Well, I came home to the fish tonight, and he was doing pretty good. I let him be for a couple of hours and watch him swim around.
Of course, I couldn't leave him alone forever. He had to have a little something. So, I got the cup and put him against the side of the tank for 5 minutes. He started swimming vigorously looking for air and then he rested at the bottom of the cup near the end of the 5 minutes, breathing somewhat heavily.
Then, I put him with the cup at the bottom of the tank. There was air at the top of the cup for him to get. He still swam around somewhat fast in what little water there was in the cup, and came up for air a few times.
Then I did this -- I set a time limit of 8:00 and it was 7:48 PM at the time, so I wouldn't injure the fish too much. I had him in the cup again with the water out. He was flipping around every so often.
Then, under the time limit, I started to poke him with a toothpick, making him move all around the cup. I poked on his scales, between his fins, near his eye, and by his mouth. I got the toothpick in his mouth a few times, too. I wanted him to fight to get it out, but unfortunately he didn't, so I took it out.
I tried to keep poking him until he would give up and stop moving around, probably because he was too tired. This happened successfully a few times. But then, I was still able to poke him and get him to move around again. Good thing I set a time limit of 8:00. Otherwise, I think I would have just kept going and it would have been too much for him.
So, how is the fish doing now? Well, currently he's swimming with his right fin only, breathing a little bit heavy, swimming slowly around the tank, staying near the top of the tank and taking air every so often. He's not moving around the tank so much like he did before. But he is still moving, and I think that in time he will recover from this latest incident he has had.
He's still swimming, I think he's in recovery mode. I've seen him like this before, and I am confident he will recover. One question is how many of these treatments he can take, given in short periods of time, and not sustain permanent damage. I am not sure about this, this is the first time I've successfully done this with a fish. That is, I've been able to limit what I do to the fish, and then put him back in the tank while he can still function.
He's kind of floating a little bit now. I know he's trying to get his energy and strength back. He'll get there. It's 8:13 PM right now. I'll see how he's doing in about an hour. He's still only using one fin, he was using two when I initially put him back in the tank, I guess he was in panic mode then. Now, he's trying to recover.
I'll keep you posted on how he's doing as the night progresses.
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The fish is breathing a little bit less heavy. He's looking a little more relaxed now. I saw him use his other fin a little, which is good. He's still kind of floating in the water.
ReplyDeleteHis very top fin is down when he moves around. I guess he doesn't have the energy yet to get that fin up.
The fish is definitely breathing less heavily now, it seems like he's normalizing his breathing.
The fish is swimming around a little bit. He uses both fins at times, that is a good sign. Sometimes he just floats towards the top of the water, especially near the heater.
ReplyDeleteHe really likes to be near the heater. He'll just stay there for awhile. Then, he'll start to move around to other parts of the tank, but only after he's been there for awhile.
I'll update again in about 1 hour.
It's almost midnight. The fish is doing about the same. Hell swim around a little bit, then come back close to the heater and stay still for awhile. I wish yet again that I hadn't messed with him tonight, so I could watch him swimming around more which is more peaceful and relaxing. But, the good thing is that I think he's going to be alright, and I think that by tomorrow he should be moving around like he was before. I'm actually proud of him, he's the fish I've had the longest for a long time, and that's good. He really likes that heater.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm still awake, I'll update a little bit later. If not, the update will come tomorrow.
I just put the fish in the cup with water. It was pretty easy to scoop him out, he's moving a lot slower now and all. Now he is swimming around flapping his fins, trying to find a way out. I think he is more nervous now. Pretty soon I will put him back in the tank and leave him in there for the rest of the night. I just wanted to see what he would do in the cup.
ReplyDeleteHe's swimming in circles, which I kind of enjoy watching, because he's actually moving around.
OK, he keeps swimming in circles and hitting the walls of the cup. I can't keep him in there forever. I know it's more for my own amusement than his. I'm sure he is not amused... brought from a very big space to a small space. He keeps turning around hoping he'll find a way out. But there is no way out for him until I put him back in the tank. Which I'm going to do in a little while.
OK, I put him back in the tank. He seems fine. He's doing the same thing as before, staying by the heater for long periods of time, and then swimming around sometimes. Makes me want to put him in the cup again. Maybe I will in a little while.
I got him out again and into the cup. He's so easy to get out of the tank now, because he doesn't move that fast. Now he's breathing a little bit heavy, but he's staying still more than he's moving. Now he's not trying so hard to get out of the cup. He seems to be staying more in one place. I think when I put him back in the tank this time, I might put the cup against the wall for a couple of minutes just for him to let his energy loose, and then release him. Or maybe I should just release him into the cup. I think he is moving around some more now. Pretty soon I'll put him back in the cup as I need to go to sleep for the night.
I did it. I put him in the cup and left air at the top for 5 minutes. He came up for air once. Then the other times it looked like he tried but could not make it. After a few minutes of this I let him out. Now he is in the house, he won't come out, it looks like he is trying / taking some kind of breathes of air from the top of the inside of the house. I am not sure how he is doing it / how this is possible. But he's staying in there for now. I guess he wanted a place to hide. Considering what he's been through, I don't blame him. Will report as things develop.
He finally went out of the house and swam to the surface. Then he swam around a little and now he is back in the house. He must be able to pull some kind of air from the top of the house, I think. And, I think he feels safe there. He's looking for a place to hide.