help please!!!

[flautist]

I woke up this morning, and my little Sakana was on his side. I tapped the tank, and he came right to... I've been keeping him swimming this morning.. just trying to keep him upright. Right now I have him in a half gallon hospital bowl with two droppers of 30 ppm colloidal silver. He seems to be doing better. I gave him a blood worm, and he snatched it right up, just like always, and he doesn't seem to be going over on his side as much. But, he's still really bloated. I don't see any pine-coning yet, but I am keeping a close eye on that. Is there anything else I should do for him? And, if not, how long should I keep him in the hospital tank? Also, I've never used colloidal silver before, jsut read about it. Do I just leave the dosage in there, or do I resode every day?

thanks in advance for your help.

 

[BettaMomma]

My guess is that he might be constipated, possibly.
Don't feed him anything for a couple of days except a cooked, shelled, chopped pea. If his belly is bloated and he's tipping over - his swollen belly, for one reason or another, is hampering his ability to stay upright.

Great idea with the colloidal, also.
IF it is dropsy, that should do the trick with it, but I really think at this point you could treat it as if it's just a really full belly.

Give the peas and fasting a try.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[flautist]

Now that you mention it, it could be... once I got him moving, he pooped, and while it wasn't much, he does look better now that he did... he's still a little bloated, and still going to his side a bit, though... I'll fast him and see how it goes.

Thanks.

 

[BettaMomma]

No problem.
Do try the pea, though - that helps get things REALLY moving, if ya know what I mean. heh

 

[flautist]

No problem.
Do try the pea, though - that helps get things REALLY moving, if ya know what I mean. heh

yeah, I will try a pea as soon as I can get one.

He is doing much better... he still can't get down to the bottom very easily, but He has stopped going over on his side, and he's been a bit more active. No poo at the bottom of the bowl yet, though... and there should be some soon, because I fed him this morning. I will wait to take him out of the "hospital bowl" until he is able to swim perfectly.

Should I do a water change tomorrow since the hospital bowl is a half gallon, or should I just leave it? and if I don't do a water change, should I add more silver?

 

[flautist]

Good news! He is MUCH better this morning! He has been exploring his bowl all morning, top AND bottom. He is swimming just fine, and is acting much more like his normal self. I even caught him flaring at his reflection. That goofy fish.

This leads me to believe it was dropsy, though, because he hasn't pooped since that one little time from yesterday, and I fed him after that before I made this post. I'm still going to fast him until I see him poop, just in case.

So, should I do a waterchange today, or just leave him? If I just leave him, should I add more silver?

 

[BettaMomma]

Great news!
I would do a full water change today, then add some more silver.
I wouldn't completely discount the fact that he may have been constipated.
Unless you sat vigilantly next to his tank and watched him every single second, he probably poo'd when you weren't looking. They seem to be very secretive about it. Honestly, I give all my fishes peas every other or every third day so they go... ALOT... AND... with all the fish I have, I still have yet to EVER see one of them poo. But I know that they do cuz BOY do I find it when I'm cleaning their tanks.

I betcha when you change out his water today you'll find some in there.

I'm so glad he's feeling better though!

 

[flautist]

Great news!
I would do a full water change today, then add some more silver.
I wouldn't completely discount the fact that he may have been constipated.
Unless you sat vigilantly next to his tank and watched him every single second, he probably poo'd when you weren't looking. They seem to be very secretive about it. Honestly, I give all my fishes peas every other or every third day so they go... ALOT... AND... with all the fish I have, I still have yet to EVER see one of them poo. But I know that they do cuz BOY do I find it when I'm cleaning their tanks.

I betcha when you change out his water today you'll find some in there.

I'm so glad he's feeling better though!

Well, my fish certainly are not secretive about their poo... well, two of them aren't, anyways. My other one is, but I have seen my other two (including the sick one) poo many times.

Also, I don't have him in a tank right now... he's in a half gallon bowl with nothing in it but him and his water, so even if I didn't see him poo, I would know he did, unless he ate it.

He still hasn't pooed yet since that one time yesterday morning... again, unless he ate it.

I hope they have peas in the dining hall today.

 

[BettaMomma]

Aaah, I see.
Did you happen to find some peas?
Do keep us posted on his progress.

 

[flautist]

Aaah, I see.
Did you happen to find some peas?
Do keep us posted on his progress.

Well, I didn't get any peas. But, when I came back from work this evening, he had pooped! And he had even starting building a bubble nest in the corner of the bowl! So, I moved him back home (after cleaning it thoroughly, of course). When I got to more closely examine his tank, I think it may have been the rocks making him sick. They were aquarium rocks... green and purple and blue all mixed together. Very pretty. I've had them in his tank for a couple months... for some reason, the paint decided to start wearing off of them. There was a lot of turquoise icky stuff all around his bubble nest. So, I threw those rocks out and just put some plain brown ones in there, the same as I have in my 10 gal. He seems happy enough with them.

 

[BettaMomma]

Great.
I'm so glad to hear it.

I have also noticed when I had colored rocks in a tank, especially one where I do 100% water changes and am banging the rocks around quite furiously that the color seems to chip off and float to the top. I always wondered if that crap would make fish feel under the weather.

Interesting.
I'm very glad that your little guy is feeling better!

 

[flautist]

Great.
I'm so glad to hear it.

I have also noticed when I had colored rocks in a tank, especially one where I do 100% water changes and am banging the rocks around quite furiously that the color seems to chip off and float to the top. I always wondered if that crap would make fish feel under the weather.

Interesting.
I'm very glad that your little guy is feeling better!

I had noticed the paint chipping off before, too, but I always cleaned it extra good, and he never was bothered by it. For some reason, though, this time the paint was chipping even worse, and I think he may have swallowed some, because there was a lot of it on and around his bubble nest.

Thanks so much for all your help. I guess I'll never know exactly what was wrong, but at least he's okay now.

 

[BettaMomma]

I'm always so glad to hear happy endings to stories.