Bristlenose Won't Eat. Almost 3 Weeks

[Akasha72]

it's normal for them to get caught up in the net. I doubt you will have hurt her. she'll be flaring cos she's annoyed at being moved so don't worry about it.
 
Hope everything goes well with the vet. Keep me posted please

 

[cowgirluntamed]

She seems to be doing OK. However I got a call from the vet that woke me up and they had to reschedule. He only goes there a couple times a week so I'm not sure if he's out of town or what. But he didn't realize my appointment was scheduled for tuesday and he didn't have any of the anesthetic with him and wouldn't be able to get it that fast. So we rescheduled for Thursday. Because of this I got up and set up the bigger tote I had and put 8 gallons of water in it, then poured her and her water from the other container. So 10 gallons total. I put the sponge filter in as well as the heater. And I added tetra safe start to it as well. I bought it just in case. I will still keep an eye on her but next time I go to catch her I'm going to use that little container I had already and just use that to take her in the same day. I'm hoping I can just scoop her up in it. So, that's the new update for now!

 

[Akasha72]

sounds good but it's shame you've had to reschedule. Hopefully though she'll be okay. You could try picking her up with your hand - just keep your skin away from her spines. When I took my BN to the lfs (I had two that turned out to be two males and they started to fight so one had to be re-homed) the staff member just put her hand in the tub and picked him up either side of his dorsal and popped him into their tank. He actually froze, I thought he'd thrash about but he did the opposite

 

[cowgirluntamed]

We'll see how it goes. I just don't want to stress her out too much so I'm hoping just scooping her out in that smaller container will work good. I'll keep you updated. Spots is definitely a fighter!

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Checked her quarantine tank for ammonia and all is good. Just slightly off of the zero color. That tetra safe start must work good. She seems to be doing OK in there. I haven't tried to feed her since she's been in there. Wanted to keep the water really clean. I'm mean...she hasn't went for anything I've tried yet so yeah. I did receive my Indian almond leaves but I don't want to put them in the tank yet until she gets back in it just in case it does mess with my ph and such. Anyway, vet tomorrow. Yay! Will post update afterwards!

 

[Akasha72]

good news ... with the almond leaves they will affect pH ... they should soften the water thus lowering gH, kH and then pH will fall. To give you an idea, I had just 6 small alder cones in my filter and they dropped my pH from 6.5 to 4.5. The best bet is to add slowly and monitor closely. Once you get to where you want to be stop adding and keep monitoring until your confident they've stopped lower pH further

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I figured I'd add one leaf at a time and leave in a day or two and monitor before adding more. The thing is...if it does lower it(the tannins from driftwood I had/have in there have never touched the ph at all), I'll have to figure out how to do water changes since I have naturally hard water in my well. Can I use distilled water to mix in the well water? I don't have access to RO water and I'm not sure I can spend money on that. I've heard they are expensive.

 

[Akasha72]

it will take longer than a day or two to start affecting the water. I found they started to lower things as they broke down -which can take a few weeks
 
In respect of water changes, it can make it hard work, this is why we suggest keeping fish for your water type not trying to force the water type to fit around the fish. You could try drawing off some water into a clean vessel (something with a lid to stop anything from getting into it) and add a leaf and test the pH daily ... see how long it takes for the leaves to lower the pH. I would do it as an experiment now to see what happens. When you work that out come and tell us ... it's good info to share
 
The other alternative is to check out your local fish stores to see if any sell RO water. Most of them do here in the U.K and it's about £3 a gallon I believe - I'm not sure what that converts to for U.S but it's not expensive, given that over here we are charged by the litre in most modern homes now

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I do have some 5 gallon buckets with lids. I was thinking on one of two leaves per 5 gallons anyway. I could test it in that to be sure. We don't really have fish store here. Just chain stores. That's why I was asking about distilled as I could get it easy. And it's under $1 a gallon. I just wasn't sure if it was similar to RO water and if it could b used in the aquarium. I know they make them a bit differently but wasn't sure how.

 

[Akasha72]

I know nothing about distilled water so I don't feel confident on advising - sorry
 
I would do the experiment with your normal water and the leaves and see what happens

 

[cowgirluntamed]

RIP Spots. My stupid heater malfunctioned on the way and burned her up. The temperature was off the chart on my thermometer I had in there. It had been working fine before I left so I didn't even think to check it. I'm testing it now to see if it's broken or if maybe it didn't shut off because of the power converter.

Anyway...she wouldn't have made it anyway. I still had the vet look at her because I wanted to know. At that point he didn't see anything in her mouth. So he cut her open and it turns out she had gotten egg bound and her ovaries had burst. probably why I had seen her twitching there for a bit I bet. So there wasn't anything to be done anyway and he said it was really rare for them to have it happen. Poor baby. At least she's not suffering anymore. Don't know if I'll get another one for a while and I may take her castle out. Not sure on anything yet really.

As for the leaf experiment I still want to do that. Though it will probably go on the discussion board so keep an eye out for it there.

 

[Akasha72]

I am sooo sorry ... I am genuinely upset myself here. All the fighting for her and discussion between us trying to figure out what was wrong with her and all for this to happen 

 

 

 spots 

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Thanks for all your help Akasha. It really has bummed me out. I had tears falling when I took her in but at least he still looked at her. She was an awesome fish too. I asked if there could have been anything done and he said unless you can absolutely tell that she's eggbound then not really. It would either be trying to induce it yourself or put her with a male. I don't really want babies though so it will still be a single one for the big tank I want to do. Not sure if I want to do a bristle nose for the 20 or not yet again. I know they had some males at a smaller chain store that's close by so might go for that eventually. But not sure really. Kinda want something a bit different so as not to be reminded of her too much at this point anyway.

 

[Akasha72]

I would take a break and get yourself together. I know the feeling, I've been deverstated by the loss of my curvicep pair ... I cried when I lost the female and didn't speak all day after I lost the male too ... I just felt so lost and I still miss glancing into the tank and seeing them everyday. They're gonna take some getting over

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Yeah, thanks again Akasha.