Clown brought back from the brink of death

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scherebh

AC Members
Dec 22, 2005
22
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0
We just set up our first tank around the first of the year. Cycled it, got rocks, snails, crabs, etc. Spent a fortune and didn't have any fish but last Friday it was fish day! We went out and bought a coral and 2 clownfish and we had no problem at all. Coral polyps came out the first day the fish were swimming around happy and I couldn't wait to tell all the people who told me aquariums were a big pain how easy it was. By Sunday I was anxious to get more fish so I suggested we get another fish and a coral. We picked out a mushroom coral and a blue tang - kind of on the big side. It looked very healthy, we saw him eat at the store, etc. I've read about fish being stressed and this guy bordered on psycho. We got him out of the bag after about an hour and he was frantic, twitchy, spastic - it just wasn't pleasant. We cooked some dinner and about 30 minutes later wifey says "There's only one clown fish" and I condescendingly tell her it's hiding in a cave. 10 minutes later - "There's only one clown fish - that big guy ate him" - so I demonstrate my superior knowledge of aquaria which I've aquired in the past 3 weeks with a touch of sarcasm "Those fish don't eat other fish dear." 10 minutes later "There is still only one clown fish" - followed by my now caustic reply "He's in there!" Ignoring my expert opinion (not the first time BTW) she finds the fish laying on the carpet right outside the tank. I tell her to put it in the tank and it sinks like a rock. The current swept it around the back of the tank and the fish ends up sucked against the plastic grate leading to the pump intake. So she gets a shish kabob scewer and goes to pry the fish away and our normal dialogue in stressful situations starts (which I love, but she hates). I say, "Don't you put metal in there" and she responds something like "It's made of wood. I'm not stupid, yada yada". Now I'm at the computer trying to log into this forum to find out about jumping clownfish and mumbled something about a person hogging all the bandwidth. I look over and wifey is holding the fish cupped in her hand about 2 inches below the surface. "What are you doing?". "He's still alive." I go over and check - his gills are moving but I'm certain he's finished. "Put him out of his misery - he'll never make it." Once again, my expert advise is ignored. I'm standing there but only because I know this fish is going to die and I always like to be in close proximity when I'm right. So now it starts kind of flopping back in forth in her hand. I get that look - no words - all guys know that look. I hand her a net and she puts it in there. Another 5 minutes and it's fighting to get out of the net. It swam around like it was drunk for the next few hours. She stayed up until midnight watching it. It's fully recovered.
 

jayfish

AC Members
Dec 24, 2005
16
0
0
i know that look, i got one this morning when i got back from the fish store. and i swear all i bought was a couple of snails...lol :)
 
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