I don't know what else to do - my Dojo are dying.

[Jan Cavalieri]

Wow. You certainly have been given more than your fair share of things that hurt---not just physically. If you'll accept I'm sending you a virtual hug. A good long one.

Virtual hug accepted! - thank you for thinking of me. I'll get through this I'm sure, I've managed to stay alive a lot longer than they ever thought I would. Once my dog died, I realized it would be too much effort to adopt another one so I adopted a so-called "elderly cat" that sure doesn't look or act very elderly. Then I thought i should start a hobby to keep me from sleeping the day away (with the cat by my side.) That's the fastest way to go down-hill with a serious illness. So I needed a new hobby (the cat isn't very pleased though LOL)

When I was about 15 my dad and I had long discussions about getting a salt water tank but couldn't afford it. Many years later I did purchase a fresh water tank. Had no idea what I was doing - pre-internet and they slowly died. I turned the aquarium over to my mother-in-law who was a wildlife rehabilitator and she hatched a batch of abandoned rattlesnake eggs in it that the city police pulled from a drug raid (along with a 5 month old declawed mountain lion) . She lived on 80 acres and only a couple of eggs survived but I let her keep the rattlesnake tank. I had tried to convince her that we had more than enough rattlesnakes on her huge property. She also cared for many baby bats in that tank - so I didn't ask for it back. She was such a saint. When she had to go to a nursing home a film company from California asked for the Mountain lion - they had used the cat many times in commercials locally and found her easy to train. She's probably passed on by now but I hope they gave her a good humane life.

Anyway I started researching the issues with freshwater tanks a few years ago - and once I found this forum it has made all the difference in the world in educating me on how to care for these fish - I did it in honor to my father and once I get the freshwater issues straightened out I'll FINALLY be able to start my Salt Water/Reef aquarium. Other than cycling it I think I have nearly everything I need - it's a "beginner" 32 gallon Biocube that I hope wont be too challenging. I've had everything ready to go since April but once crisis after another has kept me from actually getting it started. I've got all the water made and the Reef in placed , but need to make some tiny adjustments in salinity to handle reef animals and their helpers. If I ever get there - I sure hope I'm not in over my head! I've noticed there aren't many saltwater users on this forum. I also need to clean up the old 50 gallon tank and once that's done decide what to do with it. Other than live bearers and Cichlids I think I've owned most all of the interesting

So I'm hoping this mess with my dear DoJo's is over. Sadly, all have died but one. All the suggestions offered to me have kept him alive a lot longer than I would have been able to do on my own. I'm afraid to check on him yet this morning - I don't want more bad news. But last night I noticed him eating the small amount of food I gave him ( 6 of his favorite shrimp pellets) and he really picked up after that.

Just turned on his light - He is still ALIVE and the pink lungs look normal and his skin is less mottled. He was sleeping next to the Zeolite like it was a big comfy pillow. Thanks again Colin - always the lifesaver. I have learned a LOT from you - probably more than from anybody else. So I'll wait a while and if he makes it I will get him ONE companion. One of the lovely things about these fish is how they all looked after each other. First one awake when the lights came on - went around and woke the others up. If I had dropped some flake food in - one would notify the others - I never had leftover food with them. So I guess I'm keeping the 90 gallon tank, I have bunch of yellow Bristlenose loaches that are nearly mature so once the DoJo and the water issues are fixed and stable I'll move a couple in with him. They are peaceful and eat the same things but may need the tank 1-2 degrees warmer. Then I'll just sit back and wait doing water changes and hopefully increasing the quantity and quality of the bacteria before I do anything else with this monster tank. Thanks again. I need to finish up adding more water today - only got 2 Hefty containers worth of water in yesterday before I ran out of steam. My back feels much better after sleeping for awhile. Thanks again so much - you're the one that deserves all the hugs!

 

[Rocky998]

Hey half my friends hate me for my views on COVID. I think sometimes they don't know what it's like to be terribly ill - and not just for you (because you're pretty much out of it) but for your loved ones. Years ago I caught H1N1 - my immunes system was compromised from years on prednisone so the flu shot didn't work, plus I caught a new strain of it two years post epidemic. I spent two weeks on BiPap in critical condition. I just remember resisting it after a while and the threatening me with a ventilator if I didn't cooperate with the BiPap. I just slept most of the time but my poor daughter had cold symptoms so she wasn't allowed to see me and it just broke her heart (and she's a very cool collected person) because she was sure I was going to die and she wouldn't get to say goodbye. I had no idea she cared that much. Poor girl. I was with my grandmother and my father when they both passed away - it was hard to do but I'm so glad I could talk to them even if they didn't understand me. Missed being with my mother by about 15 minutes. Have had so many pets euthanized and worked in a research lab where one of the duties was chopping the heads off and collecting the blood, watching that head in the sink just continue to blink not yet realizing he was dead (this is the primary reason I didn't finish my dissertation - I just wasn't cut out for animal research. )

The fathers of two friends of mine are in the ICU with covid one on a ventilator and one on bipap. Neither one immunized. I feel like I'm catching pneumonia again this year but I refuse to go sit in an ER full of fools for not getting vaccinated. Their "rights" should not impinge on mine or anybody elses - wasn't that the argument made for making smokers go outside to smoke? These two dads also are both heavy smokers and heavy drinkers and obese. I was once a smoker and I'm paying for the damage I did to my lungs (that and a number of chemical lab accidents, those college kids we we were working with were so sloppy and they were all judged to be good medical school candidates - that's frightening!

I have added the Zeolite. I remember using this and rinsing it out in bleach each week. By the time it had exhausted it's use I couldn't remember what the heck I had put in those little bags (I had about bought the store out of everything that looked useful when I first started this hobby because it reminded me of the fun part of working in a lab, but it's starting to turn into a big nightmare too.

I already had mounds of these cool lilypad/rosette looking things covering the water but I had to take enough out so they could get to the top of the tank to get some air (they aren't always the brightest fish in the tank - just the biggest! Their roots do make a mess though and I think the DoJo have been eating the roots. I havent prepared peeled peas for them for a while (man, that's an act of love).

Take care and thanks for the nice thoughts. I'm going to finish my other vanilla hostess zinger - that's all I've eaten today. But I may have some good pasta salad too. Finally got my cat's litter box changed - she knows the schedule and I wasn't following it. Had to take some morphine and stand in front of a fan to catch my breath. Wish I could have some Scotch on the rocks or even a lovely big sangria but that would not be wise. Plus I have a gas stove (not a good mix with oxygen) so I need to be paying attention - I've caught my long hair on fire twice now. If it wasn't so much to convert to electric I'd pay for it but my landlord won't. I do love cooking with gas - other than the danger of blowing myself up of course.

Peace and love everybody and thanks for all the help and support - I feel pretty lost and lonely sometimes, I was mostly homebound before the pandemic and it gets old.

Ive been reading a lot of the things you've said in this thread... It was a lot mentally but I pulled through (I shouldnt even say that, you went through it... Smh, stupid me) anyways I'm sooo sorry for everything happening to you. The animal research part really made me sad as well as when you were in the hospital... Theres so many things I want to say, that I dont know how to say... So all that can come out is: Im so sorry

 

[Colin_T]

But last night I noticed him eating the small amount of food I gave him ( 6 of his favorite shrimp pellets) and he really picked up after that.

biff bam pow, stop feeding them,
you don't want to be putting lots of food in if there is ammonia or nitrite problems.

feed them once every second day and only a tiny amount.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Boy I am a dreary person. Like anybody it just gets old being around so much death - and for the last year and a half the whole world is depressed over. Colin I tested the fish in the 29 gallon tank. These are all Gourami and Pleco. Once glance told me there was a serious Ammonia problem going on - the smell tool When I took the reading it was off the scale on the Amonia charts, but none have died yet. So once I got myself together in the morning I did a quick need total water change as well as suctioned out all the debris. By then I was also getting a lot of green algae bloom which was strange since it's been completely cloudy here for days. Anyway - retested and the ammonia levels are back down to 4. Still deadly. My assistant didn't bother to show up today (actually his wife mentioned she might make him stay home to watch their 3 little ones since she broke her foot - but he's expected to be back tomorrow. I'm going to have him re-do both tanks since a single water removal didn't help lower ammonia by that much, I fed the Dojo 6 little pellets, he ate 3 right away and just finished eating the other three. They are all basically pellet eaters but I usually throw some flakes in. After I cleaned the little tank I could tell there is a ton of leftover food in their tank most likely causing the ammonia problem. Dug around for over an hour but I still could remove more after that especially after gettting the high reading after a complete water change. Not to excuse the overfeeding but both Gourami and Pleco are bottom feeders and got in the mail a package of little shrimp wavers made "for all loaches and Pleco's". Well nobody really ate it but the all had great fun chewing it up and the things are bright orange. Gave the Plecos about a 1/2 feeding of pellets and the gourami about a 1/3 feedling of flakes. I feed once per day. I hope the new guys shows tomorrow - either way there will be another water change on the 29 gallon. The DoJo reading could be lower but a complete water change on that I can't physically do right now. He seems to be resting very comfortably and all his burn wounds have healed right up. I cannot believe I was overfeeding the DoJo's - there was never anything left over, there was never any food mixed in with the gravel I just think 4 large fish in an under cycled tank overloaded the bacteria. When they were in the 50 gallon tank there was always looked terrible so my thought was get a tank double that size and cycle it well and the problem should disappear. And for a week their water was crystal clean until suddenly it wasn't and that's when the started dying. 90 gallons is just too small of a tank for fish that big and messy. Same with the pleco's once they hit full size - I'm going to have problems again because they too are very messy eaters. Only the Gourami are good little fishes. LOL Sleep tight for all of you where it's not daytime. Thanks again for all of you assistance. I still have to totally clean out the old 50 gallon tank before the plecos grow any further. It's clean but just a lot of dusty spots and skuff marks - I really don't care fore acrylic tanks at all. Mainly they make a big cross in the middle of the tank top of all acrylic to provide structural support. Try holding a 20 gallon hefty can over your head and hitting the right spot with the water. I just surround it all with towels. Everything, including yourself, gets wet. And they sure scratch up when empty but you don't really see the scratches with water in them - I just want more room on top.

Thanks again - I'll try not to be so doom and gloom. I actually love fall.