Fish stuck in overflow/sump

My small yellow watchman gobie went missing about a week ago. Thought he might have jumped. But when doing a water change today found him swimming in my sump, but in a chamber where my overflow water drains through a perforated pipe. He gets light because I have a 'fuge next to my sump, and he gets food because extra stuff goes into this chamber before it overflows through my filter floss. I can't physically get to him. I would have to totally drain my fuge and move it out of my stand, then totally drain my sump to try to get to him and dump it out. But it was a bear getting the sump in my small, narrow stand in the first place! Any creative suggestions on getting him out?

The sump is a Mega Flow 1 if anyone is familiar with that model.

Thanks in advance!

Denise

 

I have had a few fish get chased into the megaflow on my RR 90g. I have a chromis in mine right now.

I would simply turn the return pump off, and pull the standpipe allowing the fish to go down the drain into the sump. Put a net on the outlet of the line,a nd then put it where you want it.

Until you do this, make sure to throw some food it likes to eat in there.

edit, idss it in the overflow in the tank? or in the sump, which it sounds to be?

In the sump, you may have to try a trap or suck it up with a 1" ID hose and try to get it in that way with a siphon. Use a clear hose to see if you have him. If that does not work, you will need to do whatever to get him.

 

Mine lived in my overflow almost 3 years! Every time I put him back in the main display he jumped back in so I finally gave up. It ends up the sixline wrasse pestered him and he felt safer in the overflow.

 

Thanks for the comments. If he was in the overflow area of my tank I could probably get to him. But he's actually in a chamber in my sump where the overflow pipe from the tank feeds into a tall, perforated pipe that is inserted into a hole in the top of a tall rectangular chamber which then spills into another chamber that holds my filter floss and then into the rest of the sump box. I'll try to get a picture.

 

Okay - here's a picture of my sump. The hose going into the top of the sump is attached to a long, perforated pipe that feeds water into a rectangular chamber. When the chamber fills with water it pours over a lip at the top of it that overflows the water through the filter floss and/or other media in another chamber that is in front of it. The water then dumps into the rest of the sump area.



Here is the goby. Stuck in the the narrow chamber behind the media chamber. I hope this makes sense.

 

How big of a display tank is that?

I ask because unless you can use a hose and siphon the fish out, you may have a hard time getting him out.

I also think that running a conventional sump would greatly benefit you, especially if you run a refugium on your new sump. Putting in a new sump would allow you to get that goby out.

If you have a 90g or smaller DT, a 20 gallon long makes a great sump / fuge. If you have more room, a bigger tank would be even better.

There are many DIY plans documented online for making your own sump from a tank.

 

I would think your drip tray would be removable for cleaning? If not it should be.

 

I have a pearly jawfish living in the mud of my refuge in the back of the sump.....never can get him and he is happy there so I am going to leave it there

 

It's a 55 gallon, and the drip trays are removeable. So I may just have to siphon him out as you mentioned. I'll think about the sump configuration. I have a 10 gallon aquarium I'm using for the refugium although I also have some rock and cheato in the sump as well. The sump would definitely be a lot easier easier to clean and service if it was an open aquarium. I'll look into some of the designs on here. However the Mega Flow does work really well. No bubbles going back in to the tank, very quiet...so I have some thinking to do.

 

I don’t understand, the media should be removable for cleaning, kill the water supply from the tank and remove the media and get to your fish?

Can you take more pictures? Can you get a hose in there on a siphon and suck him out? I empathize with you when it comes to tight spots under the cabinet – I use to be there along time ago myself.

I suspect we could come up with some creative idea’s but we need more pictures to understand the situation. In our eye’s it should be as easy as stopping the drain and removing the media and reaching in to get the fish – no need to drain anything ? More pictures to better understand please….