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Earlier this evening I noticed something stuck in the mouth of my largest male rainbow. On closer inspection it looked like a bit of stick but after chasing him around the tank with a net, he spat out a half dead female guppy approx ~3-4 cm TL. After grabbing the motionless guppy I put her in a net - I expected her to die and this way I could easily remove her dead body in the morning - and then turned off the lights to avoid causing too much more stress to her.

After going back 3hrs later, she was swimming around the net happily enough and seemed in pretty good condition, so I released her back into the tank.

I have no idea how long she was in his mouth for but has anyone got any similar stories of lucky escapes?

I wonder if I'll go back tomorrow to find my male rainbow dead with the small female guppy looking pleased with her revenge

good news for your guppy mate!

I once had to do small surgery on a Carnegiella myersi (smallest species of hatchetfish afaik). it had tried to swallow a mosquito larvae but the thing ended up being stuck in his gill. the unlucky fish turned to its side and was just floating there. i managed to remove the larvae using tweezers but had to pull pretty hard to do so. I transferred the fish into a breeding net where it kept floating on its side and went to bed.

next morning the small hatchet was all active and swimming again and it lived in my tank for almost two more years.

i guess we all have similar stories to share!