I have lost a small fish (1.5") in the skimmer before.
By the time I found him he seems to have died from exhaustion fighting
the flow. This was a fairly new fish at the time. I think the
experience fish know to stay away from the skimmer. I see them poking
around the edges everywhere else.

Derek Broughton wrote:

~ janj JJsPond.us wrote:


If you're seeing a few, there is quite a few more you're not seeing, more
than you need to survive. ~ jan


Also, while I have seen and heard of fish getting caught in filters, it
happens surprisingly rarely. The ones, that I know of, all survived the
experience (thought it's fair to assume that the ones that didn't survive
left no evidence :-( )