Murminator Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Like the topic says I have a pleco in a log that has lots of hair algae on it and I want to boil it. It is one of those plastic stump ones and he is down in the root of one. He is pretty big he's about 5" or so long finned albino BN. He is hanging on with all his might. The end on the root has a small hole that i can see the tip on his snout, I stuck a stick down and jabbed him in the nose a billion times, tried pushing him out with lots of force thought the stick was going through his head, and i took him out to the garage and give him a shot of air from the air compresser...nadda. So the last 4 hours or so he has been hanging upside down out of water above a bucket of water and he is still to stubborn to come out. I feel guilty and dip him underwater every so often to give him a chance to swim out. I can see about the inch of his tail I give it a jab and he tries to bull dog deeper into the hole. I know they can live out of water for a long time I had a big one that jumped he survived out of water for between 5-8 hrs before so should I leave him overnight maybe he will drop into the bucket?...I'm outta ideas...anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devocole Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 haha thats funny. All i can say is good luck and let us know how it works out, only other thing i would try is breaking his mouth suction if you can. LOL Regards Devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Put him back in his tank and wait for him to come out at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 try pouring very salty water into the log where he's at. Maybe he doesn't like the salt and will let go? or maybe try holding a lighter under the log to heat it up where his mouth is and he'll let go? that's probably a pretty sensitive area. just don't burn him. I woulda thought just taking him outa the water would have done it. I had no idea they can suvive for hours out of water!?!?? so other than that I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrie Lee Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 I think Sam Chicklet's suggestion is best. If you put him back in the water eventually he will come out of the log. Poking him wil only make him hold on harder and you can hurt him trying to get him out of there. (I know I've done it :cry: ) Make sure to place the wood in such a way that it is easy for him to get out. I left mine on a piece of wood in a bucket (with water) for a couple of hours before he let go. Just please don't hurt him with sticks or burn him with salt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 I would put him back in the tank and wait untill night. Put the log on one side of the tank with the pleco hole pointing to the glass. Then on the onther side of the tank put some food(zuchini, pellets, whatever his fav is) and put another cave closer to the food. When you see him come out and go to the food. Try to take out the wood. Hopefully you are faster then the pleco. The bucket method sounds stressful. And he might be wedged in with his spikes and can't just fall out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 I'm sorry but this is funny (because we have all had this happen to us) I say try some red worms as well all my plecos love a little from time to time, i've also used the flow from the filter on mine, i place the end of the log in the flow and leave it there for a while. Watch the tank but they usually try to find a calmer location in a little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted April 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Well I left him over night with half of his body out of the water and he still will not come out I touched him with a knife and he squirmed so he is still alive....in all honestly I have only seen him 3-4 times in a year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Had this happen also. Finally and carefully cut the log apart to get him out. But than the log is garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frontosas Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Had this happen also. Finally and carefully cut the log apart to get him out. But than the log is garbage. I would say cut the log open as well.If that is not acceptable I would leave it in the tank till he came out on his own... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 Sorry guys, but "leave him in there till he comes out on his own"??? "cut the log apart"??? I think the point of the OP's original question (Murminator correct me if I'm wrong) was to look for alternate solutions to get the fish out right away. And to save the log so he could boil it to remove algae. Leaving him in there till he comes out on his own is all fine and nice, but as soon as you stick your hand in there to take out the log (the OP's goal), he'll go right back in the log! And cutting the log apart and destroying it is simply pointless if his goal is to just boil the log. I'm not saying that my suggestions were the best, and I certainly don't advocate hurting any fish, but I don't think the 2 options I gave were any worse than poking him in the nose with a stick or blasting him with compressed air either. So I say try the salty water method, it works for leaches, it might work for your sucker. The other thing I can think of is to get another log in there, maybe he'll go check that one out and while he's in there, you can remove the original log? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 The problem is that his leading pectoral fin rays are keeping him in - it really has nothing to do with the mouth holding on. Really, Murray, your only hope of keeping log and fish alive is patience. Personally, I'd put the log into a bucket and wait for him to come out to see where he is. But, that might take a bit of time... and, you may not be around when he does come out... :grr: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocker85675 Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 i've used long tweezers and a tailgrab before. just dont squeeze to hard and if he resists, abort mission, you'll just kill him. i've also hit the driftwood with a hammer lightly before and he just fell out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Pressure Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 We had a parrot fish stuck in a plastic log one time. The only way we were able to get it out of there was to destroy the lot with a set of plyers. Once we got the log apart we discovered that he could not have possibly gotten out on his own - he was stuck! Maybe the pleco is not coming out because he is unable to. Stupid fake decorations should be outlawed as they can be really hard on your fish population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbert Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Do you know if he's able to come out? For example, have you put out pleco delicacies and found them gone? If so, I think what I would do is tie a string around the log, put in a treat, and lie in wait. With luck, he'll be busy with the treat and you can pull the log out with the string. That might not frighten him as much as reaching in to pick it up, and he might not feel the need to hide. Incidentally, how is he doing? You first tried to get him out quite a while ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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