not so happy homecoming

LauraCline

LauraCline

New member
Well as some of you know, I've had to be out of town for a couple of weeks with my husband attending the display tank and a QT tank with Elvis my emporer angel in it. I've finally returned to stay for a bit to find my royal gramma gone from ich presumably, all of my frozen food thawed and refrozen back to one multicolored solid mass, and worst of all Elvis in bad condition. He is all blotchy and his fins are frayed looking. He has darted around a couple of times but I can't tell if he's breathing hard. He is definately stressed though. My husband had to work quite a bit of overtime while I was gone and the QT was neglected some as a result. Elvis was not fed any of the unthawed food, I tossed it to be safe. I bought some new food and quickly did a large water change with some prime added to the water. All I can do now is keep testing/changing water over the next few days and hope for the best. I'm going to be so bummed out if I lose Elvis after all this - today is 4 weeks in QT.
 
Thanks Mike, you know I'm all over it. Keep your fingers crossed for Elvis, you know I'm attached to him big time. He is still eating like a pig though, I hope that is a good sign.
 
He seems to be getting worse. He's hanging out near the powerhead some and hiding some but still comes to investigate when I go near the tank. Troy said he seemed fine and looked normal yesterday and this morning. Troy told me about a week ago that Elvis looked like he might be starting to change and I don't really see that now. I also have a flashing clock that I did not notice last night when I got home so I'm wondering if a power outage might be related. Crap, I feel like a worried parent.
 
I'm wondering if I misdiagnosed what I thought was ich and therefore the coppersafe/maracyn 2 treatment was not appropriate. I thought he was doing well, the spots that looked like HLLE had receded before I left and now are nearly gone. Troy has not been testing but today everything is in line except the temp is at 82, however I have added the prime. I should have tested before I did the water change but I felt it was more important to get the new water in there right away. I don't think the water got too bad though, the tank had been vacuumed well, there wasn't algae, and it smells like fresh ocean water. By Troy's account and by water used, an average of 5-15% of the water was changed out daily. The only thing is that 3 different times, the tank went 48 hours without the water changes. He did larger changes before and after the shifts and made sure not to feed the morning of leaving so there wouldn't be waste sitting in the tank. It sounds like he followed my directions very well especially for somebody not in the hobby at all.
 
As long as Elvis is eating and swimming around, stay the course. Try to lower that temp slowly to 79-80. Make sure there is enough surface water movement to facilitate adequate gas exchange.
 
I just checked and I think he's gone. I'm leaving alone just in case but he is on his side wedged under a piece of PVC and does not appear to be moving. :sad2: Lights are off so I hope he's just resting.
 
Thanks Mike, I did lower the temp earlier very slightly as I don't want to cause any swings and I've got a MJ 1200 running on a 20 gal and it's very vigorous.
 
Unfortunately, Elvis has left the building. He was already gone when I got up to check on him. I feel terrible that he died even with my best efforts. I'm not upset with Troy, I don't think it's anything he did or didn't do. Oddly enough, he's bummed out as well even though he's not a fish person really. He said he got to like Elvis because he had such a cool personality.
 
Well even though this sucks and Elvis is hsowing signs that mommy was missed....I hope you were easy on your husband.
 
You did all that you can and that is what counts!!! Life on Life terms it is not always the way we want it.
 
Don't feel too bad. I just lost 3 fish in 3 days for no apparent reason. Poor Gator was with me for over 2 years : (

This hobby is maddening!!!!!
 
Thanks everybody - we'll just have to regroup before I get another fish. In 6 months, I've managed to kill all 3 of my fish. The purple firefish was killed upon introduction by the Royal Gramma. The Gramma died after 4 months in the tank of ich because we couldn't catch her. Then Elvis died after 4 full weeks in QT and after a full round of Coppersafe/Maracyn 2. I still think a power outage could have contributed to Elvis' demise. RIP little buddy. On a positive note, my crabs, snails, shrimps, featherdusters, and even a tiny starfish are all still doing fine in the DT - knock on wood.
 
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