Strange but true - how my gourami became stuck in a hole, and how I overcame this bizarre problem: Strange but True
Tales of Mad fish

There are plenty of stupid fish around - with the main aim to commit suicide it seems. If you don't believe me, some other people have had also had nutty fish experiences....

Rena Fisher got a fright one day...

"As an aquarist do my fish believe that watching me is so boring that they must find ways to create excitement in their own lives, or what?.

One evening after changing the water in my 29 gallon tank (that houses a plecostomus, six neon tetras, six tiger barbs and a juvenile Oscar), I was laying on the couch admiring the crystal clarity of the water and lightly dozing, when the distinct sound of water splashing alerted me. I jumped up from the couch thinking that I must have left the hood open and a fish had jumped from the tank onto the floor (as I said I was half asleep). I was on my knees searching the floor when the sound came again. I realized it was coming from the fish tank. I gazed into the aquarium wondering about the origin of the sound, but found nothing out of the ordinary. All tank inhabitants were there, so I thought. The splashing sound occurred again. Mystified, I removed the hood of the tank and peered through the water. Again came the splashing sound, not from inside the tank but from the power filter hanging on the back of the tank! Truly baffled I lifted the cover of the filter and a dark image came snaking out of the filter box . I screamed in terror; threw the cover down and streaked out of the room as if the hounds of hell where nipping at my heels. What was I thinking? That somehow a river rat had invaded my tank? An anaconda had somehow slithered inside? I don't know.

What I did know was that something was inside the filter box that didn't belong. Alarmed by my screams, my kids came running to my rescue. Through teeth that clattered with fright I was somehow able to convey to my thirteen year old daughter that something was inside the filter box. Before she could move to investigate, I handed her the only weapon I could think of... a rolled up newspaper. "Mom, what am I going to do with this?" she asked. She ignored my instructions to kill the damn thing, whatever it was and dropped the newspaper, but cautiously approached the tank. I warned her to be careful (wondering at the time how kids can be so much braver than us adults), she peered into the filter box, then did the unexpected. She howled with laughter. My nine year son moved in to take a look and he too collapsed into a laughing fit.. By this time I was completely outdone, not being able to imagine what was so funny. Their continued laughter gave me the courage to take a look.

. Nestled at the bottom of the filter box sat my Plecostomus, breathing heavily and thrashing his tail from time in an effort to escape. Between the hood and the filter box there's a narrow gap of about one to two inches. Somehow he had managed to maneuver through the gap and had gotten inside. It's a miracle that he hadn't skipped over into the area of the impeller. Feeling like a complete idiot I rescued the poor creature and returned him to the safety of the tank. He scurried away to hide behind a rock in what I'm sure could only be embarrassment. "


Ian Stephenson and these crazy fish...

" I read with interest your article on the stuck Gourami. It reminded me of a problem I had with an adult Angel fish a few years ago. My tank had a couple of those artificial plastic plants you can buy in the local shop. These can be useful because, unlike real plants, they don't get eaten within 5 minutes of being put in the tank. One day I noticed that one of my Angel fish had become stuck between two stems of one of these "plants". Releasing the fish was a real problem. I tried pushing him forward - no luck, he was stuck fast. I tried wriggling him about - no joy. Eventually I pushed him backwards. Despite his scales being a bit jammed up, he was eventually freed. Looking rather miffed, he floated away - luckily his ego was more bruised than his body!!

Note: Angel fish scales are rather sharp."

If any else wants to contribute to these fish tales, please do so. Just contact me and leave your name, email address and your story.