Another day, another bloodbath.

My neighbor's friends kid has a fish tank. When they went to the fish store (the kid's mom thought it was petco) she was told the fish would stay to the size of the tank. So, they got 4 JDs, a few Sevs and two of these guys.



I think it's a pike, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, all of this was in a 20g tank. Yes, a 20. They started out tiny, from what she had said, but then gotten big. The best I can gather from what I was told from the mother (they were beginners, but well meaning) was that it seems like two of the JDs went to pair off and started going after everything in the tank.

By the time I got the fish, or what was left, there were two survivors, one a smaller sev, that was smart and hid and that guy. He's in poor shape right now and just sitting on the bottom, but hopefully he'll pull through.

(edited for horrible typos. I really was tired. )

Thats is going to be one nice looking fish when it heals. Best of luck saint_felony!

It's a shame that people can't trust what the pet stores tell them about the pets they are going to buy.

Seems to me that most of the employees arent educated very well, and a lot of times show very little, if any interest at all in the pets that unfortunately depend on them. Im not try to make excuses for or defend the employees, but I suppose at a few bucks an hour there really isnt any motivation for them to do so. However, if you agree to take the job then you should except the responsibility. Just my 2 cents worth.

Thanks guys.

It really wasn't supposed to be a rant on fish stores I was just tired, and think it came out more like that than I intended, I am still trying to properly id this guy though.

He's in rough shape. He is a pike cichlid, from the faintly visible markings down the side and the large spot behind the operculum I'd guess a species from the C. saxatilis group. Too dark now to confirm an ID, though, if he makes it and colors back up let me know.

How big is he? Good luck, Saint.

WYite

He's about 6 inches maybe a bit bigger. His tail and anal fins have been totally destroyed so he may have been closer to 8 when he was all in one piece.

He's stressed for sure but has been moving around some at least, and not just sitting in one place, though he seems to be a fan of the chunk of pvc pipe that was in the tank.

Here's hoping he heals up some, some of the pictures of C. saxatilis are really pretty.

Good rescue and just in time...hope your friends are more educated now...to bad for the fish, I hope they heal up!

Wow from the looks of it the pike may be a venezulan or a bellycrawler. Just keep his water as clean as possilbe, turn the temp up and add kosher salt. Good luck with healing these guys!

Saint. Keep us up dated!

Today is looking better. He's not nearly as black as he was yesterday and is actually moving around, like attempting to swim moving around.

I haven't seen him eat yet, but I'm sure he will in the next day or two. Worse comes to worse, I'll get him some worms. No SA Chichlid I've seen yet has been able to resist the lure of the wiggly worms. He's big enough he could more than likely do an earthworm even.

I need to get some pictures of his back fins just to see how bad it is, for when he heals up.

I'm not making this any easier am I?

Came down to do a 50% water change and found out the heater in his tank died.

Water temp was 66 degrees. Stupid heater. He's still seeming okay, but is starting to get cloudy eye. I'm currently keeping an eye on it, but I have some formalin and Machalite Green on the ready just in case. In his shape, I wonder if copper salts would be a better first round? I thought I had read somewhere they were "safer" for delicate fish.

Boy that's a tough one. Is he showin' any fungus yet and does he have any signs of parasites on him? If he's showin' no signs of fungal infection or parasites, I'd say hit the tank with methylene blue as a preventative and watch for further symptoms, but the cloudy eye bugs me. I've never read anywhere that copper salts are easier on delicate fish, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. I do know over-dosing can cause chemical burns. Both solutions are rough. Personally, think I'd go with a light dosage of the formalin/malachite green. I'm assumin' the tank temp is back up, I think I might put it up to 82 or so as well. Get him eatin' but ya already know that.

Do ya usually use methylene blue when ya rescue fish? I've always found it helps keepin' things from gettin' started, but I've never had good luck with it as a cure.

WYite

That cloudy eye bugs me too. It's not parasites, but may possibly be something protozoan. It looks close but not exactly to that cloudy eye that goldies in crap conditions get only it extends past the eye. So far it's only on the left side as well, which is another reason I'm leaning towards that. Maybe also be a bacterial outbreak due to the temp drop.

The temp is almost back up. I've got to swap heaters again. I had a 50w free, but it's just not cutting it for this tank. It's been stuck at 79 for the last hour or so. I need to find somewhere to get cheap heaters too, I never seem to have enough of them around.

I prefer a Melafix/Pimafix combo over the blue. I've had just as good luck with that and none of the crazy staining.