Poor Ansistrus

I have quite a few baby Ansistrus in multiple tanks but in my guppy grow out tank I had one on its own , which as a matter of interest was quite a bit bigger than its siblings at around 25 mm, I was doing my normal weekly 30% water change when my wife asked me to fix the vacuum cleaner, I finished vacuuming the tank base and started the filling process, then emptied the dirty water bucket into the garden as per normal and started working on the wife's vacuum. Approximately 3 hrs later I went to check on the tank and could not find my ansistrus anywhere, I went cold...I knew what I had done and couldn't believe I had been so stupid, I had vacuumed up the little guy without realising it and had skipped my usual bucket inspection! I grabbed my torchlight and rushed out side. After around 10 min of searching through the garden plants I picked up a leaf and something wiggled on it, I couldn't believe it ... he was still alive after being out of water for around 4 hrs. I rushed him back to his tank and dropped him in but he was very weak and I really didn't think he would make it. The next morning I went to check his tank expecting to find him dead but to my amazement he was still alive and eating! It's been a week now and he's going strong!

Has anyone else ever had this happen?

 

Glad he is okay. My first fish was a hypostomous plecostomus. I got a tank from my father in law with hardly any water in it. Emptied as much water as i could and moved the tank to my house on my balcony. Later in the afternoon I started cleaning the gravel - imagine my fright when I took out a bucket of dirty gravel/water and something moved. I had that pleco for years afterwards. Eventually it outgrew the tank and I got rid of it. Not a dramatic as your story but i was still very impressed

 

It is crazy how hard some fish are while other been so sensitive.

Glad he made it.

 

That is amazing @RobK

I think a lot of catfish can survive some time out the water but wouldn't have expected that little guy to

Glad it had a happy ending for you

 

I know they have the ability to breath air... some sort of basic lung, but I never would have expected them to survive being out the water that long.. he was covered in mud so I think that stoped him drying up completely!?.

 

When moving hardscape out a tank for rescaping etc ... it happens more regularly that one expects and it is not always fish that have suckers. Loaches and skunk botia ... all tricksters happy the hitch a lift to a new world.

Later Ferdie

 

Has anyone noted an ansistrus pulling a snail out its she'll and trying to eat it before?

 

nope - but mine like cleaning the snails shells ...

 

Well just for interest sake, I witnessed one of my bristlenose youngsters pulling a snail from its shell and then I assume eating it? As I could not find its remains ... I have also been finding a number of empty shells in this tank.

 

hmm, that is interesting ... what size is the BN ?

Later Ferdie

 

Ferdie I've got about 20 in that tank all about 3 to 4 cm long the individual was about 3.5 cm.