Well, we maneuvered her onto a tea towel for a sling and gently took her over to the pond from the 50 gallon fountain we’d used for a hospital tank. Her head wound hasn’t closed yet, but it’s a lot better, and her ripped fins have all healed, a very good sign in a fish that has battled infection: the rips won’t heal until healing has become the going process, and then they seal up nearly overnight. Ragged fins are a bad sign, and she had those for a while.
She was very gentle—she’s terrifically strong, a foot and a half plus some long and so big my hands just barely go around her body, but she was ok with my maneuvering her where I wanted her, and with us picking her up, and went into the pond, I think, with great relief when she smelled home water—she went down under the winter cover, where her whole school was there to meet her. They rubbed all over her, getting their slime all over her and vice versa, I’m sure, until she would smell like them, and then they all went out into the pond for lunch, which she scarfed down in great style.
I don’t know if she will recover, or survive the winter, but we gave her the best chance we could, and it becomes a case of how long to keep her in a square only a foot longer than she is, and only a foot deep. Oxygenation we did as best we could, but the more she felt better, the more oxygen she was using, and though I changed out the water once daily and filtered it and dropped water in from a high hose, to pound air into it, we were still constantly only one predator-invasion from having that hose go off its aim and drain the water from her, or some other calamity.
So she’s home, in 5000 gallons instead of 50, able to swim twenty feet in a straight line without having to slow down, and having her own pond to tootle about, and plenty of oxygen in very good water constantly—which I think is probably an essential for that wound to go ahead and heal: her metabolism needs to be running full bore. And the infection is cured, at least. So we’ll see. Nasty wound. I really wasn’t hopeful. But now she’s on her own and much improved. A fish that’ll eat from your hand and tolerate being taken hold of and moved about better than some four-foots will tolerate it is really a pet, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for her.
Such good news. Toes crossed that all continues to go well.
Wonderful. I think in her home environment Ari will do quite well, and there’s enough time for several more weeks’ healing before the pond and the fishies’ metabolisms slow for winter.
Toes, fingers, legs and eyes all crossed. Being with her buddies should make her happy and her healing even faster. Hope Jane has pictures soon.
How is my Big Fat Ari doing this morning?
She’s doing very well—she’s waiting for her breakfast out there, and all the other fish, who have been shy and upset without her, are there, too. Amazing that they did immediately recognize her.
We dosed her with Furan to get rid of the infection, which I think was aeromonas (a common fish bacterial infection) complicating a deep wound, or maybe something else. But while the original wound exposed a quarter-sized area of bone, it is now covered with tissue, and we are hoping that it will heal over. Furan is the standard fish-vet treatment for that, and we did have it on hand, but getting the dosage right is a pita. One jar of this nearly weightless powder treats 25000 gallons, do the math for 50 gallons…and change out 3/4 of the 50 gallons daily to keep it aerated and clean….
Hope she continues to heal and strengthen.
She ate like a horse…it’s impossible to overfeed a koi. And having to eat in that tiny tank, she’s perfected the art of standing on her tail in midwater (not easy for a koi) and swinging her head about (requiring a bit of body-bend) like a brontosaurus grazing a pasture: the body stays still and she just grazes on a very wide arc…clever Ari. She’s the one who knows to charge the lily-plants to dislodge the food pellets that may have landed there; she’s the one who knows if pellets land in shallow water on a ledge, if you charge the bank and bring a mini-tsunami, it will wash the trapped pellets out where they can be gotten. The other fish don’t know that trick, but she does. There’s a reason she’s the leader. 😉
Ah, the Tesla of the fish set!
Good news indeed! Here’s hoping for continued improvement!
that’s fascinating, I’m so glad she’s got a chance, you are certainly a devoted fish owner!
Strong, wise Ari. Long may she wave!
I know so little about fish, and this depth of understanding and news of improvement is amazing.