Post by Dave on Aug 24, 2003 2:38:08 GMT -5
I wanted to post an update on Fred. He is still not eating. It's been about five weeks now since he ate normally. I bought a small pouch of frozen brine shrimp to see if he'd eat any of them. He does seem to grab very small amounts of what sinks to the bottom, but for the most part just ignores them. After about ten minutes of that, I suck out what I can of what he doesn't eat.
I have also started to treat him with Maracyn-Two. I am on the second day of that treatment with no improvment that I can see. His fins are still clamped and he will not eat. One of his pelvic fins -- the little ones that hang down under his side pectoral fins -- looks like it's curled up into a ball at the end. There are still no detectable ammonia or nitrite levels. I am doing 100% water changes every other day. The water is treated tap water with aquarium salt added.
He would not eat the bits of pea no matter how tiny I made them. He would try, though, but could never seem to get one in his mouth. I tried feeding it on the end of a toothpick, but he would either not approach it at all, or the pea would fall off and sink to the bottom. I even tried epsom salt which did not help.
I just don't know what else to try.
Hmm... should I not be adding the aquarium salt during the Maracyn-Two treatment?
About half an hour ago, I had to make an emergency move to a "hospital bowl" because he seemed to be in significant distress from something in his regular bowl. He suddenly began darting around the bowl in a panic, and his gills appeared somewhat inflamed. It literally just happened -- one minute he was "normal," the next he was going crazy. He seems to be okay in the hospital bowl now that he's settled down a bit. The bowl it tiny, though -- I'd guess about a quarter gallon -- and he seems frustrated by its small size, constantly swimming around the edge slowly.
I lowered the water level in his normal bowl because he seemed to be having trouble reaching the surface. I adjusted his medication dosage to compensate for the decrease in water.
Assuming he survives, I'm going to complete the five-day Maracyn-Two treatment, and will continue trying to feed him tiny bits of food, but things do not look good. As I said, I just don't know what else to do. If he's not going to recover from this, I don't want to prolong it so much that he starts suffering. I'm sure he's very stressed right now due to the seemingly endless water changes, additions to his water, etc.
Is there anything you can think of that will help the little guy out?
Thank you as always,
--Dave
I have also started to treat him with Maracyn-Two. I am on the second day of that treatment with no improvment that I can see. His fins are still clamped and he will not eat. One of his pelvic fins -- the little ones that hang down under his side pectoral fins -- looks like it's curled up into a ball at the end. There are still no detectable ammonia or nitrite levels. I am doing 100% water changes every other day. The water is treated tap water with aquarium salt added.
He would not eat the bits of pea no matter how tiny I made them. He would try, though, but could never seem to get one in his mouth. I tried feeding it on the end of a toothpick, but he would either not approach it at all, or the pea would fall off and sink to the bottom. I even tried epsom salt which did not help.
I just don't know what else to try.
Hmm... should I not be adding the aquarium salt during the Maracyn-Two treatment?
About half an hour ago, I had to make an emergency move to a "hospital bowl" because he seemed to be in significant distress from something in his regular bowl. He suddenly began darting around the bowl in a panic, and his gills appeared somewhat inflamed. It literally just happened -- one minute he was "normal," the next he was going crazy. He seems to be okay in the hospital bowl now that he's settled down a bit. The bowl it tiny, though -- I'd guess about a quarter gallon -- and he seems frustrated by its small size, constantly swimming around the edge slowly.
I lowered the water level in his normal bowl because he seemed to be having trouble reaching the surface. I adjusted his medication dosage to compensate for the decrease in water.
Assuming he survives, I'm going to complete the five-day Maracyn-Two treatment, and will continue trying to feed him tiny bits of food, but things do not look good. As I said, I just don't know what else to do. If he's not going to recover from this, I don't want to prolong it so much that he starts suffering. I'm sure he's very stressed right now due to the seemingly endless water changes, additions to his water, etc.
Is there anything you can think of that will help the little guy out?
Thank you as always,
--Dave