*Edit note here* I originally called this topic "Clooney is Buried" as I thought it would be funny to get the guys going. You can see from the pics below just how he had buried himself in the gravel and nothing sinister was going on. However as you read on you will see that his attempts to burrow into the gravel may well have been a pre-cursors to something fundamentally wrong. Please read on and you will see what I mean:
Don't panic all is well!!! Just thought I'd get you going
I got in from work yesterday and got a bit of a fright as the big fella didn't look so big. He looked as if he has been run over and was all flat and squashed looking facing the back of the tank. He didn't move and looked pretty lifeless and I must confess I thought the worst. Thankfully he was still breathing but refused to move and for reasons only he knows he had tried to bury himself in the gravel. Looks pretty odd and I have never seen him do this before though I have often seen big indents in the substrate in the morning. He didn't seem interested in food last night and left the cockle well alone so I think I am gonna have to keep an eye on him. He is swimming about now though so maybe he was meditating or something
from these jovial beginnings things them went incredibly sour:
Back on topic guys I am expecting the worst today . This morning I went in the lounge and saw a very pale, nearly white Clooney laying at the side of the tank with his head pointing upwards and his tail wedged in the corner. His weight was being supported by the plants and he was struggling to breathe. If you think of ET when he's dying you'll have a pretty good idea of what I mean. So at 530am I was running between the tank and the kitchen to perform a water change of 20% before I had to leave for work
With a heavy heart I rode my bike off to work after increasing the aeration in the tank to try and get more oxygen in there in the vain hope that it will help him to breathe. As I rode on with the Grey oppressive sky overhead I hoped that seeing a funeral home ambulance taking its latest occupant was not an omen. As I watched them load the soul-less form into the back I ran over a snail. The crushing sound served only to crush my hope as death seemed to be all around me. I'm sitting at work feeling very glum indeed and wishing that I could be there for him but realizing that there would be very little I could do to help him. It sounds silly I know but I don't want him to be alone if he is gonna die, or does that make me sound crazy. Maybe I could hold his little fin and tell him everything will be OK.
I think I have worked out what the cause is though. I point the finger of blame at the bag of frozen cockles, I'm certain that at some point they have been defrosted and then re-frozen. Most of the cockles at the bottom of the bag are open slightly with fishy smelling ice all over them, I think the fluid had left them when they defrosted and then refroze over the manky off smelling cockles. I noticed that Kala had fed him cockles last night and now I feel guilty for not throwing them away earlier. Its seems like he may perish because of my negligence and food poisoning. I wish I could do something!!!!. I threw the cockles out with hope that removing them will remove any evil energies that could only serve to harm my boy
So all please think of me this afternoon as I get home from work expecting to find the worst thing imaginable for me right now and then having to dispose of his body somehow. I cannot give him the burial he deserves as our garden has no grassed areas so I may have to contact the vets
Of course I am hoping that he will pull through but if you saw what I saw this morning you would understand. I should be getting home at 2pm so if you have a few spare mins please say a prayer for Clooney
This is what he looked like when I got home that day and over the following days his normal colours began to return
all is OK now guys but if you could give your professionally opinions on the cause I would appreciate it. The conclusion I arrived at was food poisoning as all water parameters were spot on throughout the whole ordeal.
The whole topic in its entirity including repsonses from London aquarium and Peter Burgiss of PFK can all be found on my other forum if you look for the topic My Mbu was poorly
