rossco Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 WARNING - this sharing is not for the faint hearted and is not intended to raise a moral debate on euthanasia! A couple of weeks ago we bought a yellow tailed blue tang. Because we are newbies and only have the one tank, into it he went. After about a week he started to develop spots on him – most noticeable late in the day and almost gone by the next morning. Hmmm...that is why they are called ich magnets. The optimists in us thought the cleaner shrimps that we bought as the same time as him may be cleaning them off (even though we hadn’t spied the shrimps since their third day in the tank). Pondered good and hard on our options… On Wednesday I went to bed as normal. Thursday morning I wake up (7 am) to find a fish net on the chair in front of the fish tank with our blue tang in it. My dearest tells me she got up at 4 am to let the cat out, checks the tank with torch to see if she can spy the shrimps and sees blue tang on bottom of tank covered in spots and looking very dead. She fishes the tang out so I don’t get such a nasty surprise later in the morning. I tried to be philosophical about it (I don’t like losing fish) so got some frozen fish food out to feed his mates that were left. I happen to put the ‘dead’ tang on one of the frozen food packs and see its tail move. “Interesting its nerves are still going†I thought. Put it in a cup of tank water to see what else it would do. After a minute or two its gills started to flap. Bloody hell – its alive! :roll: I shouted it a big bowl of warm tank water as a reward for his efforts to live and thought if he could make the effort so could I. When it started to flap I thought I might as well try to deal with the white spot and shouted him some formalin solution – that really woke him up! Much a flurry later he was sitting in a bucket of tank water with his own airstone and heater. 36 hours later he is in a newly set up spare tank, and acting almost normal. He even ate some flake and he hasn’t got any spots! The beloved one this afternoon shares that he even endured a bit more trauma. She got up before me that morning and happened to sit on the net (with him still in it) when she looked at the tank to see if everybody else was alright – “It was only for a second†If he lives it will be a miracle. But even so, his name is already “JC†after a biblical character that also came back from the dead. Nature continues to astound me…how can anything so seemingly delicate be so tough? I’m still trying to work out how to keep you know who away from the tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 You must be joking you mean it survived 3 hours out of water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 how is JC an abbreviation for Lazarus??? thats quite an incredible story. Hopefully it pulls through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Awesome!! they are tougher than you think!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Sorry, as it is to say it, it is NO joke! And yes, the tang was sitting out of water for 3+ hours, in a net, on the chair. My rudimentary science knowledge suggests to me that there was enough water/moisture held in the net and wrapped around him to provide enough moisture for his gills to still work. Not recommended for people to try at home though. Our boys say that it was being sat on that provided a very crude form of heart massage (not quite their words though) Bluetang still 'kicking' this morning and hiding under the rocks in the emergency tank. Just to really make my weekend I was staring at tank last night after writing the post and a shrimp poked his heads out for a few seconds. We haven't seen one for two weeks! The downs and ups of having a reef tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Feed him garlic juice with his food ( every feeding time ) Use fresh Garlic clove ( mix with his food eg mysis shrimp ) it a miracle ( he can only get better now ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Feed him garlic juice with his food ( every feeding time ) Use fresh Garlic clove ( mix with his food eg mysis shrimp ) The magic properties of garlic re-surface. I'd reccomend holding a white rabbits foot in front of the tank at feeding time and chanting 'be well, be well' for 3 mintues. Less than 3 minutes will be ineffective, over 3 minutes and your efforts will be wasted, unless you add a 2nd rabbits foot, in which case you can chant for 6 mintues if extra potency is required. Both methods are proven to be as effective as each other. Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregb Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 It probably has an allian living inside of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 allian????????????????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted November 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 Yup, doin the garlic thing. If nothing else it reduces the likelihood of vampires flying into the aquarium! Some things in life help even if its only the power of positive thinking and alleviates one's stress by at least doing something! Lucky we live in the country - I'm off rabbit hunting to decrease the rabbits luck and increase mine. Ain't that the fun of having a SW aquarium - trying a whole lotta stuff - some of which works and some of which could end up as the cats new garlic flavoured catfood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 Is it true that fish are more attracted to food that has been soaked in garlic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 Don't know about increasing their appetite but it certainly doesn't put them off it! Do you know how little juice there is in a clove of garlic? Try squeezing some on to a small piece of fish food! Update: The shrimps have reappeared after being AWOL for two weeks. Musta been changing their coats. JC (tang) still ticking over well. Wifey hasn't sat on any fish lately... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted November 8, 2005 Report Share Posted November 8, 2005 yes, only a little juice per clove . still reckon it work's ( my regal tang had ich and it got better ) it come and goes ( twice so far ) maybe I'll get a rabbit foot as well . ps . all my fish eat the mysis shrimp soaked in garlic juice ( in fact they love it ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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