Rescued Iridescent Shark Help!

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 12 Aug 2007, 17:36

For some reason I was in Petco the other day and took a look into the rescue tank and there was about a 10 inch long iridescent shark. One eye is swollen and covered in a white film and it has ich because they put it in a tank with all other fish that have ich. I bought the fish thinking that I would put it in my 55 gallon and try to nurse it back to health but that did not work out as my parents are moving and wont let me set up the 55 gallon. Right now I have it in my 20 gallon hospital tank and I feel horrible. It constantly looks like it is trying to get out of the tank and has marks around his mouth as well as ich and his eye problem. His eye is now red underneath and the white film is coming off. At a local pet store they recommended maracyn-tc and coppersafe. I have also been using epsom salt, about one tablespoon per 5 gallons. Is this right or should i be doing something else. I feel horrible that he is in this tank but if he can make it through a few weeks in this tank he will go in the 55. Please help!

AngelicusFish · Post by **AngelicusFish** » 12 Aug 2007, 17:49

I just got a Angelicus Catfish/shark yesterday and it is still in shock, BTW can you post a pic of it so I can see how unhealthy it is.

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 12 Aug 2007, 21:46

yea i will try to do one soon

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 12 Aug 2007, 22:05

I hope this works, he really didnt seem like he wanted his picture taken even with the flash off. He has white spots all over his body. p.s. the plants are in the corner to prevent him from running into the wall, those are his favorite spots to bang his head.

Please help me

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 12 Aug 2007, 23:59

also i know this is difficult but if someone could tell me how old this fish looks and any other information you can tell me would be great. Thanks i really need help with this one.

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 13 Aug 2007, 07:20

Hello,
You must have a great heart to rescue this fish and have to pay for it as well. I also get the impression that you want to help it pretty much.
However, triple posting won't help. It might even prove contraproductive.
It's difficult to see from a photo what's exactly wrong with the eye. May be a mechanical injury (from banging into the glass), a bacterial one or even a combination of both.
What the fish now needs most, is what you can't provide at the moment: space.
It will settle down better, while now it'll remain very uneasy.
You'd better return it imo. That'll save both you and your fish several headaches.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 13 Aug 2007, 13:04

I remvoed your other posts on the subject, as this is the right place for this subject, the other places where you posted were NOT the right place for this discussion.

I'm wholly with Marc - whilst you have a good intention, this fish needs space, a 20g tank is not big enough for a 10" fish, evan one that isn't an active swimmer. Even a 55g tank is on the smaller side for a fish this size, it needs a 125g tank or so. That's for now. This fish will grow to over 4ft in nature, and there's no reason to believe that they will not reach at least half that size in captivity. That means an indoor heated pond in most countries - if you live around the equator +/- 10 degrees you may be able to get away with it in an outdoor pond.

Info here:

As to the eye, I agree that it's hard to say, could be infection or swollen due to internal bleeding, or even a genetic defect/tumor growth. It's most likely going to or has damaged the eye to blindness, I'm afraid. This will most likely have no long term effects as long as the eye itself is the whole extent of the damage.

--
Mats

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 13 Aug 2007, 16:02

thanks guys, taking the fish back to the store is not really an option for me because i fear that that is worse for it than being here, when i got the fish the water was under 70 degrees and the water was green. Although the 55 gallon is too small i want to try to set that up for now and eventually look for a bigger tank for him. As of now i found that he calms down when i cover the sides of the tank and it is really dark. Is this ok? Any suggestions for medicine/treatment/food? I will also advertise that someone with a bigger tank adopt him. Thank you guys

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 13 Aug 2007, 17:39

ok, luckily i posted an ad online for someone to adopt the fish and give him a better home and someone locally has replied and is willing to give the fish a loving home in a 150 gallon fish tank. I really hope that this works out. Right now the fish has aquired a bad case of ich (probobally because he is so stressed out) will the medicine work on him even though he is really stressed out? What should I do. This fish seems like it would be very hard to treat because no one is going to have a 125 gallon quarentine tank to treat him and i dont know if someone is willing to put him in with a mix of other fish.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 13 Aug 2007, 21:52

Ich strikes stressed fish as you say. It's hard to say what the best course of action is, but a raised temperature (more than 86'F) and good aeration of the tank is a good start.

--
Mats

fmueller · Post by **fmueller** » 14 Aug 2007, 19:00

On a more philosophical level, I don't think it's actually a good idea to 'rescue' fish from pet stores, since they will simply bring in another one as soon as you have taken the first one home. As long as somebody buys these fish - for whatever reason - chain stores and LFS will stock these fish, and a fish that grows to 4' in nature should really only be sold via specialty outlets to experts who know what they are getting. Of course being so rational about this issue is easier when you are sitting in front of a computer than when you are looking in the cloudy eye of a tortured creature at your local Walmart

youknowit194 · Post by **youknowit194** » 14 Aug 2007, 21:43

yea i am learning that the hard way. The reason he was at the pet store was because someone had brought him in because they didnt want it anymore.