Is it possible to be *too* kind?

[punkrokchk2000]

OK. Let me have it. I went to the store to buy some medicine for my fishies at home.........and couldn't resist. I saw this beautiful red female betta...and she was in one of those typical betta cups...and the water was only filled halfway, and there was all sorts of ...um... *poop* floating around in there with her. I had to have her. She was darting around, and showed signs of stress (horizontal lines), so I thought the best thing for me to do at this point was to (NOT buy all the bettas)...but instead just this little girl...(for now).

I got to work (because I had gone on my lunch break)...and immediately put her into a measuring cup with clean water. May have been a bad thing to do, because I didn't have any products that eliminate the chlorine in water, but I figured ANYTHING would be better than what she was swimming in at the store.

She's sitting here on my desk next to my computer in her little measuring cup... ...and she's got swim bladder disease. Full blown - bent spine, floating at the top and trying to swim down towards the bottom of the cup...poor thing still has horizontal lines (not as bad anymore, though)...

I'm praying I can help her. I'll bring her home and put her in my 2.5 gallon tank - i wish i had a heater for that thing...but in the meantime ANYthing will be better than what she was living in...right? So I'll keep her isolated and fast her for a day or two....and feed her a thawed pea...

Any other suggestions? She seems strong, definitely not a *quitter*...but are there any other suggestions out there? EVENTUALLY I'd love to put her in my 20 gallon tank...but at the moment it's still cycling (nitrite levels are still peaking)....but eventually....one day.... but in the meantime I'll just fluff her pillows and give her fin massages.

Anybody have that problem where they go into the store with fish food on their grocery list......and come out with a betta or two?

Have a nice Thursday!

 

[ninamarie]

Oh god if I did that my house wiould be soo full!!!

You did a great thing I hope she pulls through and did dhe give you "that Look" whe you saw her?

take apicture of her for us ok I would love to see her.

 

[Ed-Luvs-Meds]

I have the same problem, went to the pet store to get a bunny for my friend and instead came home with two male betta.... o.o; I hope your betta will be okay!! ^-^

 

[sweetvegan74]

Poor baby boy. I hope he pulls through. A few months ago in Petsmart I saw a white Betta with swimbladder, he could not swim properly. At first I thought he was dead but he jerked a few times trying to swim. I bought cat and dog food and went home, could not stop thinking about him all night. The next day my heart gave in and I went to Petsmart to go get him, but he wasn't there. )-: I hope maybe another Betta lover took pity and got him.

 

[guppygirl121]

awwww i hope she's alright..... my beta just died of fin rot or sumthing.....his fins were literally falling off.... but i hope she pulls thorugh, and you did a great thing (i will admit i have gone to the store and came out with more then just food) hehe

 

[ninamarie]

Well the turquoise betta that I adopted out DIED today!
Yesterday one of the girls said that she didn't want him any more and dammit if I shouldn't of taken him back right thenand there he'd still be alive!!

Anyways one of the girls washed his bowl out w/S O A P said she rinsed it really really well and with in an hour he was dead! The other girl that would clean him never used soap and he was ok, see what happends when you change it up!
So I am really pist!

 

[punkrokchk2000]

Oh God, Nina...I'm so sorry to hear that. Why did she want a betta if she didn't really want to take care of him in the first place? That makes me so sad.

Well, on a brighter note (not to change the subject too quickly...sorry) I've started Haku (my male betta) and neon tetras and platties on some Pimafix. They were starting to do much better in the 10 gallon tank. (Originally they had been in the 20 gallon tank and Haku wasn't happy at all...It looked as though he was starting to get fin rot...and he wasn't eating and just hiding from all the other fishies. I isolated him and he started making a bubblenest right away. )

Anyway, so they'll be on pimafix for 7 days...the guy at the petstore said it wouldn't affect the rest of my fish if they didn't have a fungus infection...but it looks as though my tetras have some cottonmouth, so hopefully the PimaFix will help cure that, too.

I'd love to take pictures, but my digital camera pooped out on me...I have a camera phone, but don't want to spend 25 cents per picture to send it to the internet ...sorry!

UPDATE: I'm looking over at Chihiro (gee how original, huh? Chihiro and Haku...from Spirited Away ) ....Well Chihiro looks to be doing MUCH better! For the time being (while testing the water from the tanks) I kept her in her little cup and have let her float on the surface of my 20 gallon tank. My ultimate goal is to have Chihiro in the 20 gallon tank...(as soon as the nitrite levels go down!)...and Haku in the 10 gallon tank. No, kids - no breeding or mating or wooing of any nature will be going on in this household...hehe

I hope to get a digital camera soon enough, and I'll keep everyone posted...

Thanks for all your wonderful replies!

 

[punkrokchk2000]

OH NO!!

My 10 gallon tank has a LEAK!!! ARGH! After all this work, oh my god. And it's 9 at night.

Luckily I have a backup 10 gallon tank sitting in storage...........but what about my *cycling*? ugh. And I have to clean it, too....NO SOAP, though

Ugh, I knew this night was going along too well.....

 

[punkrokchk2000]

*phew* It's 10:15 now and I finished transferring all my fishies into the new 10 gallon tank (that doesn't have a leak). hee... Instead of using new water I just used my mini syphon and syphoned all the water from the leaking tank to the new tank...that way I didn't have to start all over...and put the fish through a lot of stress. My poor Haku - I've never seen him that mad. I put him into this tupperware dish (a fairly big one) while I was setting up the new tank...and he did NOT like it...not one bit. His anal fin actually turned WHITE at the roots...and even HE had horizontal lines going across his little body. Oh god, I felt so bad for him...but 5 minutes later (after being put into the tank again) he's doing much better. I've turned down the lights to simulate a sunset.......all is well again.

And I'm off to bed! G'night all...

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

NoDeltaH2O's rules of fish keeping...


Here it goes, for all you oldtimers, you know right where I'm going with this...

Rule #1: Never, under any circumstance, buy a fish that looks sick
Rule #2: Never buy medicine for fish; sick fish die
Rule #3: If a fish looks sick, net it out and euthanize it for the sake of the healthy fish
Rule #4: Treat every fish loss as an opportunity to get new cooler fish

 

[sweetvegan74]

Geeze Nina I am very sorry!! That fishy was a sweetie too. RIP little man )-:

punkrokchk2000, Thanks for saving Chirhio & Haku (Loved Spirited Away!) If you want to speed up cycling, try Bio-Spira UB's tank cycled like in a week (-:

NoDeltaH2O, everyone has their ideas on keeping fish, but if you look up "The Star Fish Story" might give you an idea on why Fish keepers go out of their way on getting sick or neglected fish (-;

 

[Orion]

NoDeltaH2O, everyone has their ideas on keeping fish, but if you look up "The Star Fish Story" might give you an idea on why Fish keepers go out of their way on getting sick or neglected fish (-;

I admire people who want to go the extra mile to help a fish that is sick, but there is a fine line between helping and hurting.

A good, reputable fish store will not have, or very rarely have sick or injured fish. The places that sell these rescue fish most likley don't need to be selling fish or any live animal in the first place. So while you may think your doing the sick fish a good service by taking it home with you, all you are ultimately doing is reenforcing the idea that the store selling the sick fish should continue to sell fish like this because people will buy them. They don't care why you bought the fish, for good reasons or not, they just see the money they made.

So you buy a sick fish. It's off to a bad start from the moment you see it. If you are able to help it make a recovery then what? There is going to become a point that you aren't going to be able to provide the nessecary care for all of the rescue fish. The water may even get to the point of where it was in the store.

Lets say that it wasn't going to live and there was absolutley nothing that you could have done to prevent this. Not only have you wasted your money, but more than likley your going to think that it was your fault, or that there was something more that you could have done. This is going to make you feel bad when there really isn't any reason too feel bad. Sometimes fish are just to far gone to do anything helpfull for them other than the euthenize them. And may even make you think about getting out of the hobby because so many fish have died under your care. This is a huge reason why there is such a turn over rate in this hobby.

Agian I'm not saying that a rescuers heart isn't in the right place, it most certianly is. But by doing this you are only encouraging the bad LFS out there to continue to do what they do.

 

[sweetvegan74]

I would never buy fish from Walmart as I do not believe they should sell anything live. I got UB from Petsmart, normally the fish are pretty healthy cramped in the cups but healthy. That fish with swim bladder was the first fish I ever saw in Petsmart with a problem. I bought UB because he looked like he was going cup crazy and was breathing in alot more then the others. Poor little dude was stressed to the gills. There were alot of other Bettas that had very striking coloring, But little UB was there the longest and he gave me the look and I was hooked. (-: I am glad I followed my heart, UB turned out to be a very pretty (not to mention Flare happy) Betta.

 

[Big Vine]

NoDeltaH2O's rules of fish keeping...
Here it goes, for all you oldtimers, you know right where I'm going with this...

Rule #1: Never, under any circumstance, buy a fish that looks sick
Rule #2: Never buy medicine for fish; sick fish die
Rule #3: If a fish looks sick, net it out and euthanize it for the sake of the healthy fish
Rule #4: Treat every fish loss as an opportunity to get new cooler fish

NoDeltaH20, I think we're on the same page on this, and I also very much agree with what Orion wrote.

Not long ago I bought a bunch of neon tetras in one batch. I then bought more in a second batch.

I ended up euthanizing all of batch # 1, and several individuals from batch # 2 (which was by far the healthier batch) because they appeared to have what I later---through research that I should have done earlier---thought to be 'neon tetra disease.'

As a result, I now have 5 healthy neons and 5 healthy bleeding-heart tetras in that tank (not to mention a few other critters...see sig.).

My point being that I could have easily ended up losing ALL of my tetras, had I decided to keep these 'sick-looking' neons.

While the whole euthanasia process was far from enjoyable, I still feel as though I made the correct decision, as I am now confident that the rest of my fish will remain healthy as a result.

Thankfully I now also have the luxury of having ailing fish be taken care of by the crayfish (which recently happened with an ailing cherry barb who appeared to have some sort of bloating/intestinal blockage...no...it wasn't dropsy). Of course, any fish that has something I suspect to be infectious (and thereby transmittable to other fish)---with the exception of ich, which can be treated with high temps. and salt---is immediately euthanized.

Big Vine

 

[Lotus]

I agree with NoDelta's #1, but none of his other suggestions. I have several fish that I have cured that have gone on to live long and happy lives. Introducing a sick fish into an established tank is always a bad idea, that's why you should always quarantine.

I wouldn't buy a sick fish, it's just encouraging the store to not bother about the health of their stock. The same way I wouldn't buy a piece of clothing with a missing button or a rip in it. Sure, fish aren't just a commodity, but the store should either euthanize sick fish or treat them, not sell them.

 

[punkrokchk2000]

Rule #1: Never, under any circumstance, buy a fish that looks sick
Rule #2: Never buy medicine for fish; sick fish die
Rule #3: If a fish looks sick, net it out and euthanize it for the sake of the healthy fish
Rule #4: Treat every fish loss as an opportunity to get new cooler fish

Well normally I don't think I'd respond to this, but I just had to. Here's my very humble opionion, please don't be offended.

1. When I saw the little red betta she looked fine to me, she was just living in horrible water. Luckily she only had swim bladder disease, and guess what - she's actually doing much better this morning. She's able to swim to the bottom of her little tank now.

To the others who had mentioned the fact that I had actually helped support this horrible fish store, you're absolutely right. On the same level, I gave a huge speech in college on Puppy Mills. Thinking about it now me buying that betta from that store isn't any different than if I had bought a puppy from a petshop in a mall. I realize my mistake, but thinking about it - she was $3...not $800. She wanted to live, I could see it...she wanted to be in a happier place, because I'm sure if she had stayed there much longer she would have died. Where's the crime in me taking her home and nursing her back to health?

2. Never buy medicine for sick fish. Sick fish die..... HA! So if you had a baby and it got sick you would kill it? Alright, alright...horrible example. What about a puppy? You got a puppy, you had him for a few months and he came down with pneumonia. Are you saying you'd rather put the dog down than give him medicine? They make medicine for a reason - and I'm sure more than half the time the medicine works.

3. "If a fish looks sick, net it out and euthanize it for the sake of the healthy fish" .... I kind of agree with you on this...if one of my tetras had an incurable disease I'm sure I'd put him out of his misery, too. But not if the fish have a *minor* disease such as ich or cottonmouth. Why not buy a $6 bottle of medicine and cure everybody instead of killing them all off and having to start over.

4. Treat every fish loss as an opportunity to get new cooler fish Holy cow. Wow. Unlike YOU I actually get attached to my fish...or any pet for that matter. If I had a cat, for example, and she died.....I wouldn't *take the opportunity* to buy a "new cooler cat". That's just horrible, it's like "oops, I just dropped my glass and it shattered all over the floor - guess I'll just go out and buy a new one." Sorry if I misunderstand you...maybe I'm just different.

 

[ninamarie]

Every one is looking at thing in their own way and that is OK.

YOu can try to treat a fish it might respond and it might not, just like people they either get better or worse it's just the way we are made.
the will of the individual is either strong or weak.

My fish dies I get upset but I get going in a week and find another. (My choice)
Everyone has their own ways and I accept people for who they are.

Not knocking anyone just putting in muy $0.02Cents

 

[punkrokchk2000]

You're right, Nina... Everybody's entitled to their own opinions...and feelings. I'm sure this topic has been brought up a million times before (I just haven't gone through all the old threads on this site *hee*)...

So I'm very sorry if I've offended anybody...I'm going to stay true to my feelings and not give in, though. I WILL, however, respect everybody elses views on this and take back anything harsh that I may have said.

Happy Friday *PEACE!* (<-- haha, how cute!)

 

[Chazwick]

Punkrckchk, i think what you did was a really good deed, and that betta will be thankful for it
I hope all goes well, and carry on informing us on the little guys progress!!! And please try and post pictures in soon, i'd love to see him

4. Treat every fish loss as an opportunity to get new cooler fish Holy cow. Wow. Unlike YOU I actually get attached to my fish...or any pet for that matter. If I had a cat, for example, and she died.....I wouldn't *take the opportunity* to buy a "new cooler cat". That's just horrible, it's like "oops, I just dropped my glass and it shattered all over the floor - guess I'll just go out and buy a new one." Sorry if I misunderstand you...maybe I'm just different.

Could not agree more, i hate it when people think of fish as decorations or household ordaments, not as pets, They're just as bad as those physically dying the fish to make them more attractive to people. Fish are fish. Animals. They are pets, sure, they liven up a beautiful room, but in a tank - the fishs health is what is more important, not how colourful / well decorated the tank is (or the fish at that).
Saying "don't buy from a shop that sells poorly fish 24/7" is correct - but unfortunately when put in the situation to save somethings life, some people have to give in, i for one, am one of those people.

 

[Fish Friend]

4. Treat every fish loss as an opportunity to get new cooler fish Holy cow. Wow. Unlike YOU I actually get attached to my fish...or any pet for that matter. If I had a cat, for example, and she died.....I wouldn't *take the opportunity* to buy a "new cooler cat". That's just horrible, it's like "oops, I just dropped my glass and it shattered all over the floor - guess I'll just go out and buy a new one." Sorry if I misunderstand you...maybe I'm just different.

I dont think NoDeltaH2O meant it in that way chaz, Maybe if a fish unfortunately dies, he means you can get better at fish keeping by keeping better and more harder fish.
Maybe...?