Well weird little story from the fish room -- and I wouldn't be surprised if some didn't believe my conclusion, I hardly do myself. A bit of a read but you may know my style, love it or hate it lol.
Here are some relevant facts/points:
a) About 4 1/2 months ago my BBXB developed a minor case of HLLE (Head and Lateral Line Erosion) -- a few small pin-hole sized pits on her head. Also her lateral line 'dots' became visibly larger. Not long after I noticed both her energy level and appetite were going down significantly. She was still eating, but was eating quite a bit less, became more picky, and wasn't showing any excitement or hitting the food hard like before. She became a very lackadaisical eater. Her stools were normal color and consistency but were shorter or more broken up than usual.
b) Then finally, about a week ago I was happy to notice that her appetite was getting better and better, as was her overall energy level.
c) 3 days ago after turning on her tank lights I was quite shocked to see this, a pronged air line guide with suction cup at the bottom of her tank.
The thing is, I took out the all suction cups that were in that tank (holding airlines and pump electric lines) a little over 4 months ago, when I installed a new larger pump and UV sterilizer in response to seeing the HLLE (I was planning to do this anyway, just hadn't got around to it).
But if that suction cup had been in the tank previously I for sure would have known it; I'm borderline crazy about tank cleanliness and order, all 3 of my bare bottoms tanks get cleaned with battery powered vacuum cleaners every single day. Also about 2 months ago I put adhesive padding on all the edges of her tank's glass bracing that goes around the entirety of the top. Before doing so I thoroughly wiped down both atop and underneath the bracing. If there was any left over suction cups I would have surely seen it then (as they were all previously connected to the underside of the glass bracing).
If the suction cup was in the tank all this time (which is virtually impossible, there's no place for it to hide), it would have had bio-film or algae on it, but it came out of the water as shown in the photo; I dried it off a bit but didn't wipe it down or clean it. Also there are some small bite marks on the back portion of the prongs. I checked some other same suction cups I have laying around, none have any such marks, they're all quite smooth.
And the real teller -- later that night during feeding time both her appetite and energy level were noticeably better! I was quite surprised when she even started doing the hungry food dance with spread wings before and during feeding, which she hadn't done in months.
I waited 3 days to make this post to see if this continued and I'm very happy that it has, definitely a big difference compared to last 4 months. The HLLE is still there, but it's expected that would take more time to get back to normal as I hope it does but at this point not sure, there could still be other factors related to that particular symptom, only more time will tell.
But in conclusion I really can come up with no plausible explanation other than that the suction cup had been in my Blue Base's belly for over 4 months...As to how it came out I'm assuming she finally regurgitated it, no way that prong is going out her fanny lol.
I admit that I personally find it quite hard to believe she could survive that long with such a thing inside her, and without it getting caught somewhere and damaging some organs, very likely leading to death.
All I do know for sure is that there were no suction cups in that tank for over 4 months, then I found one on the bottom 3 days ago, and now my fish is suddenly back to nearly normal energy and appetite levels. For sure fish are tougher than we often think, but I'm thinking this could have turned out much differently.
Any thoughts or even doubts are welcome
.
Here are some relevant facts/points:
a) About 4 1/2 months ago my BBXB developed a minor case of HLLE (Head and Lateral Line Erosion) -- a few small pin-hole sized pits on her head. Also her lateral line 'dots' became visibly larger. Not long after I noticed both her energy level and appetite were going down significantly. She was still eating, but was eating quite a bit less, became more picky, and wasn't showing any excitement or hitting the food hard like before. She became a very lackadaisical eater. Her stools were normal color and consistency but were shorter or more broken up than usual.
b) Then finally, about a week ago I was happy to notice that her appetite was getting better and better, as was her overall energy level.
c) 3 days ago after turning on her tank lights I was quite shocked to see this, a pronged air line guide with suction cup at the bottom of her tank.
The thing is, I took out the all suction cups that were in that tank (holding airlines and pump electric lines) a little over 4 months ago, when I installed a new larger pump and UV sterilizer in response to seeing the HLLE (I was planning to do this anyway, just hadn't got around to it).
But if that suction cup had been in the tank previously I for sure would have known it; I'm borderline crazy about tank cleanliness and order, all 3 of my bare bottoms tanks get cleaned with battery powered vacuum cleaners every single day. Also about 2 months ago I put adhesive padding on all the edges of her tank's glass bracing that goes around the entirety of the top. Before doing so I thoroughly wiped down both atop and underneath the bracing. If there was any left over suction cups I would have surely seen it then (as they were all previously connected to the underside of the glass bracing).
If the suction cup was in the tank all this time (which is virtually impossible, there's no place for it to hide), it would have had bio-film or algae on it, but it came out of the water as shown in the photo; I dried it off a bit but didn't wipe it down or clean it. Also there are some small bite marks on the back portion of the prongs. I checked some other same suction cups I have laying around, none have any such marks, they're all quite smooth.
And the real teller -- later that night during feeding time both her appetite and energy level were noticeably better! I was quite surprised when she even started doing the hungry food dance with spread wings before and during feeding, which she hadn't done in months.
I waited 3 days to make this post to see if this continued and I'm very happy that it has, definitely a big difference compared to last 4 months. The HLLE is still there, but it's expected that would take more time to get back to normal as I hope it does but at this point not sure, there could still be other factors related to that particular symptom, only more time will tell.
But in conclusion I really can come up with no plausible explanation other than that the suction cup had been in my Blue Base's belly for over 4 months...As to how it came out I'm assuming she finally regurgitated it, no way that prong is going out her fanny lol.
I admit that I personally find it quite hard to believe she could survive that long with such a thing inside her, and without it getting caught somewhere and damaging some organs, very likely leading to death.
All I do know for sure is that there were no suction cups in that tank for over 4 months, then I found one on the bottom 3 days ago, and now my fish is suddenly back to nearly normal energy and appetite levels. For sure fish are tougher than we often think, but I'm thinking this could have turned out much differently.
Any thoughts or even doubts are welcome
.
