He passed away :'-(

[Demi ^_^]

2 days ago we found my Opaline Gourami STUCK to my filter! We turned the filter off for a minute, thus freeing him from the suction, but he swum uneasily.

Yesterday morning he looked fine and happy, but by afternoon he had deteriated. He couldn't seem to use his tail and side fins and it was obvious that he was having increasingly difficulty with swimming. He would do backfilps and swim on his back, he just could not swim right! Once I found him on the bottom of the substrate, gasping for air, feeling helpless, I netted him and pulled him near the surface to give him a better chance to live, he took a breath from the air and hung around the back of the tank, looking in alot of pain :-(

I couldn't do anything about it, I didn't have the heart to humanely make him pass, even though it was the kindest thing to do, I did not have any clove oil and I would bawl for days anyway if I had to (I am a VERY emotional person!). The next morning, I awoke and my father told me he found the Gourami dead under my rock cave, he said the gourami looked peaceful and had no signs of sickness on him, he had buried my fish early in the morning when he had woken and showed me my fishes burial :-( I shed many tears over my fish, many people say its just a fish, but I love every one of my fish and will cry if something happens to my pets. The burial was beautiful, my dad has actually planted a few flowers on the dirt and had a piece of wood, carved with 'Jeremy' on it; as my fish was mostly named that.

Goodbye my fishy!

[Kayla-Bug]

Awe, I'm so sorry to hear that... That's cool that you made him a grave with flowers and headstone.

[Drumachine09]

Fish don't get stuck to a filter for no reason. Sure the filter is strong, but fish don't have problems/shouldn't have problems swimming agaisnt any current it might create.

He must have been sick before he got stuck.

[angelcakes]

sorry for youre loss :ssad: :ssad:

[crackatinny]

Sorry to hear that Demi, like Drum said, perhaps he was ill to start with, unfortunately that is one thing though hard, we all need to face.

Keep an eye on the rest of the tank, just to make sure all else is ok.

[Gemstone]

sorry about your loss...it always hurts when our pets pass away...:14:

[ladyoutlaw50]

Very sorry to hear about your loss!:scry: :scry:
That was very sweet of your dad to do that for you!!!

[Kuli_Loach]

I'm very sorry for your loss. Fish are your pets just like a dog or cat and if the time is taken around them, they are missed like a dog or cat as well. Sorry for your loss.

[cocoa_pleco]

sorry to hear that, ive had that happen with gouramis too, slower moving fish have trouble around intakes, i remember abbeys_mom always had her sparkling gouramis stuck in the filter intake

[Lady Hobbs]

I have a feeling he died and then was sucked into the filter. I have 2 1/2 week old firemouths that don't get sucked into the filter.

[Tigerbarb]

Really sorry for your loss... You did the most you could.

[digital3]

Sorry for your loss Demi...

:11: :11: :11:

[Ellen4God]

I am so sorry to hear that, Demi!

[luvfins]

Sorry about your Gourami :11:

[sandy_n]

So sorry for your loss. Your dad sounds like a great guy to do what he did. He knew how much that little fish meant to you.

[doug z]

Dang..

Wether or not it was the filter suction that did the little fella in or not, you can't beat yourself up.. :(

[Adrian]

I am sorry for your loss Demi. I get attached to my fish too, and freak when something is wrong with them. I am happy that your father was kind, and helped out. That was a very noble thing to do. It's great to have a sensitive father like that.

Hopefully, you will be able to recoup your losses and perhaps replace him with another?

[MandyL]

Aww sorry Demi. :( I am impressed by your dad, he must know how much your fish mean to you.

[Demi ^_^]

Thx guys :-) My mum thinks that he was ill before he got suctioned against the filter, we are monitering the tank very closely atm.

I luv my dad, hes the best. When I came home from skewl one arvo, my dad told me my 2 female rats had died, and he'ed buried them. The dirt was covered in beautiful plants and had this wire sculpture of a rat on top with the names of the girls. He cares alot about my fish and suprisingly he was a bit upset about the loss aswel.

Thx you guys!

[NanoTankGuy]

Fish don't get stuck to a filter for no reason. Sure the filter is strong, but fish don't have problems/shouldn't have problems swimming agaisnt any current it might create.

He must have been sick before he got stuck.
I'm sorry for your loss. That's true. To be honest, I don't know what the size of this gourami was, but an average fish should have no problem "getting away" from the filter. My shrimps do it every day. They actually swim "up the current" into the biowheel and come out whenever they want to, which freaks me out, cuz that's like me diving up a waterfall :) And they're just shrimps. I'm pretty sure fish would have no problem "not getting sucked in".