My dojo is worse... *CRY* (with pics)

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kaffinated
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:21 pm

My dojo is worse... *CRY* (with pics)

Post by kaffinated » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:42 pm

So after I posted the other day I did a big water change, some more research and talked to my local fish guy. (I have not set up the 55 yet as I want to make sure I set it up right and I don't have all I need just yet and i want to make sure it's PERFECT). Anyhow, he said it sounded more like a bacterial infection and that I could medicate her or I could just see how she does. Now, long story short I had a tank FULL of Khulis once that I medicated (per instructions from my LFS) and it killed 80% of them almost instantly so I'm TERRIFIED now to mediate at all, even in a separate tank. She seemed to be getting better for a few days and now I'm not so sure. (Oh and something to mention is that all my other fish are 100% fine. I haven't introduced anything new to the tank in a LONG time, got rid of the algae eaters who I'd watched for a while anyway and they weren't bothering my other fish - and tho I don't have a quarantine tank, I'm guessing I'll have to put something together today...)

Okay, so.... It started where her tail had streaks of blood in it, with a bruised look, almost as if she'd broken some blood vessels or something and tho it looked bad, she seemed okay. She was still active, eating, playing, etc. She did keep her hind end elevated but that was the only real difference. The day after that it all seemed to get worse and it looked like her scales were cracked and blood was at the surface. There also appeared a whitish spot where the blood had pooled that seemed to look like the infected area was dying off. Then yesterday it all looked MUCH better. The blood was almost gone but the white patch seemed to look more... almost like a human callous - like a patch of really really dry skin. She didn't move much but she came to the front of the tank to say hi now and then, she appeared to be eating, her breathing has been okay (a little rapid but not by much) and last night when I was going to bed she was even playing in the current with the rest of the night crew.

Today is a different story and I have NO idea what's going on. The blood is almost gone entirely but the end of her tail looks like it's almost dried and "rotted" I guess i would say but not too dark, more like dead skin. She's keeping all her other fins close to her tho she can open them. Her barbles also don't look right. She didn't seem to eat when the others did, she's barely moving at all and she was floating vertically (head up and literally straight up and down, not just elevating her body) in the outflow of the filter. She's been laying around close to the filter or sticks herself to it. Her breathing is fine but.... The other thing I should mention is that her body shape has changed. Her belly seems pinched right before her anus and from there back her body is thinner than the rest of her. She used to be sleek and streamlined just like her buddy but now she just doesn't look right. I've searched all sorts of stuff and I'm so afraid to guess wrong and medicate her with something that will kill her that I'm paranoid to do anything at all.

My loaches are like my kids and my dojos are the life of the party... watching her suffer is breaking my heart.... any help is appreciated, even if (and I hope this isn't the case) the advice is the euthanize - I'll do anything I can for her... Thanks much guys....

(As I'm witing this by the way she's moved around a bit, tried to swim and tho she's stiff, she really is trying like hell)...
Last edited by kaffinated on Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kaffinated
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:21 pm

Re: My dojo is worse... *CRY*

Post by kaffinated » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:51 pm

She's gotten a little more active and I managed to get a few semi-decent pics of her tail.....

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Sorry they're huge.........

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ahmandi2
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:43 am
Location: Northeast Pennsylvania

Re: My dojo is worse... *CRY* (with pics)

Post by ahmandi2 » Sun Jan 09, 2011 8:26 pm

What a horrific thing to have to deal with :(. I'm so sorry that you're going through this. My oldest dojo recently went through SOME similar things, body shape change, clamped fins, not eating, fast breathing....but no red streaks in the tail, and she got better on her own, just through water change after water change. During that 2 week period when she was at her worst (finding her laying on her face barely breathing was the norm at that point), I was desperate to know what to do to help. Or if I should euthanize her.
She's getting alot better, though she's still (probably always will be) got the bent spine. I am just so glad that I didn't do what I really thought was right, which is euthanize her. I truly hope your little dojo will rally and and start getting better....if you don't want to treat after already doing so and not getting results, (like I didn't, I know how hard that stuff is on loaches), isolating her into a breeding trap or what have you is an option...that's where my girl made her turn around, no other fish to shove her around or steal her food like they were doing.....I think the calm quiet allowed her to heal, but it's not as stressful a move as putting her into another, new tank, with different parameters being a possible issue as well.

WEll. I am sorry if none of this helps you even a teeny bit, I know how you must be feeling, but don't give up on her, not yet...someone told me of an incredibly sick dojo she put into the quarantine tank after it stopped moving, just to let it die peacefully in the q tank....and the fish got better, to her shock.
Best of luck to you and your water babies, they are too adorable for words, and heartbreaking when they're sick :(
"I'm not *THAT* kind of hunter"

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