Miracle story

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ultimatejay

Piranha
MFK Member
Feb 19, 2006
2,208
65
81
USA
So I bought a small B. caprapetum from Wes about 2/3 months ago and everything was going good. One day I walked by and he was laying on his side barely breathing! I put him in my 20 gallon hospital tank and he started to spin and twirl and loop around the tank. I knew he was a goner but I left him in there. The next morning he was still breathing but still lying on his side and every once in awhile would dart and swim erratically. I contemplated putting him down but couldn't. So every morning for the last 3 weeks I have been crushing massivore pellets and mix with a little water and use a syringe and force feed the fish. It would sink back to the bottom and still would not swim very much at all. Well about a week ago it started to right itself but would still dart around erratically bumping into everything. I continued force feeding and I noticed he was getting better everyday. Well yesterday and today he ate a piece of shrimp on his own and is swimming about 90% normal now! His nose is still beat up a little from driving by Braille but is getting better. I THINK HE'S GOING TO MAKE IT! My wife doesn't believe it and I don't either. I have raised fish for over 25 years and never seen this kind of recovery. I wish I had taken before pictures but never did because I thought it would die. Here is a picture of him today. So moral of the story is never give up!
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Interesting read. And I thought one cannot easily force-feed a fish... Nice info. Do you press the syringe against the throat or go deeper? I mean you'd have to get the food in his stomach and the throat is closed. How do you overcome that?

Were there any meds in the hospital tank water or just nice clean water?
 
Have you happened to notice if the end of the airline scratched his throat as you forced it through? I mean it is a blunt object and you could not really lubricate it and the throat is closed by tight muscles around it. It's a gross comparison, but it reminds me of an anema situation, many similarities but if one doesn't lubricate the end, it's a tough going.
 
Oy, really sorry to hear that. That's what you get for nursing him back healthy enough to jump, lol.
 
wow and your an awesome catfish parent jay
 
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