It's taboo, but we did it & he lived!

[New2petro]

That is the craziest thing that I have ever read. Congratulations Dawn for being able to puncture one of your babies and save him. I am glad to hear that it was successful.

[New_Cichlid11]

Congrats on being able to perform a surgical proceeding that many people wont/cant be able to do. Great learning experience you have under your belt right now :)

[ScorpiosWife]

Thank you. Unfortunately, yesterday his swim bladder started puffing up again. Really weird! He's been in there for months with no issue & all of a sudden, his swim bladder develops an allergy to his friends? UGH!

Could be that the mating ritual is going on again & he's getting bullied, stressing him out. There's literally thousands of reasons why & I'll never know exactly what it is. Water is fine, food is fine, it's not bacterial & the other 3 O's in the tank are fine.

I'm seriously considering setting up one of the 75s in my office and moving him in there permanently. I'm gonna have to pierce it again sometime this week. Poor guy. You can't hardly even see where I poked him last week. I hate to do it again, but it has to be done.

[flipside]

:( Bummer... Hopefully this isn't a reoccurring thing for the poor little guy...

[moganman]

I just read through this for the first time and I'm impressed and happy for you Dawn. You are severely passionate about your fish hobby and it shows in the dedication to your fish. Good job on getting Mr. Oscar back on the right track. Reminds me of the time I had to perform CPR on one of my puppies.

[New2petro]

Well, if you did it once then twice will be no problem. I like the idea of moving him to his own tank for his protection. Hopefully you can find some suitable tank mates for him. Good luck and keep us posted. I think that your Oscar has become a pet of us all. Keep him safe.

[ScorpiosWife]

This time I'm gonna set something up or have a 3rd person take a video of the procedure. I feel so awful for him :( There was no reoccurrance after 2 days in the 50g by himself. The very next day he started to puff back up again when I put him back in his usual tank. Has to be the aggression/stress of the mating ritual the others are going through. I'd bet my hat on it.

[New2petro]

We wish you well. Keep us posted on how he is doing.

[LooksLater]

Wow, Dawn!! Just saw this...
Congrats! That's such an awesome story. You got guts, woman...and it totally paid off.



Hope he continues to do well!

[ScorpiosWife]

Alrighty. I had to repierce him. This time, I took video. I'm sure you guys can do this for your Frontosa, Trophs, etc. just on a smaller scale. The needle we used for him is a pretty big 18 gauge needle cuz he's a pretty big guy!

This is only the 2nd time I've ever done this & I'm by no means an expert but I thought it would be educational if we took a video this time.

[New2petro]

Thanks for the video Dawn. Your Oscar is bigger then I thought. I hope all ends up well.

[ScorpiosWife]

In a perfect world, no one would ever have to resort to this method. However, we don't live there & sometimes things call for drastic measures.

I just hope that someday, someone can benefit from my experience. They don't have to die. Yes, it seems barbaric but if it saves them & we care enough to take the chance, why not? If the meds don't do the trick what else are we to do aside from just watch as they slowly die? In my mind (which I understand is not everyone's mindset) I have to do whatever it takes to at least try.

I have to say that this time it was much easier to do. I don't recommend this for anyone without the determination to succeed & confindence in themselves to try.

He will not be re-introduced back into his 180, whose inhabitants antics seem to be his issue. Due to some recent changes, an additional roommate here at the house, he will be moving to a 75g & possibly I will soon have a 50g Oceanic with stand up for sale.

Currently he is in the 50g with another 4" Oscar & 5" Chinese algae eater that I rescued from being flushed away last week. He's having fun chasing the little guy around as I'm typing this. I've got some work to do, that I can't do alone, to get him moved to the 75 so he'll be recovering in the 50g for at least the next 5 days.

Once again, members of HFB, thank you for your support & encouragement. I couldn't & wouldn't have the confidence to do any of this without y'all. The knowledge base here is vast & the people are awesome. Thank you!!! Maybe one day I'll even have the courage to try some Trophs or Petros! LOL, I do have another 75 lying around...

[allysangels]

hey dawn, since you're the oscar whisperer, would you like mine? :) or any of my other fishies?

[ScorpiosWife]

Haha, that's quite a stretch there, Ally. Don't have room, tho!

[JIM]

amazing!!! i was on pins and needles that whole story, (excuse the pun) its great that you were able to at least give him that much relief, and so quickly.

Please update in a few days, im still holding my breath on long term recovery, but im always a skeptic.