Do your fish wedge themselves so far in your rock-work they actually get STUCK?

[mandyplo]

Have you ever had your fish get so completely stuck in your rocks you've had to help them out ??!?

Over a week ago one of my dispar anthias (I only have 2) went missing. At first I thought, oh he's just hiding in the rocks, they always do this, nothing to worry about. He'll come out when I feed them next I'm sure.

Well after about 4 days of no sign of him, I was completely convinced he had jumped out of the tiny hole in my mesh top where my heater sits, and that one of our cats or the dog ate him when he was flopping on the floor (we never found any remains).

After a week has gone by since the anthias went missing, my dad noticed our other anthias that wasn't missing and the blue chromis (the 3 were best buds) wedged up in a hole in the rocks together. When he put some food in the water, the anthias and chromis came out, but then he noticed a third set of eyes way back in that same hole! The second anthias that has been missing for a WEEK was stuck in the rocks, alive! So he lifted up the rock-work out of the water, and the anthias just slid right out of the hole and plopped back in the water.

It's been about 2 days since we rescued him, and he has been huddled in a corner of the tank, resting on the bottom, sitting up right, just swimming enough so that he isn't falling over on his side. We have not seen him eat despite the very frequent feedings since we found him.

Do you guys think he'll be alright? I can't believe hes still alive! I'm assuming he's just stressed out from the situation still, he was probably struggling a lot trying to get himself out of that hole in the rocks. The fact that he still looks like he's doing alright, constantly moving his fins to keep himself upright, not breathing fast or heavy or coughing, makes me think he should be o-kay. I hope so anyways.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm curious :)

[Reef_Geek]

I wonder which came first...

the fish not yet acclimated to tank/captivity/physiological homeostasis in acquisition events... or the hole wedging incident.

IMO fish rarely get into rock places where they can't escape unless they are not well. More likely that they were not ready to come out. Had a Royal Gramma that refused to come out at feeding for the first 4 weeks until there were more pelagic fish in the fore reef.

[kien]

I can't say that I've ever noticed this ever happen to me but as I think about it, this would totally explain a lot of mysterious fish disappearances! For some fish I think it would be totally conceivable for them to cram themselves into a sleeping or hiding spot, and then raise a fin to help wedge themselves in, but only to find out later that they are stuck and maybe can't lower that fin, and maybe there's no room to move forward to help them release that stuck fin. Fish are not that smart and usually the instinct for protection overcomes common sense.

[Ross]

Although not a marine fish, I had a Yoyo loach get stuck in a rock.

I have a couple rocks that are full of holes that have been eroded smooth over the ages. I have them positioned upright so that they are dividers between certain plants.
The Yoyo loaches when feeling frisky chase each other around the tank at a decent rate of speed. I guess one thought it was a big enough hole to go through, but it got stuck between the pectoral fins and the dorsal fins. I left it there for a day or so, but it was constantly attempting to free its self.

The skin was being rubbed clean off the fish, so I had to push it through the hole. Well after much pushing and expecting the fish to be flattened in my hands, it finally slid through the hole. I figured it would be dead by morning. Well that was 11 months ago.

[reefgirl189]

Yes. My blue throat trigger just killed himself by doing this last week actually. It took us over a day to find where he was and by the time we did he was already rather banged up from struggling. He deteriorated quickly after that. All parameters great, all other fish doing fantastic. No explanation for the stupidity.

[fencer]

Yes stupid CCB

[ChizerBunoi]

This happened to my blue tang. He was always sleeping in weird places. Then she chose the smallest cave and twisted her spine so bad. No recovery after that.

[kien]

Yes. My blue throat trigger just killed himself by doing this last week actually. It took us over a day to find where he was and by the time we did he was already rather banged up from struggling. He deteriorated quickly after that. All parameters great, all other fish doing fantastic. No explanation for the stupidity.

Oh yes, triggers would be the worst for this because they have a very tall and rigid dorsal fin. My triggers would always use this fin to secure themselves into their sleeping holes. Never had one get stuck but can totally see it happening in the right circumstances.

[fishoholic]

Longhorn Cowfish are notorious for this. The 2 I owned both eventually wedged themselves into rock and died. Unfortunately for cowfish the stress of being stuck will kill them within a few hours :sad: The second one I owned I managed to get stuck twice (thankfully I had been home both those times) and I was able to get him unstuck fairly quickly, even moved the rock around to prevent him getting stuck again. Sadly though the 3rd time he got stuck it killed him and happened while I was at work and couldn't save him :cry: For that reason I will not have another longhorn cowfish in my current tank set up.

I'm also pretty sure I had a wrasse that got stuck in the rock and died, but I can't 100% remember.

[marineman41]

I had a blue face angel wedge himself so tight when he tried to get out he had a huge gash across his one side. Needless to say he died a few days later.

[mandyplo]

I wonder which came first...

the fish not yet acclimated to tank/captivity/physiological homeostasis in acquisition events... or the hole wedging incident.

IMO fish rarely get into rock places where they can't escape unless they are not well. More likely that they were not ready to come out. Had a Royal Gramma that refused to come out at feeding for the first 4 weeks until there were more pelagic fish in the fore reef.


I've had these two dispar anthias for roughly 9 months, always swimming in the current of my power heads, and always the quickest and first to snatch any food during feeding times. I'm no expert when it comes to reefing, I am just a beginner at salt water tanks but long time hobbyist in freshwater and ponds, but these are some happy healthy fish if I ever saw any.

However, the rock structure he got stuck in is fairly new, only been in the tank about a month. I think he was probably just exploring some of the new hiding places and underestimated his size, or the size of the hole.

I'm worried now :( Everyone saying their fish died shortly after being rescued from their rocks. I hope my little guy makes it!

[Reef_Geek]

I've had these two dispar anthias for roughly 9 months, always swimming in the current of my power heads, and always the quickest and first to snatch any food during feeding times. I'm no expert when it comes to reefing, I am just a beginner at salt water tanks but long time hobbyist in freshwater and ponds, but these are some happy healthy fish if I ever saw any.

However, the rock structure he got stuck in is fairly new, only been in the tank about a month. I think he was probably just exploring some of the new hiding places and underestimated his size, or the size of the hole.

I'm worried now :( Everyone saying their fish died shortly after being rescued from their rocks. I hope my little guy makes it!

well... looks like there's lots of experiences contrary to my opinion... I'm often wrong... so my wife tells me.

I'm not sure that there's much you can do at this point though. One thought is to provide habitat that is less likely to have them get stuck in, but where they'll find comfort for hiding... maybe some rock work with over hangs?

[jords]

We had an eclipse hogfish who wedged himself into a hole a few days after we moved. Didn't notice him in there. Then tried to find him one day and when we found him we tried to help him out, but he came out headless... must have been a few days >.>