Today I feel like a...
I don't even know what I feel like today. A flop of a pet-owner? Something along those lines. Last night my last angelfish died. I came home from school to find him hanging upside down at the bottom of the tank. The insult that adds to that injury was that he hadn't even appeared to be ill, so he never gave me a chance to fix him.
I've said before that as a kid I never had much success with fish and fishtanks, but honestly, I tried so hard this time! I researched the best ways to do everything that needed to be done, both on the internet, and by talking to the fish experts at a variety of pet stores. I spent precious money on lights and filters, thermometers and test kits, bacterial supplements, fungal cures and pH-raising oyster shell. I took water samples in to the pet store on a weekly basis to be tested for nitrates and nitrites, chlorine and chloramine and god knows what else. And everything always came back perfect.
When my tank started crashing I vacuumed the gravel, replaced 20% of the water, removed the carbon from the filter, added Cycle, waited 20 minutes, added Melafix and hoped for the best. I took pH readings morning and night and spent my evenings staring at the tank instead of at the television.
What did I do wrong?!?
In the past month or so I have eradicated two angelfish, one pleco and two platies. I have one platy left, but she's sitting on the bottom of the tank and won't come up for food, or even move if I wave my hand in front of the tank. So forgive me if I don't hold my breath that she'll last too much longer.
It's not just the fish, either. Roxie has been wearing a cone on and off for two weeks now in an attempt to decrease the bare patches on her body. The vet can't figure it out. Either she's stress-licking, or she's reacting to fleas. But there are no fleas on her, and no signs of bites. Matt and I have instigated a strict routine of Advantage control for all furry, four-legged inhabitants of our house. I'm going to wash all blankets and vacuum all beds and couches to see if that will help. The frustrating thing is that while she's wearing the cone, she doesn't seem to itch or want to scratch. As soon as the cone comes off, though, she picks a new spot on her back and licks it raw. And then the cone goes back on.
Meisha and Shadow at least seem to be doing fine. Meisha has been sitting in my lap as I wrote this, every now and then tapping my arm with her paw, or reaching up to rub her nose against my chin. Sure, they're cute when they're healthy. But the smiles stop once they start getting sick and can't tell you what's wrong. I'm good with animals - I should be able to figure this out! Does anyone have any suggestions or advice that can help me out?
Filed under: pets
I've said before that as a kid I never had much success with fish and fishtanks, but honestly, I tried so hard this time! I researched the best ways to do everything that needed to be done, both on the internet, and by talking to the fish experts at a variety of pet stores. I spent precious money on lights and filters, thermometers and test kits, bacterial supplements, fungal cures and pH-raising oyster shell. I took water samples in to the pet store on a weekly basis to be tested for nitrates and nitrites, chlorine and chloramine and god knows what else. And everything always came back perfect.
When my tank started crashing I vacuumed the gravel, replaced 20% of the water, removed the carbon from the filter, added Cycle, waited 20 minutes, added Melafix and hoped for the best. I took pH readings morning and night and spent my evenings staring at the tank instead of at the television.
What did I do wrong?!?
In the past month or so I have eradicated two angelfish, one pleco and two platies. I have one platy left, but she's sitting on the bottom of the tank and won't come up for food, or even move if I wave my hand in front of the tank. So forgive me if I don't hold my breath that she'll last too much longer.
It's not just the fish, either. Roxie has been wearing a cone on and off for two weeks now in an attempt to decrease the bare patches on her body. The vet can't figure it out. Either she's stress-licking, or she's reacting to fleas. But there are no fleas on her, and no signs of bites. Matt and I have instigated a strict routine of Advantage control for all furry, four-legged inhabitants of our house. I'm going to wash all blankets and vacuum all beds and couches to see if that will help. The frustrating thing is that while she's wearing the cone, she doesn't seem to itch or want to scratch. As soon as the cone comes off, though, she picks a new spot on her back and licks it raw. And then the cone goes back on.
Meisha and Shadow at least seem to be doing fine. Meisha has been sitting in my lap as I wrote this, every now and then tapping my arm with her paw, or reaching up to rub her nose against my chin. Sure, they're cute when they're healthy. But the smiles stop once they start getting sick and can't tell you what's wrong. I'm good with animals - I should be able to figure this out! Does anyone have any suggestions or advice that can help me out?
Filed under: pets
posted by Rebi at 8:11 a.m.
10 Comments:
stop trying so hard.
remember Dave's fish? He kept wanting them to die, and didn't do much and they lived for the whole year he had them
But his fish were just in one of those little boxes with the snail and everything. Mine are in a giant aquarium... There's gotta be a difference. On the plus side, after pretty much ignoring the tank for a few days, the remaining platy is still left. Not eating, just sitting on the bottom, covered in sores or fungus or something, but still alive.
No, no no.
He had the giant tank with the "penis fish". I'm talking about when he lived on feltham... that was way after everyone had left and it was just him and sarah there
Penis fish? I don't think I saw that one. I'm sure I would have remembered it. But I assume it died in the end? Or does it live in Vancouver now?
I think he sold those fish and the fishtank... I dunno. They got rid of it when they went to Ontario. The fish all lived.
for roxie, i don't know if it'd help or not, but solomon's using Revolution, it's similar to advantage but has protection from more things and compared to when he was using advantage briefly, he's not getting any balding where the drops go on. i don't know if it's readily available there, though. my vet's the only one around here who uses it, afaik.
but my vet is awesome.
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Maybe try spraying the dog's fur with bitter apple or another icky-tasting substance? It may be that it started as a reaction to fleas or stress, but he could be continuing to eat at his fur out of habit, especially if he doesn't seem itchy with the cone on.
Hey Briana :)
I actually tried the icky-substance method. She was so focused on the licking that all that it resulted in was her shooting evil eyes my way every time she determinedly licked it off. The vet was actually impressed with her determination. The only real result is that now when she hears a spray bottle cap being opened, she takes off for the nearest hidey-hole. Pavlov would be proud.
The fish lived. At one point they even went for 18 days with no food (un-intentionally, I forgot to give someone my house keys before leaving for Christmas vacation) and they still lived.
No amount of care or mis-care could kill the little buggers. In the end I sold the fish with the tank. Their new owner killed them all within 24 hours. (Her little boy discovered a dial on the side of the tank and played with it. The dial operated a heating coil, and the fish boiled alive).
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