He ate!
I finally tried gut-loaded ghost shrimp, and I'm kicking myself for not trying this sooner.
I saw him creeping towards a ghost shrimp but failing to get at it (it saw him and shot away), so I just added all the other shrimp, which brought the total up to 12. Yes, I know you don't want to crowd a stressed fish with too many feeders, but there's plenty of space and the ghosts are mostly either hiding in crannies or sitting very still and trying to not be seen.
So far, I've seen him eat two. I don't know if he's eaten more or not, I left him alone for a couple of minutes while I went to tell my mom that he was eating. He's definitely not hungry right now (one just bounced off his face and he ignored it), but he's showing a bit more energy. And, the second he realized that there were ghost shrimp scooting around, his fins shot out like at mealtime and he immediately focused on them. He just spent a minute trying to do what he usually does on a full stomach, which is hide under his cave, then eventually gave up when he realized that he couldn't get in there with the net in the way. He's now wandering around very closely inspecting the net- apparently he's curious and wants to find out where he is.
So, my new (and much more positive questions):
Is it OK for him to just have ghost shrimp constantly available until he stops looking like he's about to die of starvation? He's always stopped eating when his stomach is full, so he's not about to bust his gut open on food, but is it bad for him to be constantly eating?
How big a container do I need to store live ghosts, say 50ish at a time?
What should I gutload the ghosts with? I have two kinds of prepared food, mysis shrimp, frozen silversides, Cyclop-Eeze, and table shrimp on hand. I'm guessing Cyclop-Eeze and mysis?
Assuming they're gutloaded with good food, are ghost shrimp a good staple for now? I'll offer frozen now and then, but I am absolutely not going to try to wean him onto frozen until he's in better shape.
For the record, I use clove oil for fish that aren't going to make it. I've used it a few times on badly injured or extremely sick fish. I've also cut the head off a green sunfish with a pair of dissection scissors (someone ripped a hook out of its stomach, it was upside down and I could smell fish guts, I figured that was a lot more merciful), but I don't think I could do that with a fish that had been mine as opposed to just being a fish fresh out of the river.
I would have put him down already, but he kept trying to act normal and he didn't seem to be suffering. He still watches things and tries to be a fish, he just doesn't have the energy. I think the lethargy has been due to the fact that he's not eating, especially since he's already just a bit more energetic.
If his other symptoms don't improve as he fattens up, I'll treat with Metro, but IME sunfish tend to be sensitive to medication and I'd prefer to avoid that if at all possible. Things are no longer as dire, so I think I have some time to wait and see how he does.
I finally tried gut-loaded ghost shrimp, and I'm kicking myself for not trying this sooner.
I saw him creeping towards a ghost shrimp but failing to get at it (it saw him and shot away), so I just added all the other shrimp, which brought the total up to 12. Yes, I know you don't want to crowd a stressed fish with too many feeders, but there's plenty of space and the ghosts are mostly either hiding in crannies or sitting very still and trying to not be seen.
So far, I've seen him eat two. I don't know if he's eaten more or not, I left him alone for a couple of minutes while I went to tell my mom that he was eating. He's definitely not hungry right now (one just bounced off his face and he ignored it), but he's showing a bit more energy. And, the second he realized that there were ghost shrimp scooting around, his fins shot out like at mealtime and he immediately focused on them. He just spent a minute trying to do what he usually does on a full stomach, which is hide under his cave, then eventually gave up when he realized that he couldn't get in there with the net in the way. He's now wandering around very closely inspecting the net- apparently he's curious and wants to find out where he is.
So, my new (and much more positive questions):
Is it OK for him to just have ghost shrimp constantly available until he stops looking like he's about to die of starvation? He's always stopped eating when his stomach is full, so he's not about to bust his gut open on food, but is it bad for him to be constantly eating?
How big a container do I need to store live ghosts, say 50ish at a time?
What should I gutload the ghosts with? I have two kinds of prepared food, mysis shrimp, frozen silversides, Cyclop-Eeze, and table shrimp on hand. I'm guessing Cyclop-Eeze and mysis?
Assuming they're gutloaded with good food, are ghost shrimp a good staple for now? I'll offer frozen now and then, but I am absolutely not going to try to wean him onto frozen until he's in better shape.
For the record, I use clove oil for fish that aren't going to make it. I've used it a few times on badly injured or extremely sick fish. I've also cut the head off a green sunfish with a pair of dissection scissors (someone ripped a hook out of its stomach, it was upside down and I could smell fish guts, I figured that was a lot more merciful), but I don't think I could do that with a fish that had been mine as opposed to just being a fish fresh out of the river.
I would have put him down already, but he kept trying to act normal and he didn't seem to be suffering. He still watches things and tries to be a fish, he just doesn't have the energy. I think the lethargy has been due to the fact that he's not eating, especially since he's already just a bit more energetic.
If his other symptoms don't improve as he fattens up, I'll treat with Metro, but IME sunfish tend to be sensitive to medication and I'd prefer to avoid that if at all possible. Things are no longer as dire, so I think I have some time to wait and see how he does.
