I've had these two goldfish, William and Harry ever since I bought my first house. Named, of course, after the princes. Harry is Harry II because the first Harry died of Ick very early on, but William is the original.
Yesterday I came downstairs to feed the princes when I noticed William floating on his side on the surface. I held my breath for a moment thinking he was dead when he swam back down to the bottom. He seemed to struggle to get down and when he did he was exhausted and just floated back to the top. This continued for several hours. Periodically, William would go into his rock house and rest so that the ceiling would keep him under the water, and one time I found him wedged down the side of the rock house with one fin on it holding on upside down. I thought for sure he was a goner. But I couldn't just let him die. He's Prince William!
I called Mike, who used to work in an aquarium store, and the fish guy at PetSmart. Did some googling, and found that poor William had what seems like Swim Bladder problems. A condition that would kill him if I didn't act quickly. So I picked up some Quick Cure at PetSmart, not sure if this helped but it couldn't hurt, I hooked up an air pum and aerated the water, did a partial water change, and fed William some frozen peas. Yea, peas. Apparently that helps release whatever is causing him to retain oxygen in his swim bladder.
After a couple of hours, William started to look better. He struggled less to get to the bottom and spent less time on the surface, although he did still end up there if he stopped flapping his little fins. I crossed my fingers and left him alone for the night. When I woke up this morning, William greeted me in his usual manner. He swam to the side of the tank where I usually feed him, and wagged his tail and opened his mouth for food.
It's probably too early to celebrate at this point, I suppose he could still take a turn for the worst, but as of right now he's acting normally and I do not have a fish funeral in my immediate future.
Way to fight, Prince William! You at least live to see another day.
What's kind of cute is that the whole time while he was sick, Harry II kept hanging out very close to William, as though showing concern for his buddy. I'm probably just projecting human emotions and mannerisms onto my fish, but it sure did look that way to me.
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Meanwhile, my friend Vanessa was trying to steal a kiss from Prince Harry. . . .
Good to know the little guy is alright!
LOL! Awesome! What a shame she didn't get to kiss him. She's welcome to come kiss my fish anytime, though. I doubt it'll be as hot, but it might just be as sloppy ;-)
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