Miracle Loach

[OceanMaiden]

Hello all, I just thought I'd share an amazing experience with you.

I was changing the water in my tank the other day and when I went to fill it up I did so slowly as not to blow the fish away with the python. Well apparently the water was a little colder than I had anticipated and I gave my loach a heartattack. He swam sideways , upside down twitched... and then he was dead . I grabbed my net and plunged my arm into the tank to scoop up my fish. My arm was wet all the way up to my shoulder, I didnt care. I took my little loach out of the net and placed him in my hand and examined him. His color was faded and he wasnt breathing. I ran to the other room where my ten gallon was with ready warm water in it for the fry. I held my loach carefully and gently gave him 5 to 10 cardial thumps with my finger. His mouth started moving!! I swished him in the warm water and massaged his chest. His gills moved! Again and again, he was breathing again!!!! His color was coming back!! IT WAS ALIVE! OMG I just couldnt believe it I was in tears. I put the net in the water and put him in it so he could rest while he recooperated without being pestered by fry. As of today he is back in his big tank (nice n warm water now!!) fine and dandy he is swimming eating and playing like it never happened. I hope my mistake helps others to avoid it. Keep VERY CLOSE attention to water temps as not all fish are so lucky as my loach.

 

[theotheragentm]

Whew...glad he made it. I'm sure it gave you quite a scare, not just the fish.

 

[courtnee]

What a great story! Amazing.

I learned about the cold water issues a few weeks ago. My largest 4-line pictus cat who doesnt come out with the lights on, came out and went NUTS and even came to the corner where I was looking and stared at me in a panic. I realized I changed the temp about 5 degrees and he didnt like it.

It is easy to mess up and the temp wont show up right away either. My tank was full before I saw the temp dropping and I thought I was pretty close in temp putting water back in and was way off.

Are there other fish in the tank? Did it not bother them like it did your loach?

I know the rest of my tank was fine, except the snail went into hiding. Just one fish though threw a fit.

 

[Zagz]

Lucky loach. Water temps certainly can affect fish quite dramatically.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Yes there were other fish in the tank and snails too. The mollies just swam over to the heater and waited patiently. Snails didnt care. The loach had swam directly under where the water was coming out and blasted himself with the too cold water. Poor guy! I hope he will continue to be allright and not be too mad at me!

 

[MSU Fan]

I am glad to hear the loach made it! And I guess this answers the question of whether or not cpr will work for a fish...

I have tanks that are all at slightly different temperatures, so one water temp won't work for all - I use this thermometer: Big Little Digital Thermometer to test the tank water, and then calibrate the tap water - of course I waste a bunch of water in the process, but it's better for the little ones. Of course, I find that thermometer to be off by about 2 degrees :x , but there are other more reliable ones that can be purchased (mine was on clearance ). HTH

 

[cabezon]

I just read that chest compressions were more important than the mouth to mouth part of CPR. More evidence here

 

[hamburgler]

I've had africans get 'heart attacks' numerous times at work. They get very stressed when trying to avoid the net. I usually just set them aside and they come back after 10 minutes or so.

 

[RoK]

What kind of loach is it?

Maybe we should all be learning CPR for possible emergency fish situations.

 

[7Enigma]

This is a common euthanasia method used for tropical fish. A cold shock will normally cause the nervous system to shut down resulting in cardiac arrest. With coldwater species such as lobster and CW fish a quick dip in very hot water will do the same.

I think a combination of the warm water and the stimulation resulted in a "jumpstart".

Please try to match temps better in the future. Old copper pipes are very difficult to get a constant temperature out of because they expand and contract due to the temp changes. This causes the water to become drastically different in temp then what was originally set. In my house I do 5gallon bucket changes and constantly have to monitor the temp coming out of the faucet (normally the water temp goes down because the hot water pipes expand while the cold pipes contract). One way around this is to have the water running for several minutes prior to the PWC so they can expand/contract to their "natural" state.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Yes I'm totally watching my temps now, I don't ever want to have to do that again, and I'm sure the loach doesn't either!! The loach is a baby clown. He's only 1.5 inches so you can imagine how nervous I was when I was thumping his chest to get his heart started again!! I know hes going to get pretty big and needs a friend clown. I was in the market for a nice 55 from walmart, almost had enough, and then they just stopeed selling them. Infuriating!! Well I might as well just buy the 75 gallon kit from petco, Yes tanks are way more expensive at petco, but I must have a bigger tank. I'm going to go ahead and get the 75 gallon tank there at petco as it is only about 50 or so dollars more than their 55 gal setup. Might as well go with the even bigger one. I know the clown loach will appreciate it when hes bigger! Me and my son as well. We have a weird version of MTS. We just want bigger and bigger and bigger tanks. I guess because bigger tanks equals more fish and all in one space. Like a big screen aquarium! So much better than tv!! Thanks for the info on better temp husbandry all. Do you have any additional info or advice like what to watch out for when buying Big setups and tanks for your fish? Scams to avoid? Stuff like that. I dont want me and my son and my fish to get gypped again!

 

[7Enigma]

Do you have any additional info or advice like what to watch out for when buying Big setups and tanks for your fish? Scams to avoid? Stuff like that. I dont want me and my son and my fish to get gypped again!

#1 thing is to make SURE your floor can handle the incredible weight large tanks have. This is no joke, you're talking about 1,000 pounds for a 75 gallon and accompanying stand! That's a lot of weight especially for older homes. Most times the first floor or basement is the recommended location, its iffy on putting that much weight on a higher floor. The 1st floor is nice because you can put joists in the basement directly under the floorboards so you can be sure the floor will hold (and still be able to view the tank regularly).

Goodluck!

 

[OceanMaiden]

My house is only about 40 years old, I know my floor should be ok. As long as I place the tank properly so it crisses the weight supporting beams making a big + so that the weight is spread evenly and not pinpointed. ++++ Like that. Thats how my big 29 sits now. I can jump up and down and the floor doesnt shake the tank, so it seems pretty sturdy. Also my old refrigerator alone is about right at 1,000 pounds! It is placed as the tank is across where the beams rest. No floor sagging or bouncing there either. I will check with my father who works with constructioners regularly and see if he can safety test and or tell me how to put additional support V's in between the beams to make the floor even stronger. I need to ask another qquestion though. Will a 75 gallon be big enough for two clowns and small groups of schooling fish? I want to make sure before I sink money into the tank, so I know for a fact I have the right size. Once I have my big tank I will be getting rid of ALL others. I'm trying to simplify here. lol I own 4 cats, 4 dogs, 2 birds, and three fishtanks, so I have got to downsize somehow!) I've already given away my hamsters, due in no small part to my boston terrier getting ahold of one that got out, tearing it to shreds, and laying the "gifts" on my sons bed as he slept. EWWW. So now I want just have one big fishtank to make my life a lil easier. Sorry to rant on here but I need to vent somewhere. Thank you all for your help and advice. his truly is a great site to come to!!

 

[7Enigma]

Wait for someone who actually has full grown clowns, but I think 2 would be fine in a 75. If I remember correctly though they are schooling/shoaling fish so I think they might prefer being kept in a larger group.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Ok so should I get 3 more clowns then? Hopefully 4 will be ok together in a 75 with groups of other much smaller schooling fish. Unless the clowns will eat the others? Doh! I will just go looking up more info on clowns for the time being I guess. Thanks 7enigma. Well I'm off to research and window shop for tanks maybe Ill find a better deal than at petshmo, I mean petco! Take care and thanks again. Will let you know what goes on.