how long does it take for a dead fish to float?

[spar]

Put my first fish in tank yesterday:

6 neons
6 rummy nosed
2 peppered corys

The setup has a weir and the filter around the weir was large enough to let a little neon through !!

Saw him in there after about 15 minutes and figured the only way to get him out was via a syphon as i couldnt turn off the water without stranding him dry and couldnt get a net down there.

After a couple of goes got him out and back into the tank where he swam off and schooled happily. This morning he (i guess it was him ) was swimming upside down and then just floating in a plant...

Later i thought he was dead and tried to get him but he managed to swim off and now i cant find him at all... Will he just float up when he finally kicks the proverbial? I dont think a dead fish in a new tank (3 weeks) would be real good for ammonia levels...

[spar]

Well still cant find him after searching through all the plants (tank is still a bit cloudy after rescape) but i guess in a 350L tank it would be far worse if i was overfeeding than having one tiny neon die somewhere... And checking lvls ammonia is still at 0 so far.

it just bugs me though - where did the little sucker go ??? :?

[Stealth]

Dunno that they will always float....

My guess it he's on the substrate in the plants some place. 350L I wouldn't have thought would be bothered by one rotting neon.

IMHO YMMV....

[The boy from Tas]

the corries will like him too

[Matt31]

Did the corys eat it ?

[Matt31]

Dylan beat me to it

[The boy from Tas]

hehehehe :twisted::twisted::twisted:

[MJay]

do you run any canisters on the tank? it's surprising wat can get sucked into them, from neons and kuhlis to bristlenoses!! some survive in the filter for quite a while to!! a fish that small and a tank that big is nothin to worry about though

[spar]

cool - cause he is MIA

i dont think the corys could have eaten it... they are little too, about 25mm.

if they have then good on em

MJay no canisters - just sump filtration - i did put a finer mesh over the weir entrance after that though.

[The boy from Tas]

those corries would have had a fine feast on a tiny neon-even though they are only 25mm :twisted:

[Cloudy]

I think from memory a human body will initially sink (i suppose this depends on how much fat is on the bones) and then take 1 to 2 days for the gases in our digestive systems to build up which then brings the body back up to the service. With a fish, I assume this would be a similar thing, except if you see a cory with a slight grin and scales around his mouth. By being eaten, the gases get a way of escape so no fish floaties. Thats my theory anyways.....

[The boy from Tas]

you've been watching to much CSI Miami Jeff, or should i say Horatio

I believe you are right though in saying it takes bodies a few days to float ...

[spar]

Oh ok - i knew that for human bodies but we dont have air sacs inside ourselves to help us float... i thought fishies floated up pretty fast due to them.

Also i'll check the cory's faces when i get home - see if they look guilty !

[Matt31]

I think from memory a human body will initially sink.

Was that you with a bag of cement at Bunnings the other day Cloudy ?

I had a platy pass on when I was away the other weekend. It can be less than 2 days before they float. Probably depends on a few things, like how much they've eaten etc...

[MJay]

I think from memory a human body will initially sink (i suppose this depends on how much fat is on the bones) and then take 1 to 2 days for the gases in our digestive systems to build up which then brings the body back up to the service.

If you want the body to stay down you wrap it up in carpet and chuck it off a bridge