Clown went through overflow - can't swim

[mtconnol]

Ugh - I can't believe I have to write this.

I am a reef newbie and just introduced a pair of clowns into my display tank after 4 weeks in quarantine. Long story short, the larger of my pair somehow snuck into the overflow compartment, through the strainer, and all the way into the filter sock in the sump. When I found her ( couldn't have been more than a few hours), I immediately put her back into the DT, but observed that she was struggling to swim. She was head-upright with her tail lower in the water, and eventually exhausted, sinking when she wasn't swimming and falling into the rockwork.

I just removed her and put her back in the QT, where she made a beeline for a piece of fake coral and is hiding inside a cave there, lying still on her side.

Is there any hope for her? Did she break her spine, or swim bladder?

I am furious with myself for hurting her through this ignorance. I thought the strainer was good enough on the overflow, but of course, looking at it, it is obvious that the grating is too coarse to keep little fish out.

Please advise with anything I can do to help her, and how to make the tank safer.

 

[DLHDesign]

Keep an eye on her. She's certainly got a right to be exhausted by her ordeal and so what you're seeing may just be that. I'd expect her to also be gulping a bit more than usual?
Check for any discoloration and/or any bloating or such. It'll be hard to see her if she's laying in hiding somewhere, but if you can get a picture (or several), then that'll help. But I, myself, wouldn't suggest disturbing her much - give her a chance to recover her strength some.

And try not to berate yourself - it doesn't help her and won't help you. There will be hundreds of things in this hobby that you can't know until you learn them; the sooner you reach a balance with that stuff, the easier it'll be to react calmly and - more often - correctly. Not suggesting you shouldn't care (you should!); just that our pets inside the glass boxes need us to be calm and clear-headed more than they want us to feel guilty. ;-)

Welcome to R2R, btw - glad to have you!

 

[cracker]

Welcome MTconnol ! I'd just leave the fish alone maybe a little food it likes tomorrow. no light just peace & quiet. every time Ya move the fish , it stresses them out even more.
Clowns are pretty tough & has a good chance. I bet Ya cover the overflows soon !

 

[Katrina71]

Fish can get into some strange places.

 

[Dpate]

I once pulled a diamond goby from a sock, it had been there a solid week, still doing fine

 

[Katrina71]

My clown made it through a fish saver guard. THREE times!

 

[mtconnol]

Thanks for your support, everyone! I really appreciate it. I thought she was a goner for sure. Good thing I have the QT all set up for her rehab.

 

[davocean]

As long as it can rest in one place w/out exhausting itself it has a chance.

 

[mtconnol]

It looks like she didn't make it. She's been completely motionless (no gill movement) on her side for over an hour now. What a shame.

The overflow is covered by a lid spanning the whole top of the tank, but I would like to do something about the coarse strainer. Does anyone cover that with pantyhose or similar?

 

[DLHDesign]

So sorry for your loss. :-(

Anything that reduces the size of the openings will also restrict flow - and very likely require more frequent cleaning. So keep that in mind when looking for solutions; try not to get something too fine such that it becomes a burden to keep clean.
Could you post up a picture of your overflow and/or strainer? Ideally the overflow should have slits too small for a fish to get through, but some fish are pretty small to start out. If the fish is weak to begin with, the suction may draw them in.
You could look into some coarse filter pad located inside your overflow, perhaps...

 

[Katrina71]

I'm so sorry please don't beat yourself up. It happens. To most of us.

 

[DLHDesign]

To most of us.

*all
;-)

 

[cracker]

Don't feel bad Man. These things happen.

 

[ReefNurd]

I’ve had similar experiences with fish jumping my overflow. I found a roll of black gutter guard material made of criss cross black plastic with a hole size about a 1/3 inch. Comes in about a 6 inch width on a long roll and very cheap. I cut to size with scissors and use zip ties to loop it over the overflow. Saved many a fish from jumping over or onto the over flow lid. Easy to remove to clean.
Sorry to hear of you loss.