It is 70 today so I decided to do a water change. I opened up the bottom drain and my sarassa Chucky went under the drain lid and I think she got sucked in! I've been watching for her in the settlement pond and don't see her. I tried to run a hose in the pipe and blast water to get her out and nothing. I feel horrible! Is there anything I can do? I'm keeping the gate valve open, hoping she will go one way or the other. Can she swim out on her own? There isn't any gravity pulling anymore since I plugged the settlement pond so it can't drain.
I feel so bad. It is such a nice day and all the fish really perked up since I did the water change. They have been swimming up towards me, almost like they are looking for food(of course they aren't getting any). Poor Chucky is my first fish and the Mama of the pond:( I wish she was enjoying the nice day and not stuck in a pipe!
Fish in bottom drain
I have all my fingers and toes crossed hoping she'll be happily finding her way out!
Maybe there is some good eats in there and she is just having a bite to eat.
She is a pig and probably needs to fatten up for spawning. I hope you are right!
Evesta: What was the temperature in your area today? I am in the same zone and experienced a gorgeous weather day today! I installed my new fishmate pump and bilogical filter with UV. Pulled plants out and separated and replanted plants and fertilized them. Basically did clean up (but not the waterfalls and stream) and trimmed back plants and enjoyed the day. When I turned the new pump on the algae and decaying leaves stuff went everywhere. I added bacteria, koi clay and did a 25% water change. My fish hide on the bottom-not a single fin ventured out of the algae encrusted koi castle. . . If I could have located my aerator I would have treated the pond for bacteria. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow. It was 59 degrees to 61 degrees today. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. The floating thermometer said it was 38 degree's this morning and 44 degrees early afternoon. i was sure one of the fish might venture out today but no such luck.
I hope your fish comes back out. How big is this fish?
I have no idea how your pond is setup but in the past I've also had many small fish go in the bottom drain pipes and they usually end up in the first filter bay unless my knife valve is closed and the filters are shut down, then it's not good because the water in the drains ends up being not so healthy and I've had a couple die because of that. :(
When you said that you plugged your settlement pond, is this the way that you normally open your bottom drain for cleaning? If so I assume that water usually gushes because of the force so maybe you can open it tomorrow and she will be forced out of the pipe?
Good luck!
I did finally close the gate valve last night. My plan to day is to open it up again and see if she will "gush" out. She is probably 4-5 inches big. She is usually fat but is very skinny. My guess is she is a little slower then usual and forgot about how the bottom drain works. I keep thinking of her trapped in there. It is bad enough when a fish dies but I hate to think of them suffering:(
This is a pic of Chucky(the larger sarassa by the rock) last year when my pond was brand new. Her and her male companion, Sushi, "broke in" the pond the first morning they were in there:) We have several cute red & white babies now.
In this pic they are meeting the new Shubunkins in the pond. It is amazing how much they have all grown since last year!
Okay, what is the story behind a female fish named Chucky? They are too cute! I hope Chuck comes out today1
I didn't know much about fish when I got her but looking back it was obvious she was all girl. I just thought she was fat and cute!
She has red eyes so I thought she looked like that evil Chucky doll:) Luckily she is not evil...
My 9 year olds best buddy at school is on the small side and he dressed up as Chuckie for Halloween-it really creeped me out and he was in character all day and night. . .
So, did the fish come out of the drain or are we still anxiously awaiting . . .
Sorry, I posted this weekend but it must of not went through! She did come out the next and was swimming around like nothing happened:) She looked fatter, so my guess is she was in there snacking!
Whew!!
Willie-Your so funny . . .LOL!