Faramir
02-24-2003, 4:57 AM
Alas, alas, my stripy (never did properly identify) Labidochromis has gone to the great Malawi tank in the sky.
And it's my fault.
I was changing the substrate in the aquarium. 'Twas rather light gravel (even more light with the coral gravel in it) and it made the aquarium as a whole look washed out, what with the white Derbyshire limestone. So I took the rocks out and hoiked the fish into temporary accommodation for a few hours. I figured that the conditions in this temporary accommodation were no worse than what fish put up with in plastic bags coming back from the shop, and set to work on the tank - the quicker I got this dark substrate in, the better.
I kept an eye on them, so I did. All seemed well. And then, just before they were ready to go back in, I noticed the Lab. lying on his side at the bottom. This, people, is never a good sign of fish health.
Figuring the rather lower volume of water the inhabitants were currently in might be involved, I increased aeration whilst I tested for other causes. Ammonia was at .25ppm - not in the acutely toxic range. No other fish were showing signs of distress. But there it was - there was even visibly blood under the operculum.
I thought it was a goner. But on increasing aeration he rallied. He started swimming, first on his side, and then upright. By nightfall he was looking pretty good.
Come the morning he was swimming with the others. I thought he was going to make it. But then, in the afternoon, alas, suddenly swum straight vertically, then settled on his side on the floor of the tank. Within a few minutes he was no more - I weighed the stress of being netted and humanely disposed of against dying peacefully, and let him go his own way, observing that none of the inhabitants were bothering him. I wonder if it was heart failure - reduced gill efficiency requiring the heart to work harder to supply oxygen. Well, that we will never know.
Sad. And cautionary. The only good ammonia is no ammonia, especially where pH is high. And since even the fry survived unharmed, no symptoms at any point, there is no "safe limit" because individual fish clearly differ in what they can handle. In future, any fish requiring alternative accommodation will get their water filtered through a matured filter, even if it is only for a 'few hours'.
There is a silver lining to this cloud. He has two surviving offspring, a male and a female, and the young male fish has all his father's colour and more.
And it's my fault.
I was changing the substrate in the aquarium. 'Twas rather light gravel (even more light with the coral gravel in it) and it made the aquarium as a whole look washed out, what with the white Derbyshire limestone. So I took the rocks out and hoiked the fish into temporary accommodation for a few hours. I figured that the conditions in this temporary accommodation were no worse than what fish put up with in plastic bags coming back from the shop, and set to work on the tank - the quicker I got this dark substrate in, the better.
I kept an eye on them, so I did. All seemed well. And then, just before they were ready to go back in, I noticed the Lab. lying on his side at the bottom. This, people, is never a good sign of fish health.
Figuring the rather lower volume of water the inhabitants were currently in might be involved, I increased aeration whilst I tested for other causes. Ammonia was at .25ppm - not in the acutely toxic range. No other fish were showing signs of distress. But there it was - there was even visibly blood under the operculum.
I thought it was a goner. But on increasing aeration he rallied. He started swimming, first on his side, and then upright. By nightfall he was looking pretty good.
Come the morning he was swimming with the others. I thought he was going to make it. But then, in the afternoon, alas, suddenly swum straight vertically, then settled on his side on the floor of the tank. Within a few minutes he was no more - I weighed the stress of being netted and humanely disposed of against dying peacefully, and let him go his own way, observing that none of the inhabitants were bothering him. I wonder if it was heart failure - reduced gill efficiency requiring the heart to work harder to supply oxygen. Well, that we will never know.
Sad. And cautionary. The only good ammonia is no ammonia, especially where pH is high. And since even the fry survived unharmed, no symptoms at any point, there is no "safe limit" because individual fish clearly differ in what they can handle. In future, any fish requiring alternative accommodation will get their water filtered through a matured filter, even if it is only for a 'few hours'.
There is a silver lining to this cloud. He has two surviving offspring, a male and a female, and the young male fish has all his father's colour and more.