Fish, Bags, and The Double Check

I cam across this interesting story about a couple of fish surviving the impossible, being left for the dead in a fish bag. I’ll let Mikee (on Aquarium Pros) tell the story:

From now on i am always double/triple checking my bags when i order corals/fish. Just 2-3 days ago my dad was cleaning up junk in the basement and i always throw my empty boxes down there till we do a big clean up. Well he was searching through the boxes and in 1 of the boxes he found 2 bags in there with 1 clownfish in each bag about 1″. I have no clue how long they have been in that bag it could be anywhere from atleast 2 weeks to a few months. He said when he found them they were white but still alive surprisingly.. no food, no oxygen for weeks-months.

Unbelievable, to say the least.

The thing is i never bought these clownfish so i dont know how they ended up in the box and some how i missed 2 extra clownfish when emptying my other bags. Must of been a late night and i just didnt see them.. anyways he threw them into my seahorse tank where they are now swimming around and eating mysis and brine shrimp. One of them looks to be injured around his gill but i think it will heal in time other than that they look to be very happy now in the big tank.

A good ending to a horrific beginning of this story.

So lets dissect this a bit, shall we? How can fish survive this long? How can they not consume all oxygen? How can they not die from malnutrition? My simple answer: Hibernation.

The fish were left in a poorly lit area, jump-starting their ’sleep mode’. Once in sleep mode, their body function slowed down. Their respiration slowed, their need for food slowed, and they defecated much less. If any of these three were not to take place, the fish would have died.

A good lesson to learn… always check your bags!

Related posts:

1. Bioload Limitation Test
2. A Memorial To My Dear Fish
3. Red Planaria Flat Worms And Your Beloved Fish
4. Yellow Tangs go to heaven
5. This can only mean one thing…

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