Phil B.

Thanks for the support everyone. It really means a lot. I think I'm going to do some minor decorating in the tank. Removing one piece of driftwood, along with a plant that's been declining all year. As for fish,I may look into getting another redcap sometime down the road from an online breeder/seller rather than a mass produced store fish. But for now I'm just going to concentrate on keeping Pudge healthy and happy, and raise Rabbit into a nice big piggy

And its done, and he's buried in the back yard. Rest easy friend.

Thanks everyone. As I type this, I'm waiting for the first dose of clove oil to take effect.

Also a second video by someone named Porkaloo.

Right now I'm watching Solid Golds video on the subject. I guess it's time to do this...

I guess its time to say goodbye to my boy Spot. As many of you may know,he's been suffered from swim bladder damage back in June, and has been head standing ever since, yet still managing to move around the tank and eat. Sadly, over the past week his condition has deterioriated. He's begun pineconing, and either lying on his side, or upside-down on the bottom, to the point where he can't even feed himself any more. Worse, I think little rabbit has been picking on him. I have a bottle of clove oil, whats missing is finding the courage to do what needs to be done.

Aww thank you. Glass needs a good cleaning though.

Yep, that's him. He used to be the same color as Rabbit.

Time for an update on my crew. Rabbit has settled into his new home quite well. He's active, his colors have darkened, and it looks like he's showing the first signs of a wen. He's still a baby, but he's filling out and developing that fat little Oranda body Pudge is so big now, and practically glows under the led lights. Unfortunately the bad boy scraped off some scales the other day. Probable in pursuit of a what looked like a scrap of food in an inaccessible location. Spot is still going strong despite his disability. He spends most of his time with his face in the sand due to his damaged swim bladder. But, he gets around the tank, and I'm very careful to put food under his nose at feeding time. https://goo.gl/photos/x7mbsEWt4wD8wdMFA

Well, six weeks after bringing him home, little Rabbit went into the tank with the big boys last night. Here he is a few minutes after his arrival. Hopefully he'll develop colors as he gets bigger. And maybe even grow a wen. https://goo.gl/photos/fVnf4NiM9NmUn2KW6

https://www.facebook.com/phil.bolton.79/videos/798340923639766/ If you happen to be on Facebook.

I suspect the new kid is going to grow up to be a brat. I just fed you you silly beast! https://goo.gl/photos/Nnw5eAYVi5WTpkjJ7

Thanks guys. He's gotten over his fear of me. But now I've got to train him not to eat from the surface. He snaps up the pellets as soon as they touch the water. :/ But at least he recognized Repashy as food now.

I'll give him plenty of protein and hope for the best. Heck I'd be thrilled if he'd just stay that color. After a couple of days he seems to have settled down, and learned the "Feed me!" dance. So would this be a good time to give him a Prazi treatment? Oh, any name suggestions?

Despite my better judgement, I went ahead and picked up a new fish at PetCo. Thankfully this little bronze oranda with just a hint of a wen caught my eye, so I decided to bring this little 2.5 inch baby home. He's settled to Spots former tub quite nicely for his quarantine. Don't have a name for him yet though. Pardon the cloudiness. I shot it through the side of a transluscent tub.

Spot seems to have settled back into his old tank pretty well, despite his constant head down attitude. I've added a baffle to my largest filter to cut down on the current. I just have to be careful that he gets his share of the food. So I guess its something of a happy ending.

He seems to be fine, bobbing along the bottom. I'm actually grateful he has such a big wen, as it serves as a bumber when he runs into things. The only problem was a bit of bullying and hed bumping from Pudge. I suspect he saw Spots head down position and thought he'd found something tasty to eat. He's still having trouble steering, so I have to be very careful to make sure he gets his share of food.

You know watching him, and the fact that he was bottom sitting rather than bobbing on the surface, I decided what the heck, and just put him back in the main tank. Despite the fact that he's still floating vertically, he seems to be handling it well.

He seemed a little upset at first, but he's taking it in stride now. It's a little sad though watching him and Pudge looking at each other through the mesh. I'm contemplating buying some more of that plastic mesh and zip ties and building a larger enclosure so he could stay in the tank permanently. That would free up the tub to use for quarantine.

I'm going to be away from home for four days this weekend, and rather than risk an ammonia or nitrite spike, I've built a small enclosure for Spot out of a pair of net breeders inside the main tank. Despite a few barrel rolls and brief instability he seems to have settled in and is eating normally. Strange thing though. I notice that when the lights are out, and I assume he's sleeping, he settles onto the bottom of the enclosure in a normal, horizontal position.

Poor guy. It's been a couple of months since his swim bladder gave out due to what we're assuming was an infection and had to be placed in a shallow tub. But he's still a trooper. Hanging in there, and loving his Repashy. This week I decided to increase the depth of his water. While it does mean he's spending more time vertical than I like, it's helped a bit with water quality, he can keep his chin off the bottom more easily, and the red irritation from where his back poked out of the water has faded. So no more daily Vaseline rubs. https://goo.gl/photos/ZAQ498bSkzYUDJUM7 The battery died mid-filming here. https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipPPHVCY4dK506nGFSW9jcbb0lw8-Z6f1XUFVRJc

Despite the scare he does seem to be hanging on. I guess lying on his side is his way of resting. Experimenting with giving him an extra two inches of water so that he can float without his poor face pressing against the sand. My main concern right now is that I'll be away from home for a few days in about two weeks. All I can think to do is to buy a couple of those net breeder boxes, try and splice them together, and put him in the main tank.

He's back to eating and swimming (relatively) normal today.

Poor Spot has started floating on his side. I've done water changes and while ammonia is a little high, Nitrite and Nitrate test normal. I've added saly and a bit more Prime, but really don't know what else to do. Oh wait, falsa alarm. Now he's back at the front of the tub swimming normally, and staring at me for food.

And, done.