Apparently I was a little over excited posting the last blog...
When I came home from work last night, Snacks had kicked the bucket. And because we've been medicating the tank, I couldn't even put his tiny carcass outside for Our Friend* to eat.
:(
He died identically to the previous little fish (again, both purchased from Meijer three-ish weeks ago), so clearly he and Tea Time were ill/diseased/distressed.
And then there was one.
Now I'm even more worried about my darling Lunch....
If I have to take some Xanax because I totally freak out about a goldfish, somebody's going to be in trouble (and I'm not just referring to myself and my mental health).
Cheers,
Red
*Jesse's girlfirend, the grey neighbor cat
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Fish Story Turns ICKy
Last week, I figured out what was wrong with my little fishies. It turns out that the tiny new fish (who is sadly now deceased) brought something into the tank. Something other than super adorableness.
The something that the new fish brought into the tank is a parasite.
The parasite is called "Ichthyophthirius multifiliis" and at one point in its life cycle attaches itself to the fish's skin. The fish's body then produces a cyst around the offending parasite which is what you eventually notice. The parasites multiply and if left untreated, will end up building up on the fish, stressing it out and possibly destroying it's gills. This eventually will cause death.
Outbreaks of this parasite are common and are, thankfully for Lunch, treatable if caught early enough. The problem though, is the fact that the parasite goes through three life cycle stages and is apparently only vulnerable during one of them. The other thing I found out is that the three stage life cycle can last anywhere from under a week to upwards of 6 weeks depending on the water temperature.
So what does that mean for us?
Well, first I had to agonize about it.
Then I had to agonize some more because there are no pet stores near where we live and the closest Walmart is over a half hour away.
The next day, AV and I went to both grocery stores in town AND K-Mart. They only carry, like, one type of fish food. And nothing else.
Two days after I figured out what was happening to my poor baby fishy (and the new little one I guess... I think actually he might have been immune or something, I never saw any spots on him) I was FINALLY able to get some medication.
We've been dosing for five days so far, and Lunch is looking MUCH better!! The day I started dosing, both fish were very active again, swimming around the tank and not hiding in the corners. I took that as a positive sign that the parasites were entering their second life cycle stage where they are vulnerable to medication.
The other day Lunch's dorsal fin was erect again! He usually has what I like to call an "uppy top fin" but since he got sick he kept his dorsal fin folded down. I take that to mean he's feeling better!
The little fish (Snacks) didn't really seem to be affected by the ick nearly as much as Lunch, which I thought was weird. Until AV and I went to Meijer this weekend when we were looking for ick medication.
I was looking at the goldfish at Meijer. I was thinking about maybe getting a replacement for Tea Time (the little one that didn't make it). Well, I was done with that thought process after I looked at the tank Tea Time came from . Each and every fish in that tank was afflicted with the ick parasite. When I told the guy working in the pet area, he told me that the week before SIX of the fish tanks were quarantined and treated for ick. Thanks for selling me a sick fish, Meijer.
The next day I called Meijer since the "fish girl" wasn't there when we were and the guy I talked to said he couldn't do anything about the sick fish. When I tried to tell her that one of the fish tanks still had ick, she told me that "no, I checked this morning", and "okay, well, they're not sick".
Cool story, bro, but you're going to need to check again, because you're selling sick fish. No big thing, apparently.
So, no more fish from Meijer.
BUT. Lunch is feeling better! YAYY!!
It's really kind of embarrassing how much anxiety this has been giving me. Especially after learning that goldfish actually have an average lifespan of ten years. So we still have at least eight years left!!
This has been a whole hell of a lot of work, stress, and anxiety over a G-dammed goldfish.
I can fully say though, that when I die, NOBODY can claim that I ever killed a fish.
Cheers,
Red
The something that the new fish brought into the tank is a parasite.
The parasite is called "Ichthyophthirius multifiliis" and at one point in its life cycle attaches itself to the fish's skin. The fish's body then produces a cyst around the offending parasite which is what you eventually notice. The parasites multiply and if left untreated, will end up building up on the fish, stressing it out and possibly destroying it's gills. This eventually will cause death.
Ick attached to a goldfish
Outbreaks of this parasite are common and are, thankfully for Lunch, treatable if caught early enough. The problem though, is the fact that the parasite goes through three life cycle stages and is apparently only vulnerable during one of them. The other thing I found out is that the three stage life cycle can last anywhere from under a week to upwards of 6 weeks depending on the water temperature.
So what does that mean for us?
Well, first I had to agonize about it.
Then I had to agonize some more because there are no pet stores near where we live and the closest Walmart is over a half hour away.
The next day, AV and I went to both grocery stores in town AND K-Mart. They only carry, like, one type of fish food. And nothing else.
Two days after I figured out what was happening to my poor baby fishy (and the new little one I guess... I think actually he might have been immune or something, I never saw any spots on him) I was FINALLY able to get some medication.
We've been dosing for five days so far, and Lunch is looking MUCH better!! The day I started dosing, both fish were very active again, swimming around the tank and not hiding in the corners. I took that as a positive sign that the parasites were entering their second life cycle stage where they are vulnerable to medication.
The other day Lunch's dorsal fin was erect again! He usually has what I like to call an "uppy top fin" but since he got sick he kept his dorsal fin folded down. I take that to mean he's feeling better!
The little fish (Snacks) didn't really seem to be affected by the ick nearly as much as Lunch, which I thought was weird. Until AV and I went to Meijer this weekend when we were looking for ick medication.
I was looking at the goldfish at Meijer. I was thinking about maybe getting a replacement for Tea Time (the little one that didn't make it). Well, I was done with that thought process after I looked at the tank Tea Time came from . Each and every fish in that tank was afflicted with the ick parasite. When I told the guy working in the pet area, he told me that the week before SIX of the fish tanks were quarantined and treated for ick. Thanks for selling me a sick fish, Meijer.
The next day I called Meijer since the "fish girl" wasn't there when we were and the guy I talked to said he couldn't do anything about the sick fish. When I tried to tell her that one of the fish tanks still had ick, she told me that "no, I checked this morning", and "okay, well, they're not sick".
Cool story, bro, but you're going to need to check again, because you're selling sick fish. No big thing, apparently.
So, no more fish from Meijer.
BUT. Lunch is feeling better! YAYY!!
It's really kind of embarrassing how much anxiety this has been giving me. Especially after learning that goldfish actually have an average lifespan of ten years. So we still have at least eight years left!!
This has been a whole hell of a lot of work, stress, and anxiety over a G-dammed goldfish.
I can fully say though, that when I die, NOBODY can claim that I ever killed a fish.
Cheers,
Red
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Fish Tale 2
Today is a sad day... Tea Time, one of my new little goldfish has gone to the ocean in the sky... I only had him for 10 days.
Ever since we got him into that little plastic bag at the store, he seemed to have some strange behaviors. His butt end seemed to be floating, tiping him upside down so he would float about with his tail in the air. When I looked this up on the internet, it said that it was a problem with his swim bladder. It said that this could be because of over feeding, so I made sure to feed them only tiny amounts at a time. The floating issue seemed to resolve itself and I put him and the other new goldfish into the big tank.
Both Tea Time and Snacks seemed to be doing really well in the big tank for the next couple of days, and Lunch was behaving normally. Everything was going well... Or so I thought.
Today I came home to have AV tell me that Tea Time was no longer. He was sunk at the bottom of the tank, not breating or moving.
To make matters worse, Lunch and Snacks have been behaving strangely since then. They've been lying on the bottom of the tank, only moving slightly and appearing to breathe very little. After I fed them, Snacks seemed to be doing a little better, nosing around in the gravel and swiming about, but Lunch is still very sedated... I'm not sure what that means but it's making me nervous.
I'm really hoping that I don't wake up tomorrow morning to an empty tank, but I don't know that there's anything I can do at this point. I thought that maybe the levels in the tank were off (pH, ammonia, nitrates ect) but I have no way to test it. AV and I went to KMart and the grocery store but they didn't have anything and the next closest store is over a half hour away.
So, if you would be so kind, throw out a little good wish for my poor fishies... I've become attached and I really really really don't want them to croak :(
All my love, fishies. Please don't make me pick your dead carcasses out of the tank tomorrow before work...
Cheers,
Red
Ever since we got him into that little plastic bag at the store, he seemed to have some strange behaviors. His butt end seemed to be floating, tiping him upside down so he would float about with his tail in the air. When I looked this up on the internet, it said that it was a problem with his swim bladder. It said that this could be because of over feeding, so I made sure to feed them only tiny amounts at a time. The floating issue seemed to resolve itself and I put him and the other new goldfish into the big tank.
Both Tea Time and Snacks seemed to be doing really well in the big tank for the next couple of days, and Lunch was behaving normally. Everything was going well... Or so I thought.
Today I came home to have AV tell me that Tea Time was no longer. He was sunk at the bottom of the tank, not breating or moving.
To make matters worse, Lunch and Snacks have been behaving strangely since then. They've been lying on the bottom of the tank, only moving slightly and appearing to breathe very little. After I fed them, Snacks seemed to be doing a little better, nosing around in the gravel and swiming about, but Lunch is still very sedated... I'm not sure what that means but it's making me nervous.
I'm really hoping that I don't wake up tomorrow morning to an empty tank, but I don't know that there's anything I can do at this point. I thought that maybe the levels in the tank were off (pH, ammonia, nitrates ect) but I have no way to test it. AV and I went to KMart and the grocery store but they didn't have anything and the next closest store is over a half hour away.
So, if you would be so kind, throw out a little good wish for my poor fishies... I've become attached and I really really really don't want them to croak :(
All my love, fishies. Please don't make me pick your dead carcasses out of the tank tomorrow before work...
Cheers,
Red
Monday, January 23, 2012
Trivial Pursuit Question 1
Question:
What 2008 Disney movie features the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato?
Answer:
Camp Rock
Red got it right....
What 2008 Disney movie features the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato?
Answer:
Camp Rock
Red got it right....
The Sad Little Torro
During the 2012 winter blizzard (4-6ins) here in Manistee I decided to give our snowblower a run for its money. Keep in mind Red found it for a grand total of 25 dollars so it didn't have to do much to earn it's keep.
It just wasn't starting so I stopped at AutoValue and picked up a spark plug and a few things and went to work. As I was draining the gas I discovered the gas shut off valve to be clogged and a cut in the fuel line. One more trip to AutoValue and I should be in business!
It just wasn't starting so I stopped at AutoValue and picked up a spark plug and a few things and went to work. As I was draining the gas I discovered the gas shut off valve to be clogged and a cut in the fuel line. One more trip to AutoValue and I should be in business!
 |
| Little Red Torro |
I ran the new line and hooked up the gas tank for a test fire. After the second pull I got it to sputter nicely but the third pull is what did it in. The fateful third pull was sadly the last pull. I heard a noise that sounded a lot like a nut spinning off and then the clank of metal on metal. I knew we had lost it, I tugged on the pull cord just slightly and it was completely locked up. I guess we will just have to wait for nicer weather to do the autopsy. I resurrected a 10 dollar riding lawn mower with a locked engine, so how hard could a 25 dollar snowblower be?
Dear Winter,
Please be kind and only snow two inches at a time.
Sincerely,
AV
Dear Winter,
Please be kind and only snow two inches at a time.
Sincerely,
AV
Saturday, January 21, 2012
A Fairly Long-Winded Fish Tale
After I graduated and was living at home, my buddies (Jess and Kelly) were getting weirdly obnoxious. They were about a year old at this point, so I figured they were going through some really annoying cat adolescence.
One day, I went to the pet store looking for some sort of cat entertainment device. I didn't know what kind of thing they might like, I already had a buttload of toys for them and since I'm not a fan of battery operated cat toys I was running out of options. Fairly arbitrarily I determined a fish tank would be good. Cats like to watch fish, right?
I picked up a little two gallon starter-tank and a pair of fan-tailed goldfish. Lunch - orange and white, and Dinner - a calico.
Neither of them really look like this...
Jess never seemed to care for the fish, but Kelly was pretty enthused. He would randomly seem to remember that they were swimming around in their tank and he would squish his nose against the tank and stare at them.
Lunch and Dinner didn't seem to care so much about the cats watching them and they lived (fairly) happily in their mini tank at my parent's house until August when I had to move to Michigan.
They did not live so happily in Pickle Paradise.
I have one of those giant glass pickle jars. I figured that the jar would be a good way to keep my fish safe during the the eight hour trip. They couldn't get spilled out or squashed under luggage. However, Lunch and Dinner did NOT appreciate this particular mode of travel. I think that maybe they didn't like the whole clear cylinder deal....
From this experience I learned that, yes, fish can be angry.
It's weird.
So, we moved to Michigan and Lunch and Dinner continued happily living in their tiny tank. They also were happily growing.
After over a year in their tiny fish tank, I decided Lunch and Dinner deserved a new, larger home. Also, because they did not actually croak after the first week, which is what I had expected, I figured they deserved a REAL tank to live in. But we would be moving soon and I didn't want to set up the bigger tank yet.
Last summer we moved another hour north. Pickle Paradise again. Angry fish again.
After we moved and got settled in, I picked up a ten gallon tank and some live plants. Very happy fishies!
Things were going swimmingly (durrhurrhurr) and everybody, especially the cats who like to drink out of it, loved the new big tank.
But, sadly, tragedy struck. AV and I had to go away for the weekend and when we came back Dinner had gone to that ocean in the sky. Poor guy was doing a solo floating show. I felt really awful about this, not only because my fish was almost TWO YEARS OLD, but also because I'm not exactly sure when Dinner started this particular show. I'm fairly certain it was at least twelve hours before I knew about it...
Of course, I whipped his little carcass out of the tank as fast as possible. I had heard that a dead fish can poison your other fish and the last thing I needed was another guy floating belly-up in there. Because I was supposed to getting ready for a dentist appointment, mentoring at the elementary school, and a doctor's appointment, I was pretty flustered.
I would have liked to have made a nice little fishy burial out in the yard for Dinner, or at the very least put him out there so Our Friend (the grey neighbor cat) could have eaten him. But, because I was now running late, I had to flush him.
Later that day, the toilet clogged. Somebody got the last laugh there, I do believe.
It's been nearly a week, and I've still been thinking about Dinner's demise.
Dinner showed no signs of being sick or any other abnormal behavior. Lunch is still healthy and active. If there was some sort of illness in the tank, I would have thought that Lunch would also have gotten it.
Sadly, it did not occur to me that I should do a tiny fish autopsy.
Not that I would have known the difference between a healthy dead fish and a sickly dead fish....
Anyho... I put Lunch in the mini tank again, cleaned out the tank, got rid of all the algae and nastiness and stuck him back in there. He appears to be thrilled.
I believe Lunch either A. always hated Dinner, B. is incredibly stupid and has no clue what's going on, or C. has absoutely no memory whatsoever and doesn't even know that there was ever a second fish.
But no worries, AV and I bought two new goldfish at Meijer today, a gold and white one with black spots (Tea Time) and another calico (Snacks). They're about an inch long. Lunch might possibly be able to physically eat them. So I'm hoping option A is not the reason Lunch is so super happy right now.
Right now, the little fish are in the mini tank* and Lunch is still having the greatest time ever in the big tank. I'm going to be leaving Tea Time and Snacks in the little tank for about two weeks to make sure they're not sickly then they're be moving in with Lunch.... We'll see how that goes... hopefully nobody gets eaten!!
Cheers,
Red
*As a side note, we've been calling the little tank "Bellevue", as in the insane asylum. When I put Lunch back in there it was totally empty because I needed to clean everything still. Quite like those empty, padded rooms for crazy people. FYI fish do not appreciate totally empty fish tanks. It freaks them out.
One day, I went to the pet store looking for some sort of cat entertainment device. I didn't know what kind of thing they might like, I already had a buttload of toys for them and since I'm not a fan of battery operated cat toys I was running out of options. Fairly arbitrarily I determined a fish tank would be good. Cats like to watch fish, right?
I picked up a little two gallon starter-tank and a pair of fan-tailed goldfish. Lunch - orange and white, and Dinner - a calico.
Neither of them really look like this...
Jess never seemed to care for the fish, but Kelly was pretty enthused. He would randomly seem to remember that they were swimming around in their tank and he would squish his nose against the tank and stare at them.
Lunch and Dinner didn't seem to care so much about the cats watching them and they lived (fairly) happily in their mini tank at my parent's house until August when I had to move to Michigan.
They did not live so happily in Pickle Paradise.
I have one of those giant glass pickle jars. I figured that the jar would be a good way to keep my fish safe during the the eight hour trip. They couldn't get spilled out or squashed under luggage. However, Lunch and Dinner did NOT appreciate this particular mode of travel. I think that maybe they didn't like the whole clear cylinder deal....
From this experience I learned that, yes, fish can be angry.
It's weird.
So, we moved to Michigan and Lunch and Dinner continued happily living in their tiny tank. They also were happily growing.
After over a year in their tiny fish tank, I decided Lunch and Dinner deserved a new, larger home. Also, because they did not actually croak after the first week, which is what I had expected, I figured they deserved a REAL tank to live in. But we would be moving soon and I didn't want to set up the bigger tank yet.
Last summer we moved another hour north. Pickle Paradise again. Angry fish again.
After we moved and got settled in, I picked up a ten gallon tank and some live plants. Very happy fishies!
Things were going swimmingly (durrhurrhurr) and everybody, especially the cats who like to drink out of it, loved the new big tank.
But, sadly, tragedy struck. AV and I had to go away for the weekend and when we came back Dinner had gone to that ocean in the sky. Poor guy was doing a solo floating show. I felt really awful about this, not only because my fish was almost TWO YEARS OLD, but also because I'm not exactly sure when Dinner started this particular show. I'm fairly certain it was at least twelve hours before I knew about it...
Of course, I whipped his little carcass out of the tank as fast as possible. I had heard that a dead fish can poison your other fish and the last thing I needed was another guy floating belly-up in there. Because I was supposed to getting ready for a dentist appointment, mentoring at the elementary school, and a doctor's appointment, I was pretty flustered.
I would have liked to have made a nice little fishy burial out in the yard for Dinner, or at the very least put him out there so Our Friend (the grey neighbor cat) could have eaten him. But, because I was now running late, I had to flush him.
Later that day, the toilet clogged. Somebody got the last laugh there, I do believe.
It's been nearly a week, and I've still been thinking about Dinner's demise.
Dinner showed no signs of being sick or any other abnormal behavior. Lunch is still healthy and active. If there was some sort of illness in the tank, I would have thought that Lunch would also have gotten it.
Sadly, it did not occur to me that I should do a tiny fish autopsy.
Not that I would have known the difference between a healthy dead fish and a sickly dead fish....
Anyho... I put Lunch in the mini tank again, cleaned out the tank, got rid of all the algae and nastiness and stuck him back in there. He appears to be thrilled.
I believe Lunch either A. always hated Dinner, B. is incredibly stupid and has no clue what's going on, or C. has absoutely no memory whatsoever and doesn't even know that there was ever a second fish.
But no worries, AV and I bought two new goldfish at Meijer today, a gold and white one with black spots (Tea Time) and another calico (Snacks). They're about an inch long. Lunch might possibly be able to physically eat them. So I'm hoping option A is not the reason Lunch is so super happy right now.
Right now, the little fish are in the mini tank* and Lunch is still having the greatest time ever in the big tank. I'm going to be leaving Tea Time and Snacks in the little tank for about two weeks to make sure they're not sickly then they're be moving in with Lunch.... We'll see how that goes... hopefully nobody gets eaten!!
Cheers,
Red
*As a side note, we've been calling the little tank "Bellevue", as in the insane asylum. When I put Lunch back in there it was totally empty because I needed to clean everything still. Quite like those empty, padded rooms for crazy people. FYI fish do not appreciate totally empty fish tanks. It freaks them out.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
New Year, New Blogs!
Clearly AV and I are terrible bloggers, as you might have noticed by the fact that our last post was in October >_<
But, this year we're going to update at least once a week! I'll start out with a couple of photos of our house :D
We bought a house in Northern Michigan. It was a huge hassle as the previous owner was in debt, had back taxes, ect ect and was attempting to sell the house himself. We were all set to go, but the previous owner couldn't get everything together so we ended up having to "rent"* the house for a few months while the guy got his shit together. But he finally did and now the house is oooourrrsssss!
It's great to not be paying rent every month but it also kind of sucks because we have oh so many things that need to be fixed/worked on. We've already had to repair the back wall of the foundation, put in a new oven, put in a new kitchen sink, took out the old shower door, put in a new front door, put in a door in the basement, put laundry in the basement, and we've put in three new windows. We still have another ten or so windows to replace, all of the basement casement windows to fix/replace, both bathrooms to update, more repairs in the basement, the entire yard to re-grade, put up a fence, and build a garage.
It's going to be a full year, I do believe.
Cheers and Happy 2012!
Red
*I say "rent" because we set up a contract/lease with less than $20 paid for rent/security deposit.
But, this year we're going to update at least once a week! I'll start out with a couple of photos of our house :D
Here's the front/side of the house
And this is the back and our "excellent" yard
We bought a house in Northern Michigan. It was a huge hassle as the previous owner was in debt, had back taxes, ect ect and was attempting to sell the house himself. We were all set to go, but the previous owner couldn't get everything together so we ended up having to "rent"* the house for a few months while the guy got his shit together. But he finally did and now the house is oooourrrsssss!
It's great to not be paying rent every month but it also kind of sucks because we have oh so many things that need to be fixed/worked on. We've already had to repair the back wall of the foundation, put in a new oven, put in a new kitchen sink, took out the old shower door, put in a new front door, put in a door in the basement, put laundry in the basement, and we've put in three new windows. We still have another ten or so windows to replace, all of the basement casement windows to fix/replace, both bathrooms to update, more repairs in the basement, the entire yard to re-grade, put up a fence, and build a garage.
It's going to be a full year, I do believe.
Cheers and Happy 2012!
Red
*I say "rent" because we set up a contract/lease with less than $20 paid for rent/security deposit.
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