Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => The Emergency Room => Topic started by: Extreme_One on February 15, 2016, 06:38:54 PM
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Suddenly my poor Tiger Barb is far worse.
We found her like this:
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There's an open sore/wound near the base of her tail which wasn't there earlier today.
After a few moments lying on the substrate she began swimming in her usual strange nose-up manner.
I decided to place her in a breeding trap, near to the filter outflow where the water is well oxygenated.
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My hospital tank is occupied by my female Apisto and her eggs (or not, but that's another story)
I'm really struggling to understand what could have caused the wound, she was fine earlier, apart from her usual strange swimming.
I'm wondering if it's time to take the difficult decision to euthanise.
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She does not look well at all. Besides lying on her side in the videos she is also 'gasping for breath'. I think the time has come :'(
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Very sorry to see this.
That is indeed a particularly bad case of swimbladder. I would have asked whether she was eating/behaving normally in between bouts of lying on her side, swimming oddly, etc, but, having viewed the video footage, it seems that she's way beyond that stage and beyond the stage of being helped by medication. In view of the way she is breathing so rapidly, I'm really sorry to say that I'd be almost certain that she's not going to recover from this. I've had one fancy goldfish who was prone to repeated bouts of swimbladder problems, and another who developed it gradually over time, but yours looks to be what I'd describe as "final stage" (and unlikely to survive the night). :(
In terms of the wound, I wonder if she's either been nipped by another fish who has sensed her lack of wellbeing or whether she may have floated into the heater and been injured.
Maybe wait to see if others have an opinion too before deciding what to do. Best of luck, whatever you decide to do. [EDIT: Sue and I replied at the same time again but she's confirmed what I was thinking and whose opinion I was hoping you would get too.]
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She does not look well at all. Besides lying on her side in the videos she is also 'gasping for breath'. I think the time has come :'(
Thanks Sue. I was expecting you would say so. :(
Would you mind reminding me the best way of euthanising? I have Clove Oil ready ...
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Put enough tank water into a tub to cover the fish comfortably. Add 25 drops clove oil to a bottle with some water in and shake well. Pour into the tub with the fish and leave a few hours to make sure the fish is actually dead not just anaesthetised.
Good luck.
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Thanks again Sue.
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@fcmf I just re-read this thread and realised that I had missed your reply, where you and Sue had posted at the same time.
Thanks again for your input.
I'm still baffled about the injury, I can't imagine any of the fish, even the larger Tiger Barbs being able to inflict a wound like this. Even though the Tigers are known fin-nippers this looked more like a pirahna bite!
Strange.
Anyway, I ended her suffering. :(
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The poor thing, its so sad when fish end up like that despite owners best efforts. :(
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I'm still baffled about the injury
I remember, when my aforementioned fancy goldfish was in a similar state on her final day, she developed an inexplicable wound like that on her side - she had no other tankmates - but I put it down to possibly the swimbladder or some part of her innards bursting through. In this case, though, it does look as though it's too far into the tail part for any part of her innards to account for this.