freelancing
08/20/2001, 07:19 PM
About 5 months ago I had a 3.5" (nearly full grown) fingerpint puffer. Had him for about a month and he was doing great. He stopped eating one day, but looked at the food and watched the other fish eating away.
The next day he hid under mini cave in the rock and wouldn't come out. Finally he was bobbing near the filter and I thought he was dead. I came to get a net and he was gone... then I saw him laying in the substrate, gasping for air and I watched him die what seemed to be a horrendous death for about an hour. Is there a way to euthanize a fish that is in agony?
I am new to the hobby and I figured there was just something wrong with him... cancer, gout, heck, I don't know anything... at least I'm learning.
I then got a saddle valentini puffer to replace him. A couple of months ago, both the saddle valentini puffer and a red spotted hawkfish stopped eating. I finally pulled my head out of my rear end and set up a hospital tank (and no, I didn't wait for it to cycle... didn't know anything about that stuff).
By the time the tank was set up for 24 hours, the puffer had died the same way the first one did.
The hawkfish still hung in there and I had to take every freakin' rock out of my 140gal tank to net that little !@$~# fish to put him in the hospital tank. The puffers showed no external signs of illness other than not eating and then hiding. The hawkfish was not only not eating, but his mouth hung open and there was a red sore in his mouth.
I started dosing the 10gal. hospital tank w/ pennicillin (sp?) and the red spot and lump started to go away. Just about then, one of my pumps in the big tank went out and my chemistry was awful, so I kept the hawkfish in the hospital.
Hospital was set up w/ 2" SB... sand borrowed from existing tank to help w/ good bacteria. Just a bio wheel on that tank. I did 50% water changes a day after each dosing to clean the water and he seemed to really be doing well.
Then his lips got red, so I started dosing again, trying Hex-a-mit. Sores went away and I patted myself on the back. Two weeks later, his gills and pectoral fins started turning red (bloody red) so I tried Neomycin (recommended by a vet). All medicines acquired from the LFS and all were water soluble and I followed dosing instructions. This time he didn't make it and after 2 months of dosing and water changes, he died 2 days ago.
About a month into his stay in the hospital tank, I noticed that my Margintine Damsel had a dark spot on her side (the margintine damsel is white w/ black eyes and black fins) that looked like it was a lesion just under her scales.
Since the red spotted hawkfish was about 7 years old and a more valuable fish, I didn't want to put her in the tank with him and possible introduce a new variable. She continued to eat healthy, but died after about a month of having this spot on her side. Cancer? I have no freakin' clue.
I am new to the hobby since March and it's been baptism by fire. Despite a few fatalities here and there, I've got a good group of hearty fish right now and I'd like to keep it that way.
Two mated clowns are about 7 yrs old (I bought the tank used and the woman who owned the tank had had the tank and the 2 clowns and hawkfish for 7 years) and the rest are aquisitions from about 5 months ago and going strong.
I first thought the fatalities were related because the valentini puffer and the redspotted hawkfish both stopped eating on the same day... but I guess it could be a coincedence.
While it's defeating to spend money on fish, equip, etc. only to see bobbing corpses, I hate killing animals that were fine before I put my mits on them and I don't want to add to the suffering of any of these animals, but to make them as happy as can be in captivity.
My tank has corals and some inverts (hitchhiker nudibranch, etc.) so I can't dose the entire tank, nor would I want to do mega water changes on a tank this big (I don't have an RO filter yet).
Thanks in advance for any diagnosis you can offer regarding my 4 somewhat recent losses.
The next day he hid under mini cave in the rock and wouldn't come out. Finally he was bobbing near the filter and I thought he was dead. I came to get a net and he was gone... then I saw him laying in the substrate, gasping for air and I watched him die what seemed to be a horrendous death for about an hour. Is there a way to euthanize a fish that is in agony?
I am new to the hobby and I figured there was just something wrong with him... cancer, gout, heck, I don't know anything... at least I'm learning.
I then got a saddle valentini puffer to replace him. A couple of months ago, both the saddle valentini puffer and a red spotted hawkfish stopped eating. I finally pulled my head out of my rear end and set up a hospital tank (and no, I didn't wait for it to cycle... didn't know anything about that stuff).
By the time the tank was set up for 24 hours, the puffer had died the same way the first one did.
The hawkfish still hung in there and I had to take every freakin' rock out of my 140gal tank to net that little !@$~# fish to put him in the hospital tank. The puffers showed no external signs of illness other than not eating and then hiding. The hawkfish was not only not eating, but his mouth hung open and there was a red sore in his mouth.
I started dosing the 10gal. hospital tank w/ pennicillin (sp?) and the red spot and lump started to go away. Just about then, one of my pumps in the big tank went out and my chemistry was awful, so I kept the hawkfish in the hospital.
Hospital was set up w/ 2" SB... sand borrowed from existing tank to help w/ good bacteria. Just a bio wheel on that tank. I did 50% water changes a day after each dosing to clean the water and he seemed to really be doing well.
Then his lips got red, so I started dosing again, trying Hex-a-mit. Sores went away and I patted myself on the back. Two weeks later, his gills and pectoral fins started turning red (bloody red) so I tried Neomycin (recommended by a vet). All medicines acquired from the LFS and all were water soluble and I followed dosing instructions. This time he didn't make it and after 2 months of dosing and water changes, he died 2 days ago.
About a month into his stay in the hospital tank, I noticed that my Margintine Damsel had a dark spot on her side (the margintine damsel is white w/ black eyes and black fins) that looked like it was a lesion just under her scales.
Since the red spotted hawkfish was about 7 years old and a more valuable fish, I didn't want to put her in the tank with him and possible introduce a new variable. She continued to eat healthy, but died after about a month of having this spot on her side. Cancer? I have no freakin' clue.
I am new to the hobby since March and it's been baptism by fire. Despite a few fatalities here and there, I've got a good group of hearty fish right now and I'd like to keep it that way.
Two mated clowns are about 7 yrs old (I bought the tank used and the woman who owned the tank had had the tank and the 2 clowns and hawkfish for 7 years) and the rest are aquisitions from about 5 months ago and going strong.
I first thought the fatalities were related because the valentini puffer and the redspotted hawkfish both stopped eating on the same day... but I guess it could be a coincedence.
While it's defeating to spend money on fish, equip, etc. only to see bobbing corpses, I hate killing animals that were fine before I put my mits on them and I don't want to add to the suffering of any of these animals, but to make them as happy as can be in captivity.
My tank has corals and some inverts (hitchhiker nudibranch, etc.) so I can't dose the entire tank, nor would I want to do mega water changes on a tank this big (I don't have an RO filter yet).
Thanks in advance for any diagnosis you can offer regarding my 4 somewhat recent losses.