Ailing Dojo, is it time to give up on her...and euthanize?

[ahmandi2]

My oldest (maybe 4 months now we've had the tank?) loach, a female dojo (fatso, we call her) is VERY, very sick. She's gotten this way the past three days, and it's honestly excruciating to watch...
Symptoms: Cannot swim. By that, I mean, she can't use her fins at all? She uses her HEAD to anchor herself and drags her body along on the gravel....if startled, she tries desperately to swim, by agitating her entire body, and ends up spiraling all over the tank, usually ending up on her face, or her side. She is also BENT when she tries to move. Like your finger, bending the top bit, so you''ve got almost an L shape. That's her.
We've isolated her. She seems to still be eating. The entire tank is fine, besides her, but we DID just have an ich outbreak. Small, but notable in that she started exhibiting the symptoms right after.
She also has to bumps on her top. Not bumps like pimples, growths, or anything like that. It looks like her spine is kinked.
My husband says that when she DOES try to swim, she's only using one side of her fins (I can't look that closely, it is a truly horrid thing to watch .)
All our other loaches are happy and healthy. Ditto the other fish.
It's been three nights now of this. She's breathing VERY harshly, or not at all. And she's completely rigid....I keep thinking she's gone but then I scare her when I go to check, and I see her wiggling around helplessly all over again, bashing into everything.
I've given her broccoli, as directed on the forums (blanched, and cooled and cut into bits, which I lay next to her head, because she cannot forage at all....) in case it's constipation w/swim bladder. No poo yet. She *was* very healthy! Very fat and lively, and a flirt to boot.
When is it time to call it quits. Three nights? Ten? How long do I wait to say "this is torturous"?
I really, REALLY need some thoughts on this. She's our oldest fish, I Hate seeing her suffer, but I don't want to cut short a life that might just be a little out of sync right now.
Please what would you do...how long do you wait?

[starsplitter7]

I am so sorry to hear about your poor Dojo. I ahve no suggestions, but what I would do is multiple water changes with vacuuming to help improve your water quality. I have had many near dead fish that have recovered with crystal clear water and gravel. Have you lost the cycle on your tank? Watch your other fish and make sure they do not show similar symptoms.

Best of luck.

[ahmandi2]

Thank you, I am doing daily vacuums now, (well since the ich hit). Removing the charcoal filter might have thrown the tank into a tizzy? But that's where the cycled tank comes into play, yes? Which we have.....I am DEFINITELY keeping eyes on all the other fish, I always get a good look at them at least once daily, now even more so (with the loaches especially).
I was hoping she was better this morning but no.
So she's in a small iso tank, more like a breeding trap thing, it's just about two inches longer than she is. Is this wrong? The only other option is putting her into the betta tank...it's 2.5 gallons, pristine, but the betta is EXTREMELY aggressive. I can't put him in the big tank, as every betta I've ever done that with dies within a few days of being in the large tank.
Should I release her back into the tank so she can try to hide better (we have her cage well wrapped with trailing plants to give her cover, but not enough to get her stuck in them), also have a blind in front of the glass so she doesn't feel stared at)....put her in the betta tank...or just leave her be?

[starsplitter7]

I would leave her in the breeder. Keeps her from spasticly traveling around the big tank. Put floating plants in there to make her more comfortable.

Keep the breeder extremely clean. I vacuum mine and after vacuuming, I bob it up and down to wash out the nasties that build up in them.

[ahmandi2]

Thank you. That makes me feel like I'm doing the right thing , for now.

[ahmandi2]

My oldest (maybe 4 months now we've had the tank?) loach, a female dojo (fatso, we call her) is VERY, very sick. She's gotten this way the past three days, and it's honestly excruciating to watch...
Symptoms: Cannot swim. By that, I mean, she can't use her fins at all? She uses her HEAD to anchor herself and drags her body along on the gravel....if startled, she tries desperately to swim, by agitating her entire body, and ends up spiraling all over the tank, usually ending up on her face, or her side. She is also BENT when she tries to move. Like your finger, bending the top bit, so you''ve got almost an L shape. That's her.
We've isolated her. She seems to still be eating. The entire tank is fine, besides her, but we DID just have an ich outbreak. Small, but notable in that she started exhibiting the symptoms right after.
She also has to bumps on her top. Not bumps like pimples, growths, or anything like that. It looks like her spine is kinked.
My husband says that when she DOES try to swim, she's only using one side of her fins (I can't look that closely, it is a truly horrid thing to watch .)
All our other loaches are happy and healthy. Ditto the other fish.
It's been three nights now of this. She's breathing VERY harshly, or not at all. And she's completely rigid....I keep thinking she's gone but then I scare her when I go to check, and I see her wiggling around helplessly all over again, bashing into everything.
I've given her broccoli, as directed on the forums (blanched, and cooled and cut into bits, which I lay next to her head, because she cannot forage at all....) in case it's constipation w/swim bladder. No poo yet. She *was* very healthy! Very fat and lively, and a flirt to boot.

Well she's been this way for a week now. She's pretty much unable to eat since she cannot guide herself to food; I sometimes manage to drop food right next to her head, and she inhales it. She's still flailing instead of swimming: the bend in her spine is MUCH more pronounced now....I wonder if it's a tumor or something....she stays on the bottom of the tank 24/7.
Seriously. How long is long enough to wait for her to get better??? I gave her brocolli. Segregated her in a small breading trap in the big aquarium...she got out of it twice, I don't have the heart to put her back in....I treated with Antibiotics (tetracyclene), melafix, and Rid Ich (previously). What am I supposed to do . Her quality of life is so bad right now.....she often gets stuck from flailing and throwing herself around the tank, wedging herself in tight places by accident.
I guess i want to hear how long you have waiting in situations like this. I don't want to prolong her suffering....OR cut her life short. I love her!

[Crissyloach]

Does she show any symptoms of fish TB:
loss of energy
lesions,
skeletal deformites,
loss of scales and coloration
loss of appetite
fish remains in seclusion and out of site rapid breathing (respiration)
eyes appear to be cloudy or "popping out"
fish lies on its side near bottom of aquarium
stomach of fish appears to be sunken
whitish blotches on exterior

It sounds (to me) like she shows the first 3, and she lies on her side at the bottom of the tank... Anyone else think so? If she does show these symptoms, then be careful cleaning the tank (use gloves) and don't start the siphon by mouth. Make sure that you keep the tank VERY clean. You should also take a look at this site: http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/170/

[ahmandi2]

You're right she's showing quite a few of these symptoms....the bent spine is kind of the clincher....today she's hiding in the corner and not even trying to move....

[Crissyloach]

How is she doing?

[ahmandi2]

Well so fatso has made SUCH a huge recovery! She's taken the past week to relearn how to swim, I guess. I actually saw her swimming UP to to the top of the tank, while foraging, last night!!!! This is the fish who lay on her side gasping and became bent and could only use her head to move herself around....
She even swims much better when she's startled! So, no more pathetic spiral dashes, into the glass, she usually manages to get where she wants to go now!
She's not as mobile or accurate as any of the others still, of course, so I try to drop food directly in front of her (difficult even with a wafer, those rainbows tend to make any fallign food go wayyyyy off course lol). She's getting better. Not as pale. Not AS horribly skinny (if she hadn't been as fat as she was in the beginning, she would have starved during the last few weeks)...
Anyway. She's doing better.

[starsplitter7]

That is really good to hear. You did good by her. It is the worst to watch sick fish and not be able to help them.

[ahmandi2]

It makes my heart happy. I was SOOO close to euthanizeing her. =/

[starsplitter7]

I am reluctant to put fish down, because I don't know enough. Twice I have had fish that looked dead. No breathing, no moving, even when I took them out of the tank. I put the fish in a breeder in a very clean tank to wait for decomposition, and found fish up and about. This happened with B. striata and Banjo catfish. The striatas were really ill from bad water. The banjo were new arrivals, and I didn't know they play dead. I have had them for 2 years now, and I can pick them up, look at them, and they don't move a muscle. The striatas are big and fat now, and I thought they needed to be tossed.

[longtian006]

I have to decide what to do - do I risk a harsh treatment like 1/2 strength ridich or an antibacterial treatment like Maracyn Plus. They aren't showing other signs - no bloating, dropsy, redness, cloudy eyes clamped fins or anything besides not eating yesterday and now the breathing.






















__________________________________________________________
ZOPO ZP950 Phone ZOPO ZP900S Leader mobile Phone ZOPO ZP900 mobiel phone