My Blood Parrot cichlid developed a severe case of fungal infection (white cloudy growth) around her gills and mouth today. I had planned to clean the tank but got distracted and forgot. I don't have time to post photos/video so here is a video of someone else's fish: [video=youtube;SwO0D2DY-Xk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SwO0D2DY-Xk[/video] My fish acts pretty much the exact same way, eggs or no eggs. Mine is, however, about twice as big as the one in the video. She will bite the fuck out of you if given the chance (it doesn't hurt that bad, just surprising). She will also "chase you" around the tank. I actually find it quite amusing really. I like to dare friends & family to put their hand in the water. she was rolling over not responding earlier but i've been blowing clean water through her mouth and over her gills in attempts to keep her from passing out. she is now no longer floating upside down and is swimming (weakly) under her own power. i thought for a minute she was dead for sure but i think she will make a recovery. going to pick up more meds at the store in a bit and will let you know how it goes.
As an individual who has had pet fish before, my best wishes go out to you and... does your fish have a name?
Thanks everyone. I named her after someone who I felt at the time best described her personality and... facial expression: Miss Piggy is stable now. I got her all fixed up with an anti-fungal treatment. Just need to keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours and she should be ok. Normally, I wouldn't be too emotionally bothered, but I've had her for 6-7 years... so there is a little attachment there I guess. She is big enough now that no common pet store net will hold her. She is fat and slow so I typically just grab her with two hands if I need to move her out of the tank.
Wow, that seems like a long time for a fish. I think most of the fish I have ever head have lived a year or so.... Ok I am probably a terrible person.
Although she may appear to some as a type of "goldfish" she is actually a breed of cichlid... and a rather large breed at that. Many of the fish you buy at the pet store will die if you look at them funny. I once had a Black Moor that "suffocated" because it got stuck in a log one time (winnie the pooh-style). Cichlids are known for being tough fish and some can live quite a long time. According to Wikipedia my fish could live more than 10 years... if I don't kill her first.
I hope your fish gets better, I remember the day when I came home and my chiclid tank was a mass murder scene. Turns out my mom sprayed my room with air freshner and I guess some of it got into the tank and killed them. Such a sad day in my life.
Oh you might have missed my earlier post; she is doing much much better now. She's eating again and chasing me around the tank (as usual). Thank you. Sorry to hear about your fish, though. That really must have been horrible coming home to see. When my mom visits she sometimes tries to "help" me too with all too often similar results. They mean well anyway, right?
I realize I'm super late on this dude but I'm very glad to hear Miss Piggy made it through. I know aquariums can be a lot of work but they're also extremely rewarding, so it's definitely understandable to get attached to a fish especially after having her for so long.
Yeah I got some kind of angel fish at one point and that thing lived for more than 10 years. Actually alot of fish their size is dependent on the amount of water. In a 20 gallon tank that fish will only be 2-3 inches but put it in a pond it could grow up to 3 feet.
Glad she recovered! I used to have a pair of Tiger Oscars that I got a little bitty guys. And as they grew they eventually ate everything else in my tank except my Plesko. LOL They both got to be about 11" long and used to love watching TV. Cool fish, I eventually gave them to the pet store owner to put in his 500 gallon tank since I felt bad keeping them in my 55. It was either that or eat them. LOL
Magnus- glad the fish is better. How do you blow clean water through a fish's mouth? I'm picturing, like, CPR? Gihzmo- re: this quote- You're not a terrible person- I think most of the fish I owned as a kid lived about a month. Except for a much-loved Plecostomus who lived for about a year, but was then murdered by another fish (we gave the murderous fish the death penalty - a toilet flushing). And then all of the Pleco's after him lived about a month and then died, so we gave up. My plants have less than a 50% success rate. So far I have killed a rosemary, an oregano, cilantro, mint, and a lucky bamboo (guess it wasn't so lucky). Surviving are a German sage, a croton, and a ming tree (the ming tree is just hanging on for dear life... it looks kind of like the Charley Brown Christmas tree). I don't know what it is. I really want things to survive. I give them food and water and attention. It's kind of getting depressing. Sometimes I get lonely and really want a pet, but I don't know that I can trust myself with one, given the status of my plants and my previous pets :/
