This is Silly, Silly say hello to all your friends in the computer.
I tried to take a picture of Silly right before I let her leave the sick bay. You can see sick bay, and the reflections of all of the gazillion tons of tree leaves, but not Silly so much.
Last Sunday morning, I walked out with my coffee to check on the pond, and to try and find Silly's litter mate. Hmm, dogs and cats have litter mates. Do fish have litter mates or spawn mates? I like litter mates, so litter mates it will be in my story. Sharon gifted me with two beautiful hand trained fan tails. I brought them home, floated them in their bag, and my two survivors promptly declared themselves males and the two newcomers very scrumptious females.
I could subtitle this post - "Spawning Not Allowed Here". I have threatened to spay the girls. This spawning stuff is scary business I tell you.
Friday before last, like 9 days ago, was the last time I saw Silly's litter mate. She was the prime catch so far as the guys were concerned. The guy fish that is. Hubby and I thought she was hiding someplace, we would go out at night with the flashlight and try to find her.
So, last Sunday morning was just the day after Silly's litter mate went missing. Here I am savoring the aroma of fresh brewed coffee and the morning sounds of nature, casually saying good morning to the fish and the birds. Looking around for two fantail goldfish ......
NO fantail goldfish to be found. OMG .....
Walking around the pond, looking everywhere. Suddenly, I spot a little orange head and two eyes looking up at me. "Help! I'm stuck". Silly got herself wedged into a spot between the cobblestones and couldn't get herself out. I had to dismantle that entire corner to get her free. I noticed when I lifted her out that she had scraped herself.
It didn't take the boys two shakes to realize she was free. So, I am guessing she got herself into the rock spot to try for a break from the boys? By afternoon, even the young fry where chasing her and it was obvious she was not faring well. I scooped her up into the muck cleaning net and propped it up and went searching for something to put her in.
I've got the tub I used to QT the baby fish, but only have an airstone to run it. I didn't have anything to setup decent filtration, and everything I've read about scrapes indicates good filtration is needed. The scrape spots were angry looking, but not raw, so I didn't want to jump into medication.
Then I remembered something JW wrote about giving the girls a break from the chase inside a net basket. A bit of rummaging in the shed, and voila! One pool noodle, one short piece of PVC pipe, and one softside dog crate carrier. Sick Bay.
I like that the net carrier went deep, but was fairly narrow at the top. I did put a couple handfuls of hornwort in the top with her. And, lucky girl, she got hand fed several times a day. Sharon teaches her fish to hand feed, and it is so much fun. My MIL especially has enjoyed feeding Silly.
She earned her name Silly, silly fish for getting stuck in the rocks.
Somebody wrote that pond waters are almost magical in their healing abilities. In this case, it worked well for me. I kept Silly in her net sick bay for six days. In reality, I could have let her out on day 4 or 5, but I wanted it to be a day that I was home all day and could have plenty of spare time to keep an eye on her. Yes, I am a mother-hen!
Her skin is looking good, the two wounds no longer look angry. In the first picture, the two white spots on her topline? Those should be orange. I'm wondering if they will always be white now, or if she will get the orange back.
This morning I walked out with my coffee, said good morning to the fish and to nature, and smiled as I watched Silly sashaying around the pond. Her spell in sick bay, and the hand feeding has certainly helped her confidence in our pond. She was like the pied piper leading all the fry around the pond, "Look there is the food lady! Follow me!"
Now, if her litter mate will only show up. And the dang trees would stop dropping leaves and pollen.
I tried to take a picture of Silly right before I let her leave the sick bay. You can see sick bay, and the reflections of all of the gazillion tons of tree leaves, but not Silly so much.
Last Sunday morning, I walked out with my coffee to check on the pond, and to try and find Silly's litter mate. Hmm, dogs and cats have litter mates. Do fish have litter mates or spawn mates? I like litter mates, so litter mates it will be in my story. Sharon gifted me with two beautiful hand trained fan tails. I brought them home, floated them in their bag, and my two survivors promptly declared themselves males and the two newcomers very scrumptious females.
I could subtitle this post - "Spawning Not Allowed Here". I have threatened to spay the girls. This spawning stuff is scary business I tell you.
Friday before last, like 9 days ago, was the last time I saw Silly's litter mate. She was the prime catch so far as the guys were concerned. The guy fish that is. Hubby and I thought she was hiding someplace, we would go out at night with the flashlight and try to find her.
So, last Sunday morning was just the day after Silly's litter mate went missing. Here I am savoring the aroma of fresh brewed coffee and the morning sounds of nature, casually saying good morning to the fish and the birds. Looking around for two fantail goldfish ......
NO fantail goldfish to be found. OMG .....
Walking around the pond, looking everywhere. Suddenly, I spot a little orange head and two eyes looking up at me. "Help! I'm stuck". Silly got herself wedged into a spot between the cobblestones and couldn't get herself out. I had to dismantle that entire corner to get her free. I noticed when I lifted her out that she had scraped herself.
It didn't take the boys two shakes to realize she was free. So, I am guessing she got herself into the rock spot to try for a break from the boys? By afternoon, even the young fry where chasing her and it was obvious she was not faring well. I scooped her up into the muck cleaning net and propped it up and went searching for something to put her in.
I've got the tub I used to QT the baby fish, but only have an airstone to run it. I didn't have anything to setup decent filtration, and everything I've read about scrapes indicates good filtration is needed. The scrape spots were angry looking, but not raw, so I didn't want to jump into medication.
Then I remembered something JW wrote about giving the girls a break from the chase inside a net basket. A bit of rummaging in the shed, and voila! One pool noodle, one short piece of PVC pipe, and one softside dog crate carrier. Sick Bay.
I like that the net carrier went deep, but was fairly narrow at the top. I did put a couple handfuls of hornwort in the top with her. And, lucky girl, she got hand fed several times a day. Sharon teaches her fish to hand feed, and it is so much fun. My MIL especially has enjoyed feeding Silly.
She earned her name Silly, silly fish for getting stuck in the rocks.
Somebody wrote that pond waters are almost magical in their healing abilities. In this case, it worked well for me. I kept Silly in her net sick bay for six days. In reality, I could have let her out on day 4 or 5, but I wanted it to be a day that I was home all day and could have plenty of spare time to keep an eye on her. Yes, I am a mother-hen!
Her skin is looking good, the two wounds no longer look angry. In the first picture, the two white spots on her topline? Those should be orange. I'm wondering if they will always be white now, or if she will get the orange back.
This morning I walked out with my coffee, said good morning to the fish and to nature, and smiled as I watched Silly sashaying around the pond. Her spell in sick bay, and the hand feeding has certainly helped her confidence in our pond. She was like the pied piper leading all the fry around the pond, "Look there is the food lady! Follow me!"
Now, if her litter mate will only show up. And the dang trees would stop dropping leaves and pollen.
