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Made a mistake that cost the life of a little fish.

Karen B.

By Karen B.,
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Karen B. Mentor

Karen B.

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Isn’t it Upsetting when you lose a fish to a mistake that could have been easily avoided?
Clown killifish are also called rocket fish because they jump through every opening they can find (apparently).
I’ve had mine for over a year now, never saw a single one jump… so I got a bit careless in always closing the lid really tight and covering the food hole.
But tonight I found a little female completely dry on the floor… So upset at myself!! Especially a female as I have way too many males atm. Live and learn, I know, but still upsetting that a living creature has to pay for my mistake.

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Guppysnail Grand Master

Guppysnail

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I’m sorry I meant to hit the cry eyes face and my finger hit the confused it won’t let me change it. (It finally left me change it I think) I’m so sorry for your loss. I had this happen in a guppy qt and lost 2 females. 😭. I know first hand how horrible it feels. 

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scott the fishman Rising Star

scott the fishman

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On 11/26/2021 at 9:55 PM, Karen B. said:

Isn’t it Upsetting when you lose a fish to a mistake that could have been easily avoided?
Clown killifish are also called rocket fish because they jump through every opening they can find (apparently).
I’ve had mine for over a year now, never saw a single one jump… so I got a bit careless in always closing the lid really tight and covering the food hole.
But tonight I found a little female completely dry on the floor… So upset at myself!! Especially a female as I have way too many males atm. Live and learn, I know, but still upsetting that a living creature has to pay for my mistake.

So sorry for your lost! about 3 weeks ago i posted the same topic from a mistake i made costing the life of my zebra loach.

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Karen B. Mentor

Karen B.

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On 11/27/2021 at 9:48 AM, GameCzar said:

I always find myself second guessing whether I should be keeping fish when I lose one.   I'm always feeling like there's more I could have done, but I just have to learn from my mistakes.    Chin up, in the end its worth it. 

I know what you mean! I felt like that a lot at the beginning when I was losing guppies (didn’t help that in Canada we don’t have medication so I couldn’t properly quarantine) and still do with shrimps. I swear I am a shrimps serial killer. On shrimps group, people keep saying how their shrimps requires no special care, they don’t do anything in particular for them, neglect them, temp swing, you name it, 0 death. I look at mine funny and the day after I find 2 deaths.  Bleh.

It’s just worst when you KNOW what caused it and it was 100% your fault. But as you said - best thing to do is learn!

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Karen B. Mentor

Karen B.

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On 11/27/2021 at 6:03 PM, scott the fishman said:

So sorry for your lost! about 3 weeks ago i posted the same topic from a mistake i made costing the life of my zebra loach.

So sorry to hear that you went through this as well.  
 

On 11/27/2021 at 10:28 PM, lefty o said:

you are not alone. it sucks, but i can guarantee you that every single person here has lost fish due to something they did or could have done differently.

@lefty o @xXInkedPhoenixX

Thank you. It feels nice to have a place to come and know people will understand. For so many « it’s only fish, just buy more » but we care for them so much, they become pets. It’s a little « easier » when it’s a schooling fish as you get a bit less attached (but it’s no less upsetting!) but when it’s a centerpiece fish or one you named, it really is hard. I am still not over the death of Darcy, my betta. He was so beautiful! 

1B59CE72-BDFF-41E2-BE75-95B1F33BFD70.jpeg

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lindabee53 Community Regular

lindabee53

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On 11/28/2021 at 11:29 AM, Karen B. said:

@lefty o @xXInkedPhoenixX

Thank you. It feels nice to have a place to come and know people will understand. For so many « it’s only fish, just buy more » but we care for them so much, they become pets. It’s a little « easier » when it’s a schooling fish as you get a bit less attached (but it’s no less upsetting!) but when it’s a centerpiece fish or one you named, it really is hard. I am still not over the death of Darcy, my betta. He was so beautiful! 

1B59CE72-BDFF-41E2-BE75-95B1F33BFD70.jpeg

Absolutely beautiful!

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Minanora Grand Master

Minanora

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I am sorry for your loss. We all make mistakes!

A few weeks ago I got some Amano shrimp... I was going by the advice of my LFS because of my pH... and didn't do any research beforehand since I had originally wanted to get cherry shrimp and had done my research but was worried about the differences between my water parameters and what my LFS keeps their shrimp at.

Long story short, I didn't think about my crazy hard water... I started with 5 Amanos, I now have 1. I'm working on lowering my GH. But I still felt like a bad fish/shrimp mom for not thinking about this parameter. Doing my best to keep moving forward.

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Odd Duck Grand Master

Odd Duck

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On 11/28/2021 at 1:40 PM, Minanora said:

I started with 5 Amanos, I now have 1.

You may have more Amanos than you realize, they are excellent at hiding.  I was convinced I was down to one in my old pea puffer tank and I transferred him/her to my 100 G when I moved the puffers to their new 29 G.

I just saw another Amani in that tank. I’ve been leaving it empty just in case there were any pea puffer eggs or Amanos hiding. So far, just an Amano has shown up and he hid before I could get a net. Still waiting and monitoring. Haven’t seen him since.  🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

@Karen B. We probably have all made mistakes that have cost fish or shrimp lives. We just need to do our best to not repeat those mistakes, learn, and become better fishkeepers.  It’s hard to lose our little friends but it’s an unfortunate part of life sometimes.  As long as we try as hard as we can, that’s all anybody can ask of themselves. 

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Minanora Grand Master

Minanora

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On 11/28/2021 at 12:49 PM, Odd Duck said:

excellent at hiding

I wish this was the case. However carcases don't lie. 😞 There's only one. I watch my tanks for many hours a day, count all the fish, look for anything discolored, etc. Sadly I've counted out all of the Amano carcases as they've passed.

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Odd Duck Grand Master

Odd Duck

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On 11/28/2021 at 8:35 PM, Minanora said:

I wish this was the case. However carcases don't lie. 😞 There's only one. I watch my tanks for many hours a day, count all the fish, look for anything discolored, etc. Sadly I've counted out all of the Amano carcases as they've passed.

You’re absolutely certain they’re carcasses and not molts?

On 11/28/2021 at 8:42 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Minanora it's no comfort but I've sadly killed every shrimp I've tried to keep so I've quit trying. 

I’m not as successful with shrimp as I’d like to be, that’s for sure.  I can grow scuds, though.  😝 

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Minanora Grand Master

Minanora

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On 11/28/2021 at 9:12 PM, Odd Duck said:

You’re absolutely certain they’re carcasses and not molts?

🤔 .... You know, that's not something I even considered. I always assume failure. I guess it could be. I'll have to investigate further tomorrow. I see ghost hued things at the bottom and assume the worst.

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Torrey Grand Master

Torrey

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On 11/28/2021 at 10:42 PM, Minanora said:

🤔 .... You know, that's not something I even considered. I always assume failure. I guess it could be. I'll have to investigate further tomorrow. I see ghost hued things at the bottom and assume the worst.

A shrimp carcass will turn pink.

A ghost looking thing sounds more like a molt. I freaked out the first time I found a molt, I thought the shrimp had died😅

Once I found an actual dead shrimp, I never mistook a molt for a dead shrimp, again. 

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Odd Duck Grand Master

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On 11/28/2021 at 11:34 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Odd Duck I think though everything else I have is perfect for them, my Nitrates probably kill them. They are consistently at 40ppm in most of my tanks though everybody else seems fine with it. 

That isn’t ideal but shouldn’t kill them.  That’s likely overfeeding or you need more plants.  I was struggling with some tanks (pea puffers are such messy eaters!) but when I added more epiphytes/Java ferns (water column feeders) the nitrates sorted themselves almost immediately.  I had loads of swords and crypts in the tank, but because I heavy handed with the live food, the nitrates would tend to be higher than ideal 40ish.  Put in a bunch of Java ferns to break sight lines better and almost right away down to 10ish.

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xXInkedPhoenixX Grand Master

xXInkedPhoenixX

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On 11/29/2021 at 4:06 AM, Odd Duck said:

That’s likely overfeeding or you need more plants.

Nope and nope. I guarantee you I don't overfeed, 1x a day and not much. And I have a whole buncha plants. In fact they're wildly out of control in one tank right now. It might be source water but I don't think so. 3 of 5 tanks have 40ppm, the other 2 are 20 or 10

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