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Help! I need to help a fish

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TextsFromParrots

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Ouch. :( Poor guy. Man. I wish I could do more. But with vet bills and everything else I don't think I can afford to buy him an entire set up from scratch. And I somehow doubt my company will reimburse me for everything when we already have an aquarium with a stand and everything. I'll just work on making him as comfy as he can be in there and go from there.
 

waterfaller1

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Carole, I just checked. It's a sponge. :lol: It just looked like sand through the water. I went and actually poked it to find out. Good info about the carbon though!
LOL..
In the future, the sponge will not need to be replaced often. Just swished around in the water that is removed from the tank. This is important, as it harbors a lot of your good bacteria.
 

waterfaller1

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Okay, also I just took this picture of mine. The house is dark, as well as the tank, so sorry for the quality. On the bottom is the sponge, or foam, then the carbon and then the pellets.

That's a good pic, thanks Kacy.:)
 

TextsFromParrots

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Hurrah! I found the boxes for all the stuff as well. I wrote down the names of everything like the heater just in case I need it. I think the packet of white things broke at some point since behind the stand there's a bunch of them laying around.
 

waterfaller1

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Ok.get a new package of media. Once in the tank, just leave it undisturbed for say 3-4 weeks. To save money right now, just take a water sample to a fish store, if you can do it fairly quick after removing it{PH will drop in the sample if it's too long} They will test it for free. Being that he has been in this water all along, I am sure the PH is fine for him. As you said, he is a hardy species. If you keep up on the water changes, every week to ten days, he will be fine.:)
Thanks for caring about him. You are doing great as a new fish hobbyist!
:hug8:Oh, and do try to get a bottle of Prime, by Seachem. It is the best to dechlorinate the water..
 
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TextsFromParrots

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Yeah I wasn't going to toss it in. :) I just think that's what happened to the first one. Whew...boy I'm tired now. I didn't realize how much work it would take to do all that! And you're welcome. I couldn't leave him like that, it was just too horrible to see him just floating there in that mess. Who knows? Maybe I'll learn enough and get into it enough I'll try and convince my boss to let me take him home. :lol:
 

TextsFromParrots

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So I just left work and passed on that the aquarium got cleaned out and to NOT turn on the light, as well as to please keep an eye on the fish. My AM guys response to what I did and seeing the tank? "Oh..man. I hope Mark isn't angry, he's really particular about that. He and Shannon take care of it." :mad:
 

waterfaller1

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Well, if Mark has anything to say, tell him big bad Carole will be coming after him.:D You did nothing but good. You care, he obviously doesn't, and the a.m. guy is an idiot too.;)
 

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What a big improvement already Kristen! You are doing a great job! If anyone gives you attitude just show them the before and after pics.
 

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"He will me mad"? He can go suck lemons! It's not like he was taking care of the fish, sorry, but he lost all right to be angry when he let the tank start looking like a black slime monster had puked all over it. :mad:

Thank you so much for going out of your comfort zone and helping the little guy out!
 

TextsFromParrots

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Yup! The first time I get lip I'm going to print it out nice and big for them! ;) As long as I'm there Duncan's going to have a nice clean place to live in.

What a big improvement already Kristen! You are doing a great job! If anyone gives you attitude just show them the before and after pics.
 

TextsFromParrots

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Yay! M'lady was able to get a picture of Duncan. :D He's always too fast for me. he's still alive and well.
 

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waterfaller1

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That is great!:highfive:
 

kcbee

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Yay!!
 

Chicobo

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He's cute!!

People are so weird about fish, they act like they're not living, breathing creatures like all the rest of us. I used to cry when my fish died and have little funerals for them all. My mom would look at me like I had a bazillion heads, LOL. Nowadays I don't keep fish because I find that the amount of work necessary for a great tank is just preclusive, not to mention that I'd need special renter's insurance to cover the size tank I'd want (bigger than 20 gallons).
 

Josie

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I cried when my fish would die too. D:

This thread was really interesting to read. I felt like I was watching some home makeover show, and I learned a lot about tanks! :p

Thank you so much for doing all that for Duncan. I'm sure he appreciates every little thing you did. :hug8:
 

waterfaller1

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Have you been back to work yet? Has anyone said anything? How is the tank looking now, and how is Duncan? Were you able to find the replacement media for the filter?
 

waterfaller1

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And I somehow doubt my company will reimburse me for everything when we already have an aquarium with a stand and everything. I'll just work on making him as comfy as he can be in there and go from there.
They will reimburse you for what you spent to make things right, won't they? This is simple maintenance that goes along with keeping fish, that has not been being done. It's only right they should make good on it.
 

TextsFromParrots

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I had my first night of work last night. I came in to a very painfully polite note thanking me for cleaning the tank, but advising I should leave it to the people that know about fish to clean the tank because I could do more harm then good. :rolleyes: Yeah right. :mad: That tank should never have gotten into that state if the people that knew about fish had been paying attention. I wrote back telling him that I was getting advice from people that knew about fish and since I had more time of night I'd be taking care of Duncan.

Sadly my boss will only reimburse me for the filter alone. :( My Asst. Manager told me that if I felt the tank needed anything else or Duncan should have better food it would have to come out of my own pocket. So I'm going to scrimp a bit to buy some sand substrate and other things for the tank to replace the ones he has now. This weekend I went to the pet store, but they didn't have a whole lot of fish things. They were more dog/cat/small animal. I did pick up some good fish food though to replace his old and found some blood worms. He really loved the blood worms last night!

Duncan is doing really well. He's moving around a lot more then he used too. There's still black beard algae around the tank. I used the skimmer to get some out and I'm going to do a better clean up on my last day of work. I'm hoping i can get things to the point I can do a full change to replace the pebbles and such. This weekend is payday so I can see about getting some little fake plants that aren't so sad looking or algae infested as well as something for him to hide around that isn't that massive rock. It's way too thick and takes up too much space.
 

waterfaller1

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Taking the substrate out and replacing it with sand would be nice, but you would have to do some planning. Either Duncan would have to live in a temporary QT, or you would have to risk his life to a new cycle. Breaking down the tank's substrate with Duncan in the tank is not an option. It will kill him. If you can monitor the tank every day without fail, until the tank recycles it will be ok. Keeping the filter viable while you do it, would be the most important thing. You could put Duncan in a bucket, with some of the tank's water, and hang the filter on the side. Then once the tank is reset, you could use Dr. Tim's One And Only to give the bacteria a kick, replace the filter on the tank, and monitor it every day for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. It will at the very least, go through a quick cycle while the good bacteria gets replaced in the substrate. Another option to dry sand, may be an instant type that comes with the bacteria already in it. Then you would have no problems at all. You would still have to take him out while you did this though, as removing the substrate can release hidden toxins. I added the Instant Tahitian Moon sand to my 90 gallon, with the fish in the tank, but I did not have any substrate..Tahitian moon sand is not true sand, but rather a very fine black gravel. He might like that, and I have a few extra bags.;) I am glad he is doing so well!!:)
 
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