Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
So last night i was doing some water changes in my fish tanks when i went to look in the filter box of my main filter and to my saddened heart i saw what i thought was a dead black khuli loach in the filter. But as i looked closer i noticed the fishs gills were still moving, so it was not dead! I gently touched the loach but i quickly noticed something was very amiss- its head was tangled up in a fine white poly pad filter sponge.
So i grabbed a clear plastic bowl and very small and sharp pair of sewing scissors and pair of tweesers and gently lifted the loach and filter sponge together out of the filter box and put it in the bowl, before quickly snipping off the large part of the filter sponge and throwing it away, and then putting some fresh water from the tank in the bowl to clear the water. The khuli loach was in a very bad way. The sponge the khuli had got caught up in was a white juwel poly pad filter sponge, the sponge was quite old and the fibers had been separating in layers at one of the corners of the sponge where the khuli loach had got its head stuck in, the extra fine fibre's were tightly tangled around the khuli loaches head, mouth, gills and "neck". I knew i had to remove the filter sponge fibres from the loaches head quickly, i was very nervous but i pulled myself together.
The khuli loach was very weak, it looked like it had given up struggling a long time ago, it was mostly lying there on the bottom of the bowl- i don't know how long it had been like this in the filter, it could have been there for days, or just 10mins, i will never know. So i set about on the surgery of removing the filter sponge fibres tightly tangled around its head, i did a pretty good job and got it over and done with quite quickly. But i noticed its eye's were badly damaged from the filter sponge fibres, one of its barbels was breeding (from where i removed the fibre's tangled around its mouth) and its gills were quite inflamed and overal the loach was very weak and stressed looking, with a small amount of septicemia in one of its fins and a couple of scales coming off around its neck from the sponge fibre's been tied so tightly around its head and neck. But it was still alive.
Over the next 30mins i gently refreshed the water in its bowl every 5 or so mins while i did a water change on my 10gal fry tank. I decided the fry tank would be best for as it is a very peaceful tank with only tiny guppy and platy fry and some trumpet snails. I gently acclimatised the loach to the fry tank and released it, and then after a couple of hours i added some Melafix and StressCoat to the tank water and basically crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
... ... ...
I honestly didn't think it would survive the night as it was in such a bad way, although i hoped it would. This morning when i turned on the tank lights on the fry tank, the khuli loach had barely moved place, but it was still alive and breathing. I really hope it gets better, i did another dose of melafix and stresscoat this morning, i don't want to lose this khuli loach as its been with me for many years now. "Hopes for the best".
So i grabbed a clear plastic bowl and very small and sharp pair of sewing scissors and pair of tweesers and gently lifted the loach and filter sponge together out of the filter box and put it in the bowl, before quickly snipping off the large part of the filter sponge and throwing it away, and then putting some fresh water from the tank in the bowl to clear the water. The khuli loach was in a very bad way. The sponge the khuli had got caught up in was a white juwel poly pad filter sponge, the sponge was quite old and the fibers had been separating in layers at one of the corners of the sponge where the khuli loach had got its head stuck in, the extra fine fibre's were tightly tangled around the khuli loaches head, mouth, gills and "neck". I knew i had to remove the filter sponge fibres from the loaches head quickly, i was very nervous but i pulled myself together.
The khuli loach was very weak, it looked like it had given up struggling a long time ago, it was mostly lying there on the bottom of the bowl- i don't know how long it had been like this in the filter, it could have been there for days, or just 10mins, i will never know. So i set about on the surgery of removing the filter sponge fibres tightly tangled around its head, i did a pretty good job and got it over and done with quite quickly. But i noticed its eye's were badly damaged from the filter sponge fibres, one of its barbels was breeding (from where i removed the fibre's tangled around its mouth) and its gills were quite inflamed and overal the loach was very weak and stressed looking, with a small amount of septicemia in one of its fins and a couple of scales coming off around its neck from the sponge fibre's been tied so tightly around its head and neck. But it was still alive.
Over the next 30mins i gently refreshed the water in its bowl every 5 or so mins while i did a water change on my 10gal fry tank. I decided the fry tank would be best for as it is a very peaceful tank with only tiny guppy and platy fry and some trumpet snails. I gently acclimatised the loach to the fry tank and released it, and then after a couple of hours i added some Melafix and StressCoat to the tank water and basically crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
... ... ...
I honestly didn't think it would survive the night as it was in such a bad way, although i hoped it would. This morning when i turned on the tank lights on the fry tank, the khuli loach had barely moved place, but it was still alive and breathing. I really hope it gets better, i did another dose of melafix and stresscoat this morning, i don't want to lose this khuli loach as its been with me for many years now. "Hopes for the best".
Fingers crossed for your khulie. Let us know if he pulls through.
