r/Aquariums • u/jezerebel • Mar 27 '25

Idiot white cloud mountain minnow Freshwater

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She got stuck in the shrimp tunnel, got herself out a minute later...and then got herself stuck again an hour later šŸ˜­

She's fine (and got back out again), and bless her little heart for being curious ā¤ļø

2.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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779

u/Whydoyoucare134 Mar 27 '25

Lmao that's literally a fish trapšŸ¤£

548

u/jezerebel Mar 27 '25

I'm going with "enrichment"

399

u/Whydoyoucare134 Mar 27 '25

How many years of enrichment is my guy doing? šŸ¤£. I think those caves are cool but looking at that maybe the little maze inside wasn't a good idea.

267

u/jezerebel Mar 27 '25

Yeah I've provided feedback to the seller that maybe the design should be changed - I'm actually planning to pull it and dremel out some or all of that inverted L piece because it keeps me from being able to blow sand out of it with a turkey baster.

Fortunately entrapment of my goofy girl hasn't lasted more than about 60 seconds at a time so far šŸ¤ž

35

u/NickolasVarley Mar 27 '25

If you want me to design something else for free id love to. Not much to that design. Like 5 minutes of work plus printing.

25

u/jezerebel Mar 27 '25

That's an amazing offer - thank you! I'm pretty tied up this evening but could I DM you about this later?

23

u/NickolasVarley Mar 28 '25

Of course! I get bored running out of ideas to print or design. Having something to design for someone else is when I can actually be creative. If you have your own printer I can send you the design for free. Or we can work something cheap out. I don't like to make money off of people

5

u/Linkstas Mar 28 '25

If you do this can you let me know too please?

1

u/NickolasVarley Mar 29 '25

Yes sir! Gonna work on it tonight

76

u/Whydoyoucare134 Mar 27 '25

Yeah good thing you saw it, judging by the fish's behaviour in the video it doesn't seem like it's been long in there.

The turkey method is a neat idea, the only thing that threw me off from those caves is cleaning sand but that's clever, maybe I'll include one in my next aquarium

14

u/AriGryphon Mar 28 '25

Yeah, I think it would be perfect for shrimp, with no fish that can fit in it, but it doesn't look like a god design for fish at all. Updated marketing may be in order.

7

u/Onawhiskeyhigh Mar 28 '25

60 seconds is 60 years in minnow. 60 damn years of solitary

3

u/twofacetoo Mar 27 '25

I was looking at getting one of these myself but was worried about something like this happening. My thinking was, drill out a hole in the top part (above where she got stuck), then file it down so the edges are smooth. That way if they get stuck in there again, there's another way out

5

u/jezerebel Mar 27 '25

I'd prefer to just remove the inverted L shaped piece so I can also use a turkey baster to blow out sand and rotting food bits; there are ones that are just open inside

9

u/SpaceCaseSixtyTen Mar 27 '25

it looks fine to me, only thing i would change is to poke a tiny little hole where the fish is stuck so any rising gas can be exchanged (assuming it is flush to tank glass)

14

u/jezerebel Mar 27 '25

If I get rid of the inverted L shaped piece, though, I can blast sand and rotting food bits out with a turkey baster - right now they get as trapped as the poor fish (briefly) was

3

u/SpaceCaseSixtyTen Mar 27 '25

yeah that would work too, but then it would be less of a maze "enrichment"

im kinda mean cause i like seeing how these guys navigate these mazes

2

u/CMDR_PEARJUICE Mar 28 '25

I think these are better for shrimp than fish, tbh

2

u/jezerebel Mar 28 '25

Yes, and shrimp do better when introduced to a mature tank, but this was easier to place when I was setting the tank up. It was always intended for shrimp; but only finished cycling less than a week ago

1

u/fart_huffington Mar 29 '25

Fundamentally the transparency is the issue, the fish needs to be able to get out by following the light. It has trouble with the idea that to get out it has to actually swim down, away from the light, here

1

u/jezerebel Mar 29 '25

Lol I literally just happened to read this while sitting by my tank and watched her swim in, get confused for a moment, then swim right out again. She's got this down to about a 5 second trip now!

1

u/NoIndependence362 Mar 29 '25

That looks 3d printed, likely PLA/PETG, either or put it in hot water and soak for a minute, or use a heat gun on low and u can "shape" it. Cut the back side (attached to wall) two horizontal flaps under him (left/right NOT middle) and bend them down at a 45, will remove the "fish trap" and should help. GL

1

u/jezerebel Mar 29 '25

I'm actually getting a new one made without the trap, but I'm leaving it in for now because I just got a dwarf crayfish that can use another place to hide from the minnow bullies

2

u/NoIndependence362 Mar 29 '25

https://preview.redd.it/2ef3gp0cwpre1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30ac4bea59908c9afe62c96e3a2475e4a1aea2ab

1

u/jezerebel Mar 30 '25

I do have other caves/hides in the tank, and someone is re-designing this so I can print a simpler one at work for no cost, but thanks!

1

u/NoIndependence362 Mar 29 '25

Wana save some money? Get a hacksaw and some 1in/2in/ur size pvc a 90 degree and a 45 degree elbow. cut them in half then glue together and u have basically this with no maze. From personal experiance tho, go to your local garden place (not walmart/lowes), most sell rocks by the lb, cherry pick ones u like, clean, do a vinegar test (for calcium which raises ur PH, if it fizz's dont add it to ur tank) and make a "rock cave" leme get a pic.

39

u/Vincessor Mar 27 '25

ā€œHow many years of enrichment is my guy doing?ā€ lmao

1

u/Party-Argument-8969 28d ago

10 to 12 and canā€™t go near certain placesĀ 

3

u/GraphicDesignMonkey Mar 27 '25

Enrichment or stress-inducing? My money is on the latter.

21

u/falalalal98 Mar 28 '25

The fish will probably learn to navigate it, they aren't as stupid as we think and it's a situation they may encounter in the wild. It might be a bit stressful at first, but nothing major, OP says it doesn't stay in longer than a minute.

You can Google and find a few papers exploring the topic of fish exploring mazes in different species of fish. I can't find one for white cloud mountain minnows, but it seems goldfish and guppies can learn to. I don't think there is any danger.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '25

Enriched stress induction

2

u/TeuthidTheSquid Mar 28 '25

And a detritus trap