Oh My ... Hal ! There is no way I could ever follow your instructions. I
have done
the back and forth movement of fish for 9 years and nary a one has drowned.
I think
the secret is in not doing just the backward movement of the fish - but to
do a back-and-forth
movement.
FWIW

Nedra


"Hal" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 11:12:21 GMT, (Roy)
wrote:

Figured its history now........went into tell the wife I found the
other fish, and decided since it appears to have made one final
attempt to swim and failed, I had better remove it from the water as
it more than likely is dead. So back out I went reached in (fish was
still in same spot) got ahold of it, and then just started to move the
fish back and forth in the water, and next thing off it went from
between my fingers and started to swim naturally. It made a few laps
around the container, and then joined up with the other two fish, and
seemed to be doing ok. What is the chances it will survive? I have no
idea how long it was out of the water to begin with. When it jumped
out it hit mulch so it was not a hard surface, and it did eventually
flop around enough outside to get to the carpeted area, where I found
it.

So is it reasonable to assume it may survive? How far from the lip of
the container should I keep the water. It was approx 2" from top of
water to the lip on the container.

Your new fish have been under stress because of the handling and
transporting and anything they might have had from the original pond
or they contacted during travels could show up. Most of the time it
just goes away on it's own and the fish settle in to their new home.

I've heard several reasons why fish jump, most of the time they claim
it has to do with water quality, but fish do sometimes jump out of the
pond. Many ponds are constructed with a protrusion extending over
the water a few inches to prevent a flashing fish (Parasites cause
them to "flash" rub against the sides and bottom.) from following the
wall up and jumping out.

A local fish farmer has drain pipes in the bottom of his ponds and
when he wants to grade/cull fish he pulls the plug and catches them in
a basket and he says they live a surprisingly long time out of water.
I hope your fish will be OK.

I heard it can actually drown the fish to force water backward
through the gills. A better way to administer artificial respiration
to a fish is to use one finger to press that angled strip of flesh
behind the mouth and under the gills to force the mouth and gills open
and release to close while holding the fish under water. Once the
fish begins to move his mouth and gills on his own you can release
him.

Regards,

Hal