This is a bit complicated...
I know the very first question you will all ask is the water qualities of the QT tank, so will get that out of the way first:
3-4 days ago this fish was "off" (will come back to this) so just did a quick ammonia test, which was coming up on .25
Last night, a 50% water change was done, and Proform C was added to the water (carbon removed from filter), so these results are with the Proform C in there, so may not be accurate. (Addition of Proform C is not related to this fish.)
Ammonia: NO MORE than .10 it is NOT at zero, but the next one up on the color chart is .25 and it isnt even close to that color
Nitrite: zero
Nitrate: NOT tested (hanging head, out of this one)
Phosphate: 2.0+ but way below 5 (chart goes from 2 to 5 with nothing in between). GUESSING 2.5-3 (Guessing elevation due to Proform C)
PH: 6.8 (thinking Proform C causimg this as it is usually mid 7s)
The 50% water added, was from our outside pond, so here's those results
Ammonia: zero
Nitrite: zero
Nitrate: again, unable to test
Phosphate: zero
PH: 7.4/7.5
Fish with a problem is a koi, about 8-9 years old and 24-26" in size.
Not ideal, but we have two fish whom live in our QT tank. One is the fish we need help with (she is blind, will come back to this issue), and the other is her companion.
Explaination of the use of Proform C. A month ago, added fish to QT tank from a bad situation (power shut off for nonpayment, ammonia burns on some, owner didnt care, fish were rescued by another party). A couple days after adding the fish, they spawned, water changes etc. Kept water quality well inside of safe ranges (close to zero most of the time, if it wasnt AT zero). One fish broke with an ulcer a few days after arrival (thinking trauma from removal from original pond or even in transit here), sat back and watched (has healed). Nothing else. There was also one fish with a bit of muscus in her gills, gill tissue off color (more grey than red), and ammonia burns to the gill plates. We DX'd as likely ammonia burn damages, or off chance of gill flukes (plates look good now, no more mucus, tissue color not great but better, normal breathing the whole time). Had a budget crunch, so couldnt get the meds right away. Even tho the new fish all look great now, before adding them to the outside pond, wanted to hit them with the Proform C and after this is completed (first dose last night), have Prazi next for them.
The sick fish... She has a bit of a history, and not all of it is ideal. Most is far from it. We aquired her about 2.5-3 years or so ago via Craigslist as she had outgrown her home. That was an understatement. 20 fish or so living in about 350-400 gallons of water (they had water falls and rivers, but the fish area was about half of our QT pond and only 12-18" deep - we came home with 5 of them, smallest was about 18" and she was the largest, then about 22-23"). Initially here, there were more problems (fish load verses filtration at the time, ammonia spikes etc)... Got that all worked out... Then added a fish that broke with popeye... Which is how this fish went blind (total loss of one eye, and a THICK layer of scar tissue over the other eye) and the WHY she lives in the QT tank (she is comfortable where she is, dont want to shock/stress her by moving her). Didnt take long for us all (human and her) to learn a feeding pattern that works (splash water to let her know you are there, and hand feed). This was all well over a year ago (likely closer to 2 years) and other than not being able to see, acts, eats normal. None of this may be related, or maybe she has been through too much...
Jumping to the present. 3-4 days ago, she started acting funny. She is NOT racing around the pond acting stressed, but swimming in circles CASUALLY, always to the left. She will do this for a few minutes, then swim normally, and then do it all over again. At first we were thinking she was acting as if something may have been tickling her (aka a parasite) and being blind, she couldnt find the walls to rub against/flash. Reaching. Carefully inspected her body and see NOTHING. No blemishes, no missing scales, no bumps, her body looks perfect. Dont think that was her issue. She will also "roll over" (showing her belly) a time or two, and even swim upside down (not as much as she circles), then swim normally again. When she is doing this, if you reach in and touch her, she immediately swims normal and comes to you as if nothing is wrong (she is VERY friendly), and WAS also eating normally (food pig). This morning, she was more "distracted" then normal, and not really interested in eating or getting attention (normal behavior for her is to be a pest, I swear this fish LIKES human interaction). She is breathing normally, I mean other than swimming in weird patterns, cant see anything wrong... Another thing we have noticed is the scar tissue over her right eye IS slowly going away (we can see the eye now, but still has tissue over it) and are even wondering if she may be regaining some vision, but still feel like we are reaching. Instinct says it is something sensoritory, but then thinking we are reaching again... I almost want to say her depth perception is off and gets confused as to which way is up. The weirdest thing is she does not seem STRESSED. She isnt racing around, or even hiding on the bottom... ANY ideas of what could be wrong or what to look for???
I know the very first question you will all ask is the water qualities of the QT tank, so will get that out of the way first:
3-4 days ago this fish was "off" (will come back to this) so just did a quick ammonia test, which was coming up on .25
Last night, a 50% water change was done, and Proform C was added to the water (carbon removed from filter), so these results are with the Proform C in there, so may not be accurate. (Addition of Proform C is not related to this fish.)
Ammonia: NO MORE than .10 it is NOT at zero, but the next one up on the color chart is .25 and it isnt even close to that color
Nitrite: zero
Nitrate: NOT tested (hanging head, out of this one)
Phosphate: 2.0+ but way below 5 (chart goes from 2 to 5 with nothing in between). GUESSING 2.5-3 (Guessing elevation due to Proform C)
PH: 6.8 (thinking Proform C causimg this as it is usually mid 7s)
The 50% water added, was from our outside pond, so here's those results
Ammonia: zero
Nitrite: zero
Nitrate: again, unable to test
Phosphate: zero
PH: 7.4/7.5
Fish with a problem is a koi, about 8-9 years old and 24-26" in size.
Not ideal, but we have two fish whom live in our QT tank. One is the fish we need help with (she is blind, will come back to this issue), and the other is her companion.
Explaination of the use of Proform C. A month ago, added fish to QT tank from a bad situation (power shut off for nonpayment, ammonia burns on some, owner didnt care, fish were rescued by another party). A couple days after adding the fish, they spawned, water changes etc. Kept water quality well inside of safe ranges (close to zero most of the time, if it wasnt AT zero). One fish broke with an ulcer a few days after arrival (thinking trauma from removal from original pond or even in transit here), sat back and watched (has healed). Nothing else. There was also one fish with a bit of muscus in her gills, gill tissue off color (more grey than red), and ammonia burns to the gill plates. We DX'd as likely ammonia burn damages, or off chance of gill flukes (plates look good now, no more mucus, tissue color not great but better, normal breathing the whole time). Had a budget crunch, so couldnt get the meds right away. Even tho the new fish all look great now, before adding them to the outside pond, wanted to hit them with the Proform C and after this is completed (first dose last night), have Prazi next for them.
The sick fish... She has a bit of a history, and not all of it is ideal. Most is far from it. We aquired her about 2.5-3 years or so ago via Craigslist as she had outgrown her home. That was an understatement. 20 fish or so living in about 350-400 gallons of water (they had water falls and rivers, but the fish area was about half of our QT pond and only 12-18" deep - we came home with 5 of them, smallest was about 18" and she was the largest, then about 22-23"). Initially here, there were more problems (fish load verses filtration at the time, ammonia spikes etc)... Got that all worked out... Then added a fish that broke with popeye... Which is how this fish went blind (total loss of one eye, and a THICK layer of scar tissue over the other eye) and the WHY she lives in the QT tank (she is comfortable where she is, dont want to shock/stress her by moving her). Didnt take long for us all (human and her) to learn a feeding pattern that works (splash water to let her know you are there, and hand feed). This was all well over a year ago (likely closer to 2 years) and other than not being able to see, acts, eats normal. None of this may be related, or maybe she has been through too much...
Jumping to the present. 3-4 days ago, she started acting funny. She is NOT racing around the pond acting stressed, but swimming in circles CASUALLY, always to the left. She will do this for a few minutes, then swim normally, and then do it all over again. At first we were thinking she was acting as if something may have been tickling her (aka a parasite) and being blind, she couldnt find the walls to rub against/flash. Reaching. Carefully inspected her body and see NOTHING. No blemishes, no missing scales, no bumps, her body looks perfect. Dont think that was her issue. She will also "roll over" (showing her belly) a time or two, and even swim upside down (not as much as she circles), then swim normally again. When she is doing this, if you reach in and touch her, she immediately swims normal and comes to you as if nothing is wrong (she is VERY friendly), and WAS also eating normally (food pig). This morning, she was more "distracted" then normal, and not really interested in eating or getting attention (normal behavior for her is to be a pest, I swear this fish LIKES human interaction). She is breathing normally, I mean other than swimming in weird patterns, cant see anything wrong... Another thing we have noticed is the scar tissue over her right eye IS slowly going away (we can see the eye now, but still has tissue over it) and are even wondering if she may be regaining some vision, but still feel like we are reaching. Instinct says it is something sensoritory, but then thinking we are reaching again... I almost want to say her depth perception is off and gets confused as to which way is up. The weirdest thing is she does not seem STRESSED. She isnt racing around, or even hiding on the bottom... ANY ideas of what could be wrong or what to look for???
I did post which eye (right has scar tissue, the left is gone) but I was so long winded trying to get all the info out, it was easily lost. Circling left, makes me think the right eye, being the outside eye, may be getting a view of something (light, shadows?) but what about the rolling over and even swimming upside down? Would that fit? My husband is near blind in one eye (childhood injury/glass) and without glasses, his bad eye's vision is 20/80. Because of his CDL (he cant fake the eye exam anymore), he did get glasses (for show only) that brings that eye up to 20/40, but he cant wear them. He has gone almost all of his life with no depth perception, so seeing "normal" does make everything "tilt"... he has said if you want to see him drunk, watch him with his glasses on, but never says anything about wanting to roll over... I think of my husbands vision, and the possibilities with the fish sound more than possible, but I want to be cautious and not just discount her behavior in case we are wrong... I would LOVE this to be her issue. We were able to learn together to get her food, so cant imagine it would be too hard to help her while she regains her balance. I hate to sound like I am giving too many human characteristics to a fish, but being so friendly is a huge help.
