Fears at Rest. For Now.
My Fish Whisperer came by tonight and looked at my fish.
The last time he had seen them, Coco had been bloated. Her little stomach looked like she'd had a couple turkey dinners and then some. When I left him a voice mail on Sunday, I told him that she was Skinny Fish. She was sunken in starting from behind her eyes, from her dorsal fin to her lateral line. It is the strangest thing I've ever seen, and it happened in a day. If Ethiopia had fish, I would've described her as an Ethiopian Fish.
Tonight when I arrived home from work I noted that just behind her eyes was what appeared to be a hole. It looked like a hole in her head. What the hell? That inspired him to come over and check her out. He looked at her, adjusted his glasses, looked again and said, "Oh my."
He said it's not HITH, though, he said she's malnourished. That what appears to be a hole in her head is actually the shadow from her bone poking out. Her scales are stretched that tightly/thinnly right now. Poor thing, he said now that she's eradicated the hexamita, she needs a diet that's high in protein. I've been feeding her, well, all of my fish spirulina flakes. He dropped some flakes in and observed. She was interested, but spit them out. He recommended something called Spectrum New Life, and I remembered from back when I was breeding the fish that I had some baby fish food that was from that company. I pulled it out of my drawer and he dropped some of the food in her tank. She went nuts. She spent about an hour picking up rocks and scrounging to find any remnants of the food in the rocks.
He said not to worry about Moe. He said she looks fine, even though she's not eating. He said she might actually be interested in the Spectrum food as well.
As for the grey female in the big tank, he said to leave her in there. That she's fine for now, even though she's not eaten since Friday. He said she might be "bloating" because she's trying to lay eggs. Her overall behavior is that of a healthy fish.
He said to not medicate. Continue to allow their immune systems and tank temperature to help them feel better.
Both hospital tanks are at 86F, the big tank is at 84F. He said to leave the temperatures as is. He validated that the hospital tanks do not get their lights turned on unless I'm checking them and that the other fish tanks get about 2-3 hours of light every day. The limitation on light, by the way, also helps reduce algae growth. He also said to feed the fish at least 2 hours before going to bed (i.e., turning out the house lights), that way they have time to digest the food before sleeping.
All of my husband's guppies died, the last one died Monday morning. They had internal parasites when we brought them home from the pet store. We tried to save them for over a month, but sadly were unable to do so. He said that the type of internal parasites they had are dependent on having a host. Fish Whisperer said that he has guppies and also some cardinal something or others that he would give to us. To prepare the tank, to turn the temperature up to 95F or so, to clear out any bad things the other guppies may have had.
So, it would seem as if my concern were legitimate, just needed to be redirected as far as caring for Coco and Moe, by changing their food.
The last time he had seen them, Coco had been bloated. Her little stomach looked like she'd had a couple turkey dinners and then some. When I left him a voice mail on Sunday, I told him that she was Skinny Fish. She was sunken in starting from behind her eyes, from her dorsal fin to her lateral line. It is the strangest thing I've ever seen, and it happened in a day. If Ethiopia had fish, I would've described her as an Ethiopian Fish.
Tonight when I arrived home from work I noted that just behind her eyes was what appeared to be a hole. It looked like a hole in her head. What the hell? That inspired him to come over and check her out. He looked at her, adjusted his glasses, looked again and said, "Oh my."
He said it's not HITH, though, he said she's malnourished. That what appears to be a hole in her head is actually the shadow from her bone poking out. Her scales are stretched that tightly/thinnly right now. Poor thing, he said now that she's eradicated the hexamita, she needs a diet that's high in protein. I've been feeding her, well, all of my fish spirulina flakes. He dropped some flakes in and observed. She was interested, but spit them out. He recommended something called Spectrum New Life, and I remembered from back when I was breeding the fish that I had some baby fish food that was from that company. I pulled it out of my drawer and he dropped some of the food in her tank. She went nuts. She spent about an hour picking up rocks and scrounging to find any remnants of the food in the rocks.
He said not to worry about Moe. He said she looks fine, even though she's not eating. He said she might actually be interested in the Spectrum food as well.
As for the grey female in the big tank, he said to leave her in there. That she's fine for now, even though she's not eaten since Friday. He said she might be "bloating" because she's trying to lay eggs. Her overall behavior is that of a healthy fish.
He said to not medicate. Continue to allow their immune systems and tank temperature to help them feel better.
Both hospital tanks are at 86F, the big tank is at 84F. He said to leave the temperatures as is. He validated that the hospital tanks do not get their lights turned on unless I'm checking them and that the other fish tanks get about 2-3 hours of light every day. The limitation on light, by the way, also helps reduce algae growth. He also said to feed the fish at least 2 hours before going to bed (i.e., turning out the house lights), that way they have time to digest the food before sleeping.
All of my husband's guppies died, the last one died Monday morning. They had internal parasites when we brought them home from the pet store. We tried to save them for over a month, but sadly were unable to do so. He said that the type of internal parasites they had are dependent on having a host. Fish Whisperer said that he has guppies and also some cardinal something or others that he would give to us. To prepare the tank, to turn the temperature up to 95F or so, to clear out any bad things the other guppies may have had.
So, it would seem as if my concern were legitimate, just needed to be redirected as far as caring for Coco and Moe, by changing their food.
Labels: fish maintenance
posted by Jammie J. at
10/21/2008 11:59:00 PM
