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Dark Cloud Hanging Over Fishroom


shadoh

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Haven't had a good couple of days in the fishroom. Beginning to think someone out there has cursed me... :)

The opaque HMPK spawn, after showing promise of recovering from their SBD, have gone back to spending 99% of their time lying (some on their sides) on the floor of the tank with the occasional swim to the top for some air, then only to sink back to the bottom. I had come to the decision to cull the lot then start again, then went into the fishroom this morning - the male Opaque HMPK somehow jumped the .5cm gap at the top of the divider and got into a fight with the male big ears. Big ears is untouched, Opaque boy, however has been severely beaten and does nothing but lie on his side on the bottom of the hospital tank.

After dealing with that, I did my usual rounds feeding and checking on all the fish. I find the female HM Big Ears lying on her side. After a close look I notice one of her Pectorals is missing :blink: totally. Like it just fell off. Poor girl is now so unbalanced that when she tries to swim her one big pectoral sends her spiraling in tight circles, so she just lies there on her side. I am now faced with the prospect of putting her down - if she can no longer swim, what quality of life can she have lying on the bottom of a tank?

On Sunday, my jarred juvies in the barracks did a spot of barrack jumping and one of the black copper boys jumped into the barrack my new favorite black orchid HMPK juvie was in. Not a mark on the copper, but the poor black orchid has shredded fins and missing scales. Have solved this from hapenning again by laying plastic canvas across the top of the compartments.

Later in the day on Sunday, I was doing the evening feeds and find my giant metallic steel HMPK dead on the bottom of the tank. He had no symptoms of being sick and was his friendly perky self in the morning. I have no idea what went wrong. The female that was on the other side of the partition was fine...

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There's nothing worse than when you have one of those bad runs that makes you just want to throw up your hands and quit.

I recently found my unimaculata female stuck to the floor. She was all dry-looking and I felt like a murderer (the male jumped out two days after I got him off someone). Luckily she was still alive and made a complete 180 in 24 hours, but at the time I was convinced I'd killed her by not making sure the lid was covering the tank properly.

My males always divider hop whenever someone grows enough fins back to actually look presentable. Then I'll invariably find two of them tearing each other to shreds. It's never my average pet store males either. Always my best HMs or imports.

It always seems when you have a lot of bettas everything seems to fall apart at once. Hopefully your luck turns around soon. It's disappointing to hear about your spawn. I really liked those parents and was looking forward to seeing what they produced.

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No good :( hope things work out for you

I wouldnt put the big ears girl down just yet, but you could try and trim the other side so it isnt as long, still be unbalanced but less so, id keep about a cm of fin. Might help her get oxygen easier and recover from losing the other side.

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Sorry to hear that Jarrod :(

could you put the female to sleep and remove the other? You could use clove oil to put her under, worth a try if she can't swim I guess....

Grrr Neffy beat me to it. I read the Thai breeders use clove oil to put them to sleep and trim the fins. Remember they can feel it.

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we got our fins and fingers crossed for you mate... unfortunately comes with the territory i reckon.

i do imagine my spawn tanks to be cursed too... I'm treating it the same as when any of my technology isn't working, just give it a little holiday and try n press the ON button in a few weeks.

maybe we should all go to a psychic and have a reading?

straw grasping fun is it not?

Goodluck.

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Clove oil is also an anesthetic. It is alo apperently used to take pictures of fish next to rulers. Its not about bettas but he goes through teh steps of putting them under, one of teh few good reads on that forum.... http://www.qldaf.com/forums/articles-faq-20/fixing-my-angels-dislocated-lip-24718/

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I had a male with only one pectoral (he got stuck in the section with the filter and injured himself). He used to tilt to one side, but managed to swim around fairly normally once he was accustomed to it.

I just put in some floating plants as sometimes he liked to rest pressed up against the mesh divider.

I could imagine having such large pectorals it's probably more difficult for your female to balance herself. However, if you housed her in a shallow container and let her swim around and build up muscle, she might still have a decent quality of life.

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Hey Jarrod, I noticed that you hadn't posted in last few days and hoped that all was ok with you. Sounds like a really crappy run! Sorry to hear it. If your after some advice, here's what I'd suggest.

Not sure what I'd fo with the Opaque Spawn... I don't have the heart to cull a large number - heck, I can't even cull one fish let alone a whole spawn! Maybe use them as a trial run for the outdoor pond set up and let nature take care of it? Is this cruel??? Dunno!?!?!

The dumbo girl with the missing pec... I'd be tempted to treat with antibiotics as Yan suggested. I would avoid anything other than supportive measures otherwise. No trimming, no clove oil. If she gets through this, she'll accommodate to the missing pectoral if it doesn't grow back.

Can't do much for the dead ones I guess, apart from say sorry you lost them. If you feel that there's a hex, I was told today by a work collegue that burning mustard seeds in a pan and waving it over your head removes the badness... go figure. Burning other herbs may also make you feel better... But then I suspect that may be encouraging the wrong kind of behaviour.

I'm sure this is all temporary, and before you know it you'll have more spawns than you know what to do with! Good luck!

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Thanks everyone for the advise and support.  We all have periods where it seems nothing is going right in the fishroom.  It is just my turn.  Poor Busman has had a bad run lately too.  He lost the original father of the Black Orchid spawn today, not to mention all the bad luck he has had with his other fish too.  :(

 

Here is what I am doing.  Opaque boy has perked up a bit this afternoon and is finally swimming around.  I am confident he will have a full recovery.  Until then, I will persevere with the Opaque fry with SBD.  When the male has fully recovered from his injuries, I will assess the SBD situation.  I am moving them to a bigger grow out tank tonight.

 

The Dumbo girl looks miserable, but I refuse to try and "operate" on her.  I have reduced the water level of her tank and removed the filter so there is no turbulence for her to struggle against.  Will just have to see how she recovers in the next few days/weeks.  Noticed earlier that the male Dumbo has shredded pectorals from his fight with the opaque boy.  It seems I am not destined to breed that pair. 

 

The juvie Black Orchid HMPK has far worse damage than the Opaque boy, but is showing no signs of slowing down.  I am confident he will make a full recovery.  I just have to keep an eye out for infection with his missing scales.

 

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And as for the dead fish, well, although I do find aspects of voodoo interesting, we have all seen via Ness what zombie fish look like and I for one don't want a giant betta flopping around out of his tank at night looking to make a meal of my brains :)  Paul, perhaps you are onto something with burning the herbs.  I'm sure if I find the right one, I will find this experience less stressful ;)

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No I don't, as I figure that as I use carbon in the sump, it will remove any beneficial chemicals that leach out. I am planning on moving him into a tank with IAL for the antibacterial properties. Just got a lot of shuffling to do first.

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I hope your luck changes..

On a positive note..(if it is possible to find a positive)I was feeling very out of my depth with a couple of losses this week too. Asking myself what am I doing, I have no idea what I am doing...but then I read these posts and realised it is just a bad patch and everyone goes through them. Thank you :bighug:

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