What's this? A fish post?? Say it isn't so...

[hippybngstockng]

Yes, it's been a while, but that's because it's been a while since anything went wrong. No news is good news when it comes to fish reporting, where with my humans updates it probably means there's actually badness afoot.

Badness is indeed afoot at the ol' fish bowl... John Crichton, who by my counting would be the 2nd oldest, or perhaps the oldest, of my fish (but only 2-3 years old still) is showing signs of Dropsy. No one else has it, we've never had it before, I didn't change anything, I have no new food or fish to have given it to us, nothing happened, I am utterly puzzled. The only thing I can possibly think of was that I had recently pushed his bowl closer to Pilot's, since they seemed to want to do a little fighting, and I might have fed them one day while they were fighting, but I have TOTALLY done that before when all the bowls were up on the dresser together, and nobody got sick. I also didn't think that eating right before fighting was a bad thing for them, so was it really that or something completely different?? I have no clue.

I tried feeding him a pea yesterday, but he didn't manage to actually eat any of it- Just shoved it around the top of his bowl. Yesterday he was doing the semi-death-hang at the top, not moving much, today he is laying around at the bottom, not moving much. I will probably throw some aquarium salt in with him, and maybe even try a full salt bath later, but I am not holding my breath. I guess, if I think about it hard enough, it might just be his time- He was likely a lot older than I think he was, if I understand Betta biology properly. He had the longest fins of any other betta I've seen for sale in a store, and where the rest of my guys have grown at least a little after I got them, Crichton never did. He might have been quite the old man, for all I know.. The idea that it might have had something to do with the feeding is bothering me though, especially since that's how Harvey died.

On the good news front- I think Pilot might finally be over his fungus and might get to finally return to a tank. I also need to start getting my head around moving these boys, since there might be stuff I need to do ahead of time for them as well. If not, who cares, I have the stuff needed to start all over again, I think, and there's a petsmart just up the 401 from Waterloo, if not. And as a side note to those of you who are Farscape fans who read this just to see whether I would say it, indeed, I have way more tank than I have fish now, so at some point I imagine that yes, there will be a second John Crichton.. I was just hoping to have them both at the same time... ;)

Comments

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

Don't think feeding them when they are being feisty at each other should make a difference.

'Fighting' with these guys is such a graphic term... really they were shadow boxing, or making faces, or something not quite up to the full image of fighting...

From what I've read, they don't live long. 4-5 years is old. Do don't let it get you too down. Grieve yes, but don't carry the sorrow.

[by-sea-change.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about John Crichton. Gatsby died of dropsy. It came on suddenly... I changed nothing about his diet. He was not near other fish. He just developed dropsy and died. It was horrible seeing him go through hit; he lived with it for about two weeks, I think. By far I think dropsy is the worst of the fish diseases. It really squicks me out, and there is really nothing that can be done for it.

Robin, who is my second oldest, the one with the tumour, seems to be doing less and less well. That fish amazes me, though. He's got this giant tumour, practically no tail left (he bit it off), his immune system is shot, and still he is eating and being semi-normal. I'm worrying about dropsy with him at this point, though. His belly is starting to look more swollen, but it could be the tumour.

The things we worry about. :)

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was really surprised by this because Crichton is the one who survived the terrible filter intake accident. I really thought he was going to be with me a lot longer when he came back so well from that, but yeah... They all have their time.

[by-sea-change.livejournal.com]

Our fish around the same age. I guess it is their time to be old. It's still hard to take.

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

Question for you: My fish likes to sit in one place (although he doesn't hang out at the top of the tank), and he had some abnormally white scales. I tossed some fish-medicine in the tank, and now he's really... fleshy.

Have you every seen or heard of this?

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmm.... That is disturbing. I am tempted to ask you to define "fleshy" but I bet I don't want to know. ;)

Were the white scales kinda protruding, more like white bumps? That could be ich, which is a parasite. If it was clumps of scales with white on them, it might be fungus. Either way I think I might need more information to help you.. What kind of fish are we talking? What kind of medicine did you put in? Did you take your filter out of your tank first, or was it a medicine that doesn't require that? You might also want to try asking waysofseeing because he keeps a wider variety of fish than I do.

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

Oh, he's a beta (that's why I asked you, specifically).

Okay, here's what happened: When I got him, he had a patch of which scales on top of his head. He was in a tiny little tank. In the little tank, he almost never moved, just lay on his rock with a plant holding him up. I put him in a 2.5 gallon tank, two days ago, and started him on BetaFix Remedy. The white spot is gone, and his fins have started growing, but his formerly blue scales have turned kind of pink, especially in between. I'm worried about him, but I'm also worried because I'm a fussy mom.

Do beta usually have a little flap of skin that they extend to show aggression? My last one didn't, but this one seems to, and he seems to be pissed at me.

Thank you for helping me out. :-)

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

Pink is not always a bad thing.. Sometimes it just means they lost their pigment, or they never really had it to begin with. I wish you could see D'Argo to really see what I mean. He's supposed to be blue, but I think he has some white or transparent in his heritage, so he's weirdly mottled all over, especially on his head, which happens to be mostly pink these days. Also, the white-ish fish I had was eventually quite pink, so really, that's nothing to worry about.

The flap is also a good thing. It's actually the sign of a healthier fish that he has it, and even more that he uses it. Also, they don't always use it as a form of anger, sometimes it's more like a, "Hey, BabEE, CHECK ME OUT!!" So perhaps he's just finally noticed how cute you are, and wants you to be his boyfriend! ;) It's also a sign that he's feeling better. Some fish are more active than others. I've had ones that are busy all day long, and others that just hide under their plants all day until it's time to eat. You should only worry if it's almost impossible to get their attention, since that's the major sign that they feel like crap.

And no worries about the help! I am here any time you need me :)

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

Thank you, again. He seems much healthier. I've been doing 30% water changes every week (or, um, once since last week). That seems to be enough. I figured out the flare thing: when I turn on his tank light he can see his reflection in the plastic, and he's challenging it. Or, alternately, he's thinking, "Da-yum, I'm a sexy bitch."