I'm such an idiot...

[dr_girlfriend]

I feel so stupid. I attempted tonight to treat my flowerhorns ulcers by sedating her in clove oil. I had my husband helping me, we put her in a bucket with the mix, and after about 3-5 minutes she seemed to be out. He picked her up out of the water and laid her on a wet towel on my kitchen counter.
Well, low and behold she wasnt out and flipped right out of his hands and 3 feet into my kitchen sink and ripped a huge row of scales off her side and ripped an ulcer on the base of her dorsal fin open and was bleeding. We put her back in the bucket and I held a qtip on the bleeding wound until it stopped and then back in the main tank. She didn;t come to for a few minutes and I was sure she was going to die. I started bawling and cursing myself at how stupid I was not to realize she wasnt completly out.
She came too and has been hanging in the corner of her tank ever since. I put 3% salt in the tank for now. I'm not doing anything until I get the neo tricide and acriflavine I ordered. After that I'm breaking down that freaking tank and bleaching everything save the bio wheels. If that doesnt work, then I give up, and will just let her live out her life until I will probably have to end her suffering. This poor fish has suffered for so long and now I made it worse. I feel so bad, I just hope she can hold on a little longer. I am quite attatched to this fish, she has such "human" traits.
I hope this will help as a warning to anyone attempting to sedate your fish, if its a big powerful fish double and triple check that they are out. I feel so horrible, I dont want anyone else to have to go through this.

 

[mattrox]

Never call yourself an idiot. That word is reserved for other people who have caused you grief. 8O

Accidents do happen and it is not your fault. You were doing the right thing with good motives. I feel for you though because I know how things play over in your mind. ... if only...

I hope things get better soon.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

Thanks for the kind words mattrox. The "if only's" are what always get ya. I got a lucky shot of the scales that got sheared, hopefully its not as bad as it looks right now. At least shes moving around now.

 

[BrianNY]

Not only are you NOT an idiot, you get kudos dr. girlfriend. Consider that you've just gotten yourself an education through experience. You've done something that you've never done before and you and your flowerhorn are both better for it.

Cichlids are very resilient fish. If she appears to be improving at all, she'll probably make a full recovery and has you to thank.

 

[tetrin]

dr, don't beat yourself up over it. think of it this way, if you had done nothing, it would have perished anyway.
believe me, i have done far more stupid things.

good luck.

 

[Pacifico]

Dang! First of all, don't feel badly! Your heart was in the right place -- you were trying to help your FH out. It's not as if you were trying to be malicious. Second, as mentioned above, FH's, due to being a mix of so many cichlids, are tough and hardy fish. Let us know how things progress.

 

[id10t]

Nope, sorry. I have a monopoly on being the id10t around here...

 

[talloulou]

You are not an idiot. I hope your fish is okay.

 

[greenmaji]

dr_girlfriend... I feel like you were attempting a very advanced medical treatment on your FH for what seems like the first time.. It just seems like you had a first experiance with it and it didnt turn out perfectly.. It is admirable that you attempted this in the first place, Good Work I hope personaly that this doesnt discourge you in the long run.. keep your head up, you didnt do anything wrong..

 

[FinkAlmighty]

You are most certainly NOT an idiot. These things happen, and they suck when they do.

You had good intentions and frankly I admire anyone who is willing to go to such lengths to help out their pet.

And if anything, you learned form a mistake, and that is truely the BEST way to learn in any subject. Kudos.

I hope everything works out for you and your flowerhorn, I was grief-ridden when I lost mine after 7 years. I give you best wishes.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

Thanks you guys. I'm feeling a little less guilty today, she ate quite a bit earlier and dug a huge pit in the gravel so I'm guessing shes not feeling all that bad now. Shes probably forgot all about it, but I'm still trying to. She is an extremley resilient fish, shes been through hexamita, ich and this ulceration problem. A more sensitive fish I'm sure would have died from the incident last night, but shes back to eating and swimming around and digging. Its just amazing how powerful a fish can be. Like pure muscle. And being slippery doesnt help.
I know I'm not going to try to attempt that again, at least not for a while. If I ever have to sedate her or any fish, I might try finquel instead of cloves. In the few experiences I've used it one time to euthanize a betta, it just didn't work as quickly as I have read it suppose to. But for now, I'll stick with the antibiotic dip I'm waiting to get.
Thanks again for your support, it helps alot