jump right in...

...a little help for my friend.

view big to see my helping hand.

 

mr black has been quite ill. he developed dropsy, which is bloating.

for days he floated upside down and and ate what he could from the top when I sprinkled in the fish food.

I went to the pet/fish store, and the clerk said he couldn't be treated.

 

but...he's been such a good fish, so I decided I had to try.

I moved him to a different container thinking that his tummy was going to blown up at any time.

I cleaned out his bowl and used scalding hot water on it.

I removed the plants.

I added fresh bottled water and epson salts as suggested online.

I made sure the bubbler was on all the time and I aimed my reading light at the tank to keep him warmer.

I went back to the pet/fish store and spoke with the owner and we looked at natural anti-bacterials [tea tree oil] and dosed him with that. [the bottle of herbal remedy was expensive so the owner sold it to me at cost. I hadn't even asked.]

she suggested giving him a couple of ground up peas so leon dug some of ours from the freezer. mr black couldn't get the pea pieces because they sank to the bottom, and he was still floating upside down at the top and couldn't get down.

I told him what a good fish he was and prayed to the fish gods.

 

in two days he was starting to right himself and he was trying to eat from the bottom, trying for the peas.

 

today, day 5, he's still a little bloated but swimming around, up and down, right side up.

 

I hope the fish gods keep listening.

mr black is a good little goldfish.

 

Done