Loaches Online Forum

ohgodohgodohgod!
my big clown, Helga, was on the rug, all shriveled and crusty, when i got home from work today> some gill movement so we put her back in tank water in a transfer container. she extruded gobs and gobs of slime, her spikes were completely out and her gils lokked dry too, but still there was movement ....
now, several hours later, and constant water refreshes, she's plumped out, her gills pumping furiously and slime production is slowing down. we are transferring her to the Q-tank, but what next>! we are going to England on friday for 3 weeks, and have a fish sitter and fish tank service(a friend in the biz) coming regularly, but what else should we do?
Lori and Boris

I am so sorry to hear about your trauma. That is truly one of the worst fish experiences.

What is the size of the Q-tank?

Do you have a mature filter for it?

How big is your clown?

I would lower the water a little to increase oxygen, add a bubbler, anything to increase oxygen to make it easier for your poor fish to breathe.

I am pretty new, and I am sure the experts will be along soon to help. I had a jerky fish a few months ago, and she made a full recovery. My fingers are crossed for you and Helga.

qtank is 15 g, mature filter, lotsa bubbles. she can swim again but we are worried she'l be blind. she oozed mass quantities of slime on our carpet. she was 4ft from the tank - whatta jumper! she's the most aggressive loach in the tank, a Big piggie, and definately the alpha. also sits at the front and 'talks' at me - i Really dont want to loose her!

It sounds like you have a good set up for her. How did she get out? She must be a fighter. I am so happy you gave her a chance.

Hopefully she will not be blind, but there are worse things than being blind. I know a few members have blind fish, so if she is blind, then you will be able to get advice on how to help her.

Good luck. Tanja.

Helga made it another day, still lying quietly in the corner, in the dark, still panting, but not as fast. Her skin looks better, raggedy scrapes in a few places, but overall not as bad as you would expect after leaping and going a good 5 ft in shag carpet, lying godknow how many hours, and drying out to sun-dried tomato status. Her underbelly pelvic fin dark spot looks grayishish now; not as dark as her stripes as it once was - and less full, too. fins seem to be ok, and it looks like her spines have gone back in, as well. Her eyes, on the other hand, seem to have ruptured, the way they look.
We have 1 more day with her and then, no choice, are leaving for 3 weeks. Our sitter is gonna be here, and Mark from AquaristicNY is doing weekly water-x. Of course we'll be caling in, but oh , for a webcam!
Lori and
Boris

Have fun on vacation, let us do the worrying.

i had the same thing with one of my skunks... he healed up just fine... i posted the story here a long time ago i think.

in short...

was doing a water change... left the room, came back... finished the job.. went outside found a skunk in the sun (it must of gone right throuhg the hose...) more dead than alive...

put in in a qtank and within a week he was back to normal (with some darker skin on one side)

update: helga passed on, and after arriving back home, all of the rest of my loaches got very skinny, and died. One of my cories, in the same tank has developed a huge growth out of her 'nasal' opening, but behavior is unchanged, and she's feeding well. One of my really expensive breeder angels also died, same tank. My aquarium maintenance guy left one of his implements behind ( I cant believe he'd risk cross-contamination..)and our fish sitter was away some of the time he was supposed to be sitting, but Helga did her jump b4 I left so I can't narrow it down to those possiblities, cuz the problem may have been brewing. My parameters were all good, but the plants had died back quite a bit, and detritus was covering the intakes, so maybe the parameters were off while I was gone?

No more fish funerals, please, Lori

I am so sorry. That is truly terrible.

Thats really unfortunate, Im sorry that you lost her

Ashleigh