# Sucked Up The Siphon Hose



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Oh man, I feel sooooooo bad.  I was siphoning out his water and he got sucked all the way through! I got him out of the bucket and into a measuring cup fast possible and he's floating around in a daze. Fights my hand if I hold him in the water, though, so that's good. Aaargh! I'm so careless!  I think he's got a scrape on the top of his head and one on his side near the base of caudal. What should I do? Aquarium salt? He's been in epsom salt until ten minutes ago.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Dang and I even took off the gravel attachment so this wouldn't happen. That's it, they're coming out whether they like it or not when I clean the tank.


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

Sakura- first of all, don't feel too too bad, it was an accident D: and they are supposed to be safe >^> -coughs at siphons- 
what size is the tank? mine is 5 gal and I never ever use a siphon, I use a turkey baster ( way easier to control and picks derbies up fine ) and just do frequent 50 water changes with the fish in using a plastic cup to scoop out water, granted you still have to watch to make sure they're not near the cup. 
if it's too small for this see if you can get them to swim into a plastic cup or tub by themselves rather than using a net; less stress, no risk of harm. you can just remove it slowly once they're safe inside and set it down and sit something over it that allows air without enabling them to jump out ^-^ 

as for the scratches-
unless they're really bad, or showing/start showing signs of infection, just go ahead and do a couple 50% changes back to back to remove salt, and change the water daily ( one 50 or two 50 back to back if you wanna be extra careful, more if possible if it's a smaller tank, but you don't want to stress him too much either. watch for stress streaks. ) and basically just keep it so clean you wouldn't mind drinking it. not that you should or would want to >.<; but it's a good guideline ^-^ drinking it or swimming in it, it should be that clean on a regular basis but especially right now. it ought to clear up pretty fast  
don't use salt unless you HAVE to, as they can build up immunity to it. 

my little guy tried to bite finger for the first time a few days ago and scratched his head on my fingernail  it's almost all the way gone already though  should be perfectly fine ^_^
he's probably just startled, mine was a little mopey for a bit too. he'll be better with nice clean water and a good night's rest ^-^ just watch him closely


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

*sniff* Thanks Inkrealm, I needed that. He's in totally clean water now 'cause I was in the middle of sucking the water out for his daily water change when it happened, never meant to suck the fish out too. I swear, they look so big with those fins but the actual body is so tiny! The diameter of the siphon hose is only 1/2 inch. I'm just uber glad he didn't get caught midway through the tube, that he actually came out the other end. I looked down and there he was spinning away through the coils of the hose.

In his 10g, it was never a big deal, he just swam off to another corner, but this was his 3.5g hospital tank. After this, he's going into a new 3g tank and I think I'm either getting a teeny narrow airline hose for the siphon (it really goes fast siphoning) or he's coming out each and every time. He's pretty good about swimming right into his cup because he's too curious for his own good. Thanks for the advice, I am obsessive about cleaning the water and now I will be positively insane about it because I don't want him to get an infection. He's my baby and I'd be so sad if anything happened to my wiggly guy. But oh yes, I love my two girls also. I just haven't had them as long. 

I gave him a special treat for dinner, frozen bloodworms (he had them for breakfast too), and he gobbled them right up so he's got his appetite. Sigh, for all I know, he thought it was great fun and would do it again, the silly nut. But not if I can help it.


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## TonyK (Apr 4, 2011)

This just happened a couple of weeks ago to me. I know how you feel and its not good. I was upset with myself the whole day. Mine seemed fine even when looking at him in the bucket. Here is a link to the thread I started when I did it. This should help you out.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=70276


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

it's okay, I know a girl who's fish almost got sucked into the filter because it turned out to be a lot stronger than it was supposed to be D: she managed to get it stopped in time, thank God. but in both your case and hers it wasn't the owner's fault. freak accidents just happen sometimes >^< the important thing is that you definitely didn't do it on purpose, you were taking care of your fish when it happened, and you noticed immediately and stopped it and got him out and started immediate treatment in the best way you knew.  that's absolutely all you could do and you did it ^_^ 

yeah, my boy loves to squeeze into the tiniest spaces he can find, and I'm always holding my breath like "holy spazz he will NEVER get through there he is so ridiculous!" and next thing I know he's swimming through it and out the other side and I'm just dumbfounded XD they do such silly things sometimes DX I've always got my eyes paranoidely below the water while I clean in case he decides to be extra smart and poke around the opening of the baster so I don't get him caught in the suction and scratch him or tear his fins. with the exception of the fingernail incident hr's never had an issue though. ^-^ 

I am very glad he made it all the way through. at least the water he went into was tank water. 
and yur, if he swims into the cup there shouldn't be much stress  just make sure to let him adjust to the new temp before putting him back unless you live somewhere really warm and don't need the heater >.< and he should have a pretty decent easy trip  

I'm glad to talk, ^-^ I totally know how it feels when you're freaking over your little guy D: 
and yes, haha, I wasn't sure about the females at first, but they're so tiny and they have such big cute baby eyes  the more you see them the more they grow on you  
I'm dying to add more to the family, but my mom's not sure if we're going to be moving soon or not so she won't let me have any more pets till we're settled because of the difficulty with transferring them and finding a place to rent that allows all of them and all ;^; it's so miserably unfair though DX
I do love my silly blue boy, he's so sweet-tempered and cute  I'm always scared he's going to get himself killed or that some freak accident will occur XC
and he managed to tear his fin back open some how so now I'm worried about that, I don't even know how he managed to do it x-x but it doesn't show signs of getting worse >< I know what you mean with being obsessive, ha. 

yeah, when mine gets an injury I slip him a worm for extra nutrition, give him a few days of regular food between though because remember the worms odn't digest as quickly ^_^
and yes, there was a video on youtube of a betta who liked to ride the filter current and then, of all things, HOP INTO the filter >.< he was fine and safe but it was crazy. definitely wouldn't be willing to encourage it though  
appetite's a good sign 



TonyK should be great help too,  thanks TonyK ^_^


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks guys.  I still feel mad at myself but at least the guilt is fading a little. He's just poking around his hospital tank right now. I think he's just a teense mad at me because he just stares at me now instead of doing his wiggle dance. Sort of "hmph" kind of thing. That and he was mad to begin with at having to be in the hospital tank for constipation treatment, which means of course fasting. Fortunately he was at the end of treatment so he could eat. 

If his bruise or scratch or whatever it is on his head doesn't go away, I'm soaking him in some decaf green tea. I drink hot tea year around (but it was 97 degrees today, what am I, stupid???) so I have plenty of tea around. No oak leaves to be found except in parks and I wouldn't trust them from there. Too many dog . . . souvenirs. And IAL is impossible to find. 

I've heard so many horror stories about them squeezing into places but the oddest I've read on the forum is a female who somehow, God only knows how, ended up INSIDE the HEATER tube. :shock: It was a Marineland, I think, and had slits in the casing at the end instead of the clear tube (heaters like Fluval and Aqueon). Yeesh. 

Inkrealm, hope you're able to get some new girls soon! But your mom is right, moving fish is hard. And stressful on the fish. I know, who likes hearing that their mom is right? ;-)

Thanks, Tonyk, for the link and the encouraging words.  I'd forgotten about tannins until I read the link.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Hope he feels better soon :3


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Aw man, I'd just die of my betta got sucked down ;-; I don't think he'd even get down all the way. If he did, well, thats not good because I use dirty buckets for emptying the tank and other clean containers for filling it up. I hope he ends up okay ^^


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

haha, I do feel a tad guilty, but I can't help laughing when they get mad at you x3 

you could snag the leaf off the tree ;3 but tea might work as well, not sure 
hopefully he won't need it  

D: THE HEATER??? -covers eyes and fish's eyes- o^o that's awful D:

haha, nono, I know she's right so I quit arguing DX I definitely don't wanna hurt them. it's just a bummer, lol. >^<


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

:thankyou: I got lucky this time and I promise there won't be a next. And I'm definitely being extra careful around my little females, too.


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

I'm glad he was okay  best wishes to your babies ^_^


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

That's what she said. It's in the Missing Cories thread, posted by xMandy. I could NOT believe it. If, and God forbid, that ever happened to me, I would have taken a photo just for proof. And then sent it to the heater manufacturer and demanded a recall.


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

yeah, that's just sickening :/ 
it makes me so mad when they make 'pet products' like that... it's the same equivalent to hiring employees who have no knowledge of the animals they've just been placed in charge of and not bothering to educate them. people lose their pets and animals die from things like that, and if it were a dog or cat, everyone would be outraged. a fish is just as living though, and Bettas especially have been proven to have intelligence and memory and emotions/personalities T-T


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

inkrealm said:


> yeah, that's just sickening :/
> it makes me so mad when they make 'pet products' like that... it's the same equivalent to hiring employees who have no knowledge of the animals they've just been placed in charge of and not bothering to educate them. people lose their pets and animals die from things like that, and if it were a dog or cat, everyone would be outraged. a fish is just as living though, and Bettas especially have been proven to have intelligence and memory and emotions/personalities T-T


I know, fish really get the bum end of the stick. For some reason people think fish are just objects and nothing more. I've seen plants treated better than some fish. And I guess some people can't separate the fish that can be eaten from the ornamental fish that we keep and love.


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

it's truly awful... :/ I wonder if anyone's every tried petitioning for it :/ 
I have heard of some groups going into stores on a regular basis to care for the fish in-store, which I thought was a good idea... so they get proper care without the store getting business, the fact that this is required is horrible though DX 
and fish condos was another idea, a way to keep many bettas at once but in good living conditions. still cramped, but clean water at least.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

inkrealm said:


> it's truly awful... :/ I wonder if anyone's every tried petitioning for it :/
> I* have heard of some groups going into stores on a regular basis* to care for the fish in-store, which I thought was a good idea... so they get proper care without the store getting business, the fact that this is required is horrible though DX
> and fish condos was another idea, a way to keep many bettas at once but in good living conditions. still cramped, but clean water at least.


I didn't know groups actually did that. I know plenty of people here on the forum have discussed things like that but so far we haven't organized well enough. It's a good idea though.


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## pattihi (May 23, 2011)

My Bernie looked like he got really scared once when I was suctioning water out of the tank, so now I scoop him out with the container he came home in and leave him on the bathroom counter while I do the water change. He doesn't mind and it's easy to do. He swims around at the top of the tank when I take the lid off, maybe because he thinks I'm going to feed him, and I dip the edge of the bowl in right next to him and the force of the water going into the bowl pulls him right in without any problem. I think it's much better, and less scary and stressful for him than using a net to try to catch him. He's pretty used to it now, and even when I miss getting him into the bowl the first time, which doesn't happen very often, he doesn't try to swim away.


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## Wyvern (May 19, 2011)

My one boy does it every time i use the gravel vac. I stopped freaking out. He goes halfway up the suction tube - its rather big and then I pinch the hose and he floats out again. He does this all the time and loves it for some reason.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Wyvern said:


> My one boy does it every time i use the gravel vac. I stopped freaking out. He goes halfway up the suction tube - its rather big and then I pinch the hose and he floats out again. He does this all the time and loves it for some reason.


That's what I'm afraid of, that Sherman thinks it's fun to go spinning through the tube and will want to do it again. :roll: It happened so bloody fast I never had a chance to pinch the hose. One second he was in the tank, literally the next second he was spinning around in the bucket, a little scratched but otherwise perfectly fine, thank God.

pattihi, sometimes I do try and cup them but my fish aren't nearly as cooperative as yours and I worry that I'm doing them more stress chasing them around than if I just left them there. In a bigger tank like he was in, it was never a big deal because he had plenty of room but in his tiny hospital tank, he just had nowhere to go. Plus, in his hospital tank, it's so small, a cup didn't fit in there to get him.


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## Wyvern (May 19, 2011)

Mine fortunately has a fine netting between the main tube and the vacuum part, that stops the fish and big gravel bits to go thru.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I was thinking last night that I might do something similar, like put some fine mesh on one end or some panty hose and secure it with a rubber band.


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

Sakura- 
yeah, I'd love to do something similar if I had one near enough by.. 
but maybe if each of us started with one store where we live, even just by ourselves, then soon enough we'd have people all across the place complaining and helping the fish out ^_^

and @Wyvern
yikes DX


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## Wyvern (May 19, 2011)

hehe inkrealm - Ive stopped fussing about it, now I just keep an eye on him when I do vacuum his gravel

I use an eye dropper to give them mysis (almost like brine shrimp) its easier to feed it to them that way. Both my boys attack the plastic when I put it in the water. Same for the airhose I use to siphon their tank.


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

I guess if he's done it that much he at least knows how it goes and how to not get himself hurt x3 I'd still be so nervous though haha ^-^
and ah lol, I see, I guess if my boy related it to food he'd definitely start attacking it too  since I have enough space I just drop mine through the door, and if I open the door and don't drop something in right away he'll start thrashing and jumping lol ;-;


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## TonyK (Apr 4, 2011)

Petsmart sells a suction tube that is really small. I picked it up after my accident. There is no way a Betta is going through that. How is yours doing?


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## DarkMoon17 (Apr 16, 2011)

Clean water should be all you need. If he doesn't recover over the next 48 hours though I'd add salt or tannins. He should be fine though.

Don't blame yourself, we all do it... why I just did it yesterday to one of my girls lol she's perfectly ok today but she gave me the most serious look ever all day yesterday. I thought she was going to hold the grudge forever.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouraging words. *shaky smile* He's doing so much better than I ever thought he would after going for an extended spin through the hose. But, he's still kinda mad at me. When I put my fingers in his tank, he normally swims around them wiggling and rubbing on them. Today, he bit them. Twice.  But that's okay, he can bite me all he wants if it makes him feel better. 

Darkmoon, LOVE the avatar. Super stunning. Did you breed him?


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

Sakura, hope your fishie is alright after that HORRIBLE ordeal you put him through! lol He's probably thinking of a way to do that to you! hehehe

But seriously, I'm always afraid of a fish getting too curious and following little bits up the tube, so I always keep a finger over the output end of the tube ready to block it. This will immediately stop the suction and if a fish manages to get too close to the business end of my siphon he'll be spared the horrors of getting sucked up! lol 

I actually sucked up one of my molly fry the other day. I had my finger over the end, like always, and felt a little thing hit my finger as the water was flowing out. I didn't think much of it, but I always check my buckets before I dump them and I"m glad I did..... there was a little molly fry wondering what the flamin' heck happened to him! He appeared to be fine, as his tiny size allowed him to go right through the siphon without getting hurt.


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## DarkMoon17 (Apr 16, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Darkmoon, LOVE the avatar. Super stunning. Did you breed him?


Thank you! Yep, I've bred him twice but I lost both spawns for unknown reasons. 3rd times the charm~


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

LeroyTheBetta said:


> Sakura, hope your fishie is alright after that HORRIBLE ordeal you put him through! lol He's probably thinking of a way to do that to you! hehehe


All he has to do is get me a ticket to a theme park - I'm so not a roller coaster person. One upside roller coaster ride and we'd be even and then some.  He's still acting a little distant. Looks at me like "Do I know you? Oh yeah, you're the jerk who sucked me up the other day." I make kissy faces at him all the time to make up for it. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who kisses their fish goodnight through the tank glass)



DarkMoon17 said:


> Thank you! Yep, I've bred him twice but I lost both spawns for unknown reasons. 3rd times the charm~


Aw, I hope this spawn works. I bet his fry will be gorgeous, just like him. He's a showstopper.


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## iwishiwereazebra (Dec 16, 2012)

Hi Sakura,

Did your betta live after your siphon incident? My veiltail Marvin was caught today during a water change - didn't go all the way through the tube - but I initially thought he was dead.

He's in QT right now and just looks mad at his mother. His caudal fin is torn up a little bit. :-(

Best wishes to your betta!


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## iwishiwereazebra (Dec 16, 2012)

Sakura8 said:


> All he has to do is get me a ticket to a theme park - I'm so not a roller coaster person. One upside roller coaster ride and we'd be even and then some.  He's still acting a little distant. Looks at me like "Do I know you? Oh yeah, you're the jerk who sucked me up the other day." I make kissy faces at him all the time to make up for it. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who kisses their fish goodnight through the tank glass)
> 
> 
> Aw, I hope this spawn works. I bet his fry will be gorgeous, just like him. He's a showstopper.


I give both my bettas kisses goodnight every night before bed!


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

This thread is over two years old. I would recommend starting a new thread if you are having troubles with your betta.. You will get faster, better responses.


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