Posted by Schmev on March 05, 2003 at 23:52:47:
In Reply to: rescued dojo (weather)loach - now what? posted by xkarenx on March 05, 2003 at 08:26:09:
:My husband does house clearances as part of his job. He recently
:went into a house that had been unoccupied for over a year. In
:it was a 24"x12"x12" tank with a couple of inches of mud in the
:bottom. On closer inspection he noticed something moving in the
:bottom. It was (we have since found out) a weather loach. Anyway,
:he brought it home and we have cleaned up the tank (it was FILTHY)
:and you could see lines up the side where the water had evaporated.
:We added water over a period days, have cleared out as much
:mud as possible and added a filter.It is a miracle he survived.
:It is now 2 weeks on. The poor little thing is still alive, but is
:well and we desperately need advice - neither of us have any experience
:in fish keeping.He seems active enough, but cannot lie flat on the
:bottom as we think he's supposed to (his back end floats up like
:he's doing a headstand). I'm sure it is a result of
:the awful conditions that he has been in for so long, but we're
:not sure what to do for him. I would hate to think we'd saved him just
:to prolong his suffering. I've read as much as poss about water
:conditions and done the tests (seems within normal parameters now)
:but any advice would be gratefully received. Sorry to ramble.
Wow!! A truly amazing survival miracle, indeed! How in the world did it survive a year without food or water changes in such a relatively small tank?!
Well, I have two of those guys myself, and they seem to enjoys Wardley shrimp pellets, and sometimes Hikari wafers. When mine are laying still, they're pretty much level, I've never seen them doing headstands. Also, mine burrow in the substrate often (I used the smallest I could find without getting sand). But definitely acclimate him to a clean water system. He'll appreciate some hiding spots as well.
Talk to a good fish store, definitely. My pair of loaches are thriving and I care for them as stated above.
