13 March 2014

oto update 3

Day four. I lost the smallest Otocinclus yesterday. Fungus. Dosed the tank with fungus guard but now a bit anxious as I can't test water parameters (meds color the water, so results from test kit unreadable). However, Sparky and Otto both survived the night. I gave them blanched zucchini and a spirulina pellet last night. Hard to tell if they ate any. The vegetable looks untouched, the degraded spirulina seemed to be a semicircle shape instead of a round blob (siphoned out the uneaten mess of it) but their tummies look round. So I think they ate some spirulina, or perhaps cleaned more algae off the bridge- it still has a hint of green.
~~
Almost lost Sparky this afternoon. Found him lying on his back, not moving. Looked close he was still breathing but rapidly. My first thought was: ammonia poisoning. Or oxygen deprivation- I think the meds affect oxygen content. It's related. Immediately changed out a third of the water. Dosed an entire five-gallon bucket with meds for new water, as that was the easiest way to measure it accurately- only a portion of that went into QT tank, rest down the drain. As soon as I started adding new water to the tank, Sparky started wiggling. A few more cups of water in and he flipped himself to lie on his side. Then turned upright, then scooted along the bottom, finally made his way up the side suctioning again like normal.

Good news is I think I saved him. And the fungus seems to be disappearing already. Bad news is he's still breathing sort of rapidly. And there is redness in his body near the tail, under his belly, bloodshot around the eye. I'm concerned he might not recover.

Otto still looks fine. Neither has pinched fins anymore.
~~
Evening now. Sparky looks worse- very red areas. He sits behind the heater near the top, resting on the edge of suction cup. I wondered a few times if he was dead but hold a mirror up and see his gills still working. Otto looked distressed- darting up and down the sides, breathing rapidly. I changed another 10% of the water, the fish calmed down. Sparky still motionless. Don't know if he'll make it to morning. Don't know what else to do.

No comments: