I have bleeding heart tetras and serpae tetras that have proven to be nasty little fin nippers. Possibly they could’ve done this to him, but it seems unlikely…Please tell me your opinion so that I can hopefully prevent this from ever happening again!
 

ValRasbora

Superstar Fish
May 2, 2009
1,202
0
0
Atlantic Canada
#3
that is very odd... probably the filter... you can always put him out of his misery by freezing him, but I find freezing is just gross!
Sorry to hear of that, it is very weird, I hope you can figure out what happened!!
 

no.1chuy

Large Fish
May 22, 2009
272
0
0
Las Vegas
#4
freezing a fish to death is like torture dont you think? same thing with flushing them down the toliet alive. if you have to take him out put him in a cup of 1 part water and 2 parts vodka and the fish will just go to sleep. or you can chop his head off with a knife quick and pain less. if you do put him down dont freeze hit
 

Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#5
Actually, I was just considering doing that. He's gotten worse. His tail is turning a violety-black color, like the color of a bruise, and it is shredding badly. It's so upsetting. I think I will euthanize him and then bury him in our backyard. I'm really worried about my other fish. Hopefully I can get pictures to work.
 

Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#6
freezing a fish to death is like torture dont you think? same thing with flushing them down the toliet alive. if you have to take him out put him in a cup of 1 part water and 2 parts vodka and the fish will just go to sleep. or you can chop his head off with a knife quick and pain less. if you do put him down dont freeze hit

What the??? That is the most horrible thing I've ever heard!!! Freezing them does not hurt them at all. It is the human equivalent for dying in one's sleep. Flushing a fish down the toilet is much worse, because a fish slowly dies from chemical poisoning. I am not even old enough to consume alcohol, so where in the world am I going to get vodka??? Also, vodka doesn't kill the fish as far as my knowledge goes. That is horrible. I can't believe you suggested that.
 

Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#12
My sister and I just put him in a little ziplock baggie and stuck him in the freezer. We blew him kisses and said our goodbyes a minute ago. It was so sad...I barely had enough courage to stick him in the freezer. It would be selfish to keep him alive because he's in so much pain.
 

Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#13
dude just do a lil research on the net killing a fish by freezing isnt like dying in its sleep. you got parents ask them for lil help
It is. I've done research. Trust me. And my parents know absolutely nothing about fish, so they won't be able to help. And I'm not 2. I don't need parental supervision for every little thing I do.