Fish stuck in rock??

[67RedDonzi]

Ok so I wasn't really sure where to post this. We bought a very small (a bit smaller then a quarter) Huma Huma trigger last week. He has been doing great and eating well. We noticed that he likes to wedge himself in small crevices or holes in the rocks. He has a certain hole that he seemed to like but we added a new anemone that ended up covering the hole a bit. This caused the trigger to search out a new hiding spot. Unfortunately he picked a bad one He got himself stuck, and I mean wedged, no way in heck could he get himself out. We had to use tweezers, hemostats, tried suctioning him out, everything. After about an hour we finally got him pulled out (honestly thought he would be ripped in half he was so stuck). I was shocked, he wasn't dead!! Pulled him out into a bucket and instead of sinking to the bottom like I thought he would, he started swimming around the top of the 5 gal bucket. He is very beat up and I will be very surprised if he lives to be honest. I set up a 10 gal QT with water from the DT and put him in there for now. Gave him some PVC tubes to hide in and put the heater and filter in as well. My concern, if for some odd reason he does make it. Do you think he will get himself stuck again, or are fish smart enough to realize not to do something like that again? Is there anything I can do for him right now to help with the stress and his injuries? Fins seem to all be intact but the base of his tail and his head/stomach are very scraped up. Has anyone ever had this happen? I apologize for the giant paragraph. For some reason my computer will not allow me to the use enter button on this forum

 

[Waters]

You would be surprised how fish (triggers especially) can wedge themselves into rock. As you know, they have a trigger that will lock themselves in. I have never seen one get in and not be able to get out. Pulling him out probably did more damage then he did himself. That being said, if he was truly stuck, he will probably try the same spot again. You could medicate him in the QT if the wounds require it. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the different types to recommend anything.

 

[AZDesertRat]

He was not stuck, they wedge themselves into the rock as protection then stick their fins out so nothing can pull them out. Nothing to worry about at all.

 

[67RedDonzi]

I do believe he was truly stuck. We noticed him in the rock yesterday afternoon and decided to leave him be to see if he would come out. We fed a few times and usually if he smells any kind of food he's right there at the top of the tank to eat, he never came out. This morning he was still in the rock and hadn't moved at all. He was face down in the hole with no way to turn around, was a good 2inches into the rock Is there anything I can use to plug the hole so that he cant get in there again? Will the coral puddy work (the stuff used to secure coral frags to the rocks)?

 

[mfinn]

You would be surprised how fish (triggers especially) can wedge themselves into rock. As you know, they have a trigger that will lock themselves in. I have never seen one get in and not be able to get out. Pulling him out probably did more damage then he did himself. That being said, if he was truly stuck, he will probably try the same spot again. You could medicate him in the QT if the wounds require it. .

I agree.
Next time leave him alone.
The more you pulled on him the harder he fought to stay there.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Having had many triggers over the last 30 years I guarantee you he is not stuck.

Leave him alone. He may stay in there for days but he is OK. You are doing more harm than good even though your intentions are good. he will eventually lose his timidness and will even eat out of your fingers when he gets more comfortable.

 

[67RedDonzi]

Well shoot now I feel really bad I didn't mean to cause him any harm. I was just really worried that he would die in there. He was only timid the first day and then he had been out all week eating from hemostats that we used to hold krill for him. I guess I thought him being in there all night was too long. Dang, lesson learned, I feel kind of stupid now for messing with him

 

[ethridge78]

Live and learn When I first started I was worried to but I learned also.

 

[67RedDonzi]

I have learned a ton these past few months thats for sure. I know now that I need to ask questions before I act next time. Poor Dr. Jeckyl (trigger fish)

 

[ethridge78]

He will be fine at least you know now good luck

 

[AzDesertFox]

Been doing reefs for about 40 years so I'm not new to it. I have a sea cucumber in my tank for about 8 months. He's gotten quite large since I put him in. Originally he was about 6 to 8 inches and now he's well over 14 inches. Beautiful to watch. He'll go quiet for a while ( you don't see him for several weeks) then all of a sudden he'll be front and center and you wonder how he could hide like he does.

Well anyway this evening before retiring I noticed he was out and when I took a closer look it appeared that he literally drilled right through a rock and looked stuck. Most of his body was through but the last 4 inches or so is had still not passed through and upon closer inspection I see this particular rock is one that has small like 1" round holes going through it and he passed right through one.

So I decided to just forget about it thinking that if he got most of his body through it then he shouldn't have much trouble with the last part. A couple hours later I checked and NOPE. He's stuck.

So now I am worried how long he can be that way before he begins to get sick or deteriorate, I'd hate to see that because he's such a beautiful animal. I'll wait till tomorrow and if he's still in this position I'll pull that rock and split it with a chisel after possibly cutting a scribe line through it first. Not sure what else to do and I don't know how much stress this type of animal can take. I was thinking let him lay there and he'll get skinnier from not roaming and eating then he'll pass through but I don't think that will be okay for him. Anyone with more experience than I out there that might have a suggestion or confirmation regarding this? Thanks!