I'm bummed out :-(
Late last night, straight out of the blue, my male heckelii "Bubba" just started dying!
He was our favorite display & personality fish in the Geo tank. he was the Boss, but pure gentleman. Just had Class & so much character, plus he sparkled with all that heckelii beauty.
In a couple hrs, he went from swimming around looking fine and eating normal, to sitting under wood with some fins darkening like he was already shutting down. breathing was kinda labored. I roused him from there using water flow. he could swim well but then would settle down & tilt slightly to one side against wood for props. at first I suspected a piece of krill stuck in throat after stealing from the BGK (he always did that). but I never saw any.
It was sad, "Missus Bubba" and the male severum both kept going over to him when he would tilt & show weakness, nudging him gently with their noses, and get him moving better. the male severum kept chasing nippy young geos away from Bubba (they started going at his tail), then returned to his side & nudged him.
I put him in a roomy netted box at surface, down stream from agitated water, hoping it was a passing crisis. I even held him so water flowed in his gills part of the time. Well it wasn't passing so he just lasted a bit longer in there.
I've never had one die fast and NO sign of why. I was here all day/night with everything normal. Nary a sign of impending doom.
When I removed him, Mrs Bubba took off swimming real fast looking around the tank, like "What the...???!"
:-/ they always swam as a twosome.
If anyone knows of bigger than the 'usual 4-sale size' male heckelii I could buy, plz PM me.
He's already missed, and that tank just isn't the same.
He used to stick his head above water to take food from my fingers, and swim around brushing against my hand under water nibbling me.
Late last night, straight out of the blue, my male heckelii "Bubba" just started dying!
He was our favorite display & personality fish in the Geo tank. he was the Boss, but pure gentleman. Just had Class & so much character, plus he sparkled with all that heckelii beauty.
In a couple hrs, he went from swimming around looking fine and eating normal, to sitting under wood with some fins darkening like he was already shutting down. breathing was kinda labored. I roused him from there using water flow. he could swim well but then would settle down & tilt slightly to one side against wood for props. at first I suspected a piece of krill stuck in throat after stealing from the BGK (he always did that). but I never saw any.
It was sad, "Missus Bubba" and the male severum both kept going over to him when he would tilt & show weakness, nudging him gently with their noses, and get him moving better. the male severum kept chasing nippy young geos away from Bubba (they started going at his tail), then returned to his side & nudged him.
I put him in a roomy netted box at surface, down stream from agitated water, hoping it was a passing crisis. I even held him so water flowed in his gills part of the time. Well it wasn't passing so he just lasted a bit longer in there.
I've never had one die fast and NO sign of why. I was here all day/night with everything normal. Nary a sign of impending doom.
When I removed him, Mrs Bubba took off swimming real fast looking around the tank, like "What the...???!"
:-/ they always swam as a twosome.
If anyone knows of bigger than the 'usual 4-sale size' male heckelii I could buy, plz PM me.
He's already missed, and that tank just isn't the same.
He used to stick his head above water to take food from my fingers, and swim around brushing against my hand under water nibbling me.
