Misinformed, I nearly killed him. I upgraded my fish (barbs, kuhli loaches, mollies, plecos, etc) from a 20L with plastic plants and rocks,
to a 55g with sand & live plants, and while at the local petstore stocking up on live plants, I inquired about scavengers, and I was told to get a pair of fire belly newts, snails, and a "blue lobster"
I was pretty hesitant about the lobster, and was told to acclimate the others, feed them, and then put in the lobster and he should get along as long as he doesn't go 2+ days without food.
Five minutes in the tank, and he ate one of my barbs
Anywho, back to the main problem. I acclimated all the new guys to the aquarium, and after about a week, one of the newts wouldn't go in the water and became ill and died =(
The other one did alright for a while, but also stopped going in the water and lost weight. While brushing my teeth, I found him on the bottom of the tank, belly-up and was super upset. I went to rinse my brush and went back to the tank and he was walking around again, but looked pretty lethargic. It seemed like he was trying to get to the dock at the top, but he didnt' have the energy, so I scooped him out onto the dock and he looked pretty bad. He was completely bloated, but I had to go to work.
I left the lip open so he could get some fresh air and went to work my 14hr day, preparing for the worst when I got home later that night.
While at work, I started to google what his problem could be, and the first thing I noticed was that his tank was too hot for starters and he probably had a respiratory infection and also said I shouldn't expect a happy ending.
Well, I came home and thankfully, he was still alive, and the bloating went down!
So with my new information, I put him in an emergency 5g and went to work on a new setup with what I had on hand!
I scrubbed the 20L, cleaned the pebbles, grabbed some plastic plants and plopped him on his dock.
It's been almost a month now, and I don't know if it's my imagination or my relief, but he seems happier. :happy:
He jumped off the dock and sat under that big rock all night that I know of, because he was still there when I woke up (slept on the couch to keep an eye on him). Later the next morning, he started checking out the underwater cave and when he saw no predators were in it, he started swimming around and hanging out :happy:
Ugh, you can't believe how relieved I am that he's doing okay, just wish I knew sooner for the sake of his buddy.
Since that lobster couldn't get along with others, I sent him packing back to the pet store
to a 55g with sand & live plants, and while at the local petstore stocking up on live plants, I inquired about scavengers, and I was told to get a pair of fire belly newts, snails, and a "blue lobster"
I was pretty hesitant about the lobster, and was told to acclimate the others, feed them, and then put in the lobster and he should get along as long as he doesn't go 2+ days without food.
Five minutes in the tank, and he ate one of my barbs
Anywho, back to the main problem. I acclimated all the new guys to the aquarium, and after about a week, one of the newts wouldn't go in the water and became ill and died =(
The other one did alright for a while, but also stopped going in the water and lost weight. While brushing my teeth, I found him on the bottom of the tank, belly-up and was super upset. I went to rinse my brush and went back to the tank and he was walking around again, but looked pretty lethargic. It seemed like he was trying to get to the dock at the top, but he didnt' have the energy, so I scooped him out onto the dock and he looked pretty bad. He was completely bloated, but I had to go to work.
I left the lip open so he could get some fresh air and went to work my 14hr day, preparing for the worst when I got home later that night.
While at work, I started to google what his problem could be, and the first thing I noticed was that his tank was too hot for starters and he probably had a respiratory infection and also said I shouldn't expect a happy ending.
Well, I came home and thankfully, he was still alive, and the bloating went down!
So with my new information, I put him in an emergency 5g and went to work on a new setup with what I had on hand!
I scrubbed the 20L, cleaned the pebbles, grabbed some plastic plants and plopped him on his dock.
It's been almost a month now, and I don't know if it's my imagination or my relief, but he seems happier. :happy:
He jumped off the dock and sat under that big rock all night that I know of, because he was still there when I woke up (slept on the couch to keep an eye on him). Later the next morning, he started checking out the underwater cave and when he saw no predators were in it, he started swimming around and hanging out :happy:
Ugh, you can't believe how relieved I am that he's doing okay, just wish I knew sooner for the sake of his buddy.
Since that lobster couldn't get along with others, I sent him packing back to the pet store
