EMERGENCY hypothermic fish

[treesprite]

So, I'm in Starbucks and this guy who apparently became homeless yesterday, handed a container of freezing cold water  with a beta in it, that he has been carrying around all this time, a lot of which was outside. I thought was dead because not even the gills were moving, but it moved when I touched it.

 

I'm worried about raising the temp too fast, but knowing the fish will probably die anyway, I don't know what I should do.

 

** Keep in mind that I am still at Starbucks, with an IDD client, so I can't just leave so that I can go home with the fish. I will not be home for maybe an hour and a half.***

 

I ran warm water over the container for a while, but not long enough to make the temp feel liveable (to a beta fish). I sat the container into a Starbucks cup that has some hot water in the bottom, so the steam will keep the temp from dropping back down (the container isn't touching the water). 

 

The fish isn't upside down anymore, and is moving a little, but sometimes it goes vertical and looks maybe dead but it's gills are obviously moving. Still, I'm worried it will die.

 

I'm gonna put the fish in a 2g tank when I get home, just don't know what to do about the temperature.

 

A thing to worry about of it doesn't die, is that there is a bump on its tail fins that looks like it might be fungus. It is kind of hard to tell.

 

If it lives, it will need a permanent home that isn't mine.

 

 

[Origami]

It's been an hour. How is it doing? I suspect that you can gradually raise the temperature if you were to simply aerate the water in a reasonably warm location. Cold water can hold more oxygen than warm water, so aerating would have a double benefit. If the container has a lid on it, you could also put it inside your coat for short bursts to help bring the temperature up a little.

[treesprite]

I just got home a few minutes ago, just finished putting some RODI in a 2g tank. 

 

The fish container got heated way faster than I intended. I had the heat jacked up in the car and drove with the container between my legs, trying to keep it from getting cold again.  The temp went up to 75. The internet says 78-80.

 

People keep these fish at room temp in horribly tiny containers, so the the fish probably go through all kinds of fluctuations and die young.  The container this one is in, is the one it was bought in. 

 

EDIT to add:

I don't have a small enough heater. The heater element is only in the bottom half of the heater, so I think as long as just the top is out, it will be okay. I have to have it sideways though.

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by treesprite

[treesprite]

Still alive. Sometimes it just kind of lets itself floats and looks dead, but then sometimes it actually swims momentarily. I still think it is more likely to die than not.

 

I'm worried about ammonia because I had nothing to start with (other than the water from the cup the fish was in), so I put about a third or half vial of Biodigest (hard to tell) in the tank (only bacteria additive I have). 

 

The guy must have had the fish for a long time, because the container of beta food he gave me is almost empty. I guess if he had it that long,  maybe he was so attached to it that he just took it with him not thinking about the fact that it might freeze to death.

 

 

[ImGoingCoastal]

Did you mention to the homeless guy that you happen to like aquariums? Or did he just say here, save my fish ramdomly.... I'm kind of curious how this all went down.


The Betta lying still for a bit, sounds like typical Betta behavior. Glad it's still alive! Congrats on saving him!

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[treesprite]

It is still alive. I gave some food, but I had to go to work, so I don't know of it ate. It does look better, but after what it went through, and the fungus on it, I have my doubts about longevity.  

 

The guy initially gave it to my developmentally disabled client, who came to me saying someone gave her a fish. It looked like a dead fish to me, and the water was ice cold, so I thought someone was messing with her (believe me, people do that sort of thing). I told her to give it back. The guy was in a spot where I couldn't see, so I followed her. The guy explained why he gave the fish to her. I told him it looked dead, but opened the lid and touched the fish to see if it would move. It was not quite dead, but would have been soon. I told him I would try to save it. I did tell him I was an aquarist, after agreeing to take the fish, but he obviously would have given it to anyone.

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by treesprite

[Reef eScape]

I would also worry about ammonia at this point in an unfiltered or brand new tank that hasn't been cycled.   Yeah people do manage to keep them alive in jars because they are tough fish but he has already been through a lot and wont recover as well when not in optimal conditions.   You could see if anyone you know nearby has a running freshwater tank you can steal some bacteria media from inside the filter from for the 2 gallon.   Adding a bacteria additive doesn't really do that much.   Hope he makes it.   Would be a great story to tell people about him. 

[treesprite]

The nearest person is a 45 minute drive. However, perhaps someone in WAMAS who has FW lives closer.

[ImGoingCoastal]

Maybe you could just ask a nearby petstore if you could purchase one of the cheesy ornaments in the display. They could just replace it with a new one. Would only cost a few bucks I imagine and would at least have a decent amount of bacteria to seed the 2 gallon.

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[treesprite]

2 hours ago, ImGoingCoastal said:

Maybe you could just ask a nearby petstore if you could purchase one of the cheesy ornaments in the display. They could just replace it with a new one. Would only cost a few bucks I imagine and would at least have a decent amount of bacteria to seed the 2 gallon.

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I thought about that, but decided I don't want to trust stuff from a store tank.

[treesprite]

Fish is still alive. I forgot about the tank I have that just has wood in it; I used that water to do a WC, even though the water is dark brown from tannins (won't hurt the fish). 

[treesprite]

I ended up posting on PVAS today. Hopefully, someone will take the fish, or at very least tell me how to treat the fungus it has.

[treesprite]

Posting on PVAS hasn't proven helpful.

 

I finally saw the fish eat one pellet early this morning. It swims around normally. I need to get it cured of this fungus.

 

I learned that fungus and other FW fish stuff can be treated with SW. I never would have thought of that. Even nitrite poisoning can be treated with salt. Not reef salt, just plain salt with nothing added (some sold as "aquarium salt" has the same anti-caking agent as grocery store salt). It's a shame that won't fix our SW fish problems. At any rate, medication is like $12, "aquarium salt" is like $8 at Petco, and non-iodized Kosher salt from Harris Teeter is $2. I got the grocery store salt. I hope it works.

[treesprite]

Thanks to WetWeb Media (Bob Fenner), I now know that betta fish can tolerate specific gravity of 1.03 for 10 minutes (table or aquarium salt, not reef salt). I wasn't getting consistent information anywhere else on the internet, and certainly not specific information about salinity measurement. Now I can do the treatment without thinking I'll accidentally kill the fish.

[Origami]

Great. I'm interested in knowing how it works.

[treesprite]

I have to make a correction... I left out a zero - the SG is to be 1.003.

 

The fish got through the treatment just fine, acted perfectly normal. I had the SG at closer to 1.001, because I was worried about the accuracy of the refractometer. 

 

The nice thing about knowing the correct SG, is that the volume of water doesn't matter, and size of the salt crystals doesn't matter.

Edited February 20, 2020 by treesprite

[1bitereefer]

try posting on capita lcichlids, I think you'd have a good chance finding a place to rehome if that's still the plan.

[treesprite]

5 hours ago, 1bitereefer said:

try posting on capita lcichlids, I think you'd have a good chance finding a place to rehome if that's still the plan.

 

Thanks for the tip!

[treesprite]

I just saw the guy who gave the fish to me, in Starbucks. I told him how the fish is doing, and that I'm treating it for the fungus (he didn't know enough about fish to realize something was wrong with it). He said he had it for about a year and a half, but he got it from his mom's friend who had it a few years. He seems happy that it didn't die. 

 

I'll probably do another saltwater treatment when I get home.

[treesprite]

I just looked up longevity and found out they only live 2 to 4 years average, so I don't expect this one to live much longer, even if it does get rid of the fungus. There isn't much point in my finding a home for it if it isn't going to live much longer. If I move though, I won't want to bring it with me.

 

I also did not know until today, that bettas actually need to breathe air from above the surface of the water to live. Apparently, they can live out of water for several hours as long as they stay wet.  I guess since they are generally in semi stagnant water in nature, they needed to develop that method of getting oxygen. Very strange fish.

Edited February 23, 2020 by treesprite