How to Treat Carpet Surfers

thewalkingdad · Aug 28, 2020

So carpet surfing isn't a disease, but my fish decided to carpet (concrete actually) surf while doing a TTM and since this forum is about treating fish, I figured it was appropriate.

Long story short, I was performing the first tank transfer in Humble Fish's Hybrid TTM method. I got the two clowns moved over, but as I was bringing the firefish out of the water he jumped and ended up flopping on the floor and flopped himself underneath the fish stand. I can't imagine impacting the concrete for such a small fish from a reasonably high height can feel good. It took about 30 seconds to reach underneath the stand (very tight clearance) and get him into the new tank. Once I finally picked him up, I quickly, but gently rinsed him in the old tank since it was right there. I wanted to try to get any dust or debris off him before putting him in the new tank.

Once in the new tank, he hasn't swum around much. He wasn't much of a swimmer to begin with so I'm not going to draw any big conclusions. A few minutes after the transfer of all fish (2 clowns, 1 firefish) was complete, I dosed some freshly hatched baby brine shrimp. The clowns went to town eating, but the firefish seemed uninterested in the brine shrimp even though I've seen him eat them before. His respiration has always been fast, but it seemed a bit faster. The tank conditions in the old and new tanks were matched in salinity (35ppt) and temperature (79*).

My questions are around if there is anything I should do other than just keeping an eye on him. I couldn't see any form of injury. But I wasn't sure if fish got concussions or something (not that I would know how to treat a fish concussion...). Also, I wasn't sure if something like Methalyn Blue would potentially help soothe or otherwise heal any microabrasion on the fish that I can't see or if he perhaps got dust in his gills. His little unicorn dorsel fin thing is up, which I think he puts down when darting around the tank or when stressed and trying to hide. His coloration looks normal.

So, any tips, advice, or experiences would be welcome. Otherwise, I'll just keep an eye on him.

Here he is now:

LBReefer · Aug 28, 2020

I've often wondered the same thing. Following along.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 28, 2020

There are two issues: surviving the peracute stress and then, surviving possible external bacterial infection brought on by damage to the skin.

All you can do for the peracute stress is to lower the light levels and give it time; the fish will either recover or not. If it makes it past the first 36 hours or so, it will likely survive, unless a bacterial infection starts up, then you'll need to treat it in a QT with antibiotics. The fish's skin actually looks pretty good in the video, so I would wait to treat it until you see signs of an issue; frayed fins, white or red patches on the skin, etc.

I was able to calculate the breathing rate from the video: 150 BPM. That is elevated, but I would expect it to reduce over time. Less than 100 BPM would be best.

Jay

ichthyogeek · Aug 28, 2020

Well...I guesss in the future you can do the TTMs over something that's less abrasive than concrete. I've had my firefish jump multiple times onto wood, and it's not ideal, but they're still alive. Approximately 8 days since the last jump, they're still going well, and I've been treating with API General Cure mostly to deal with suspected internal parasites. Said API GC probably helps with any opportunistic bacteria as well.

PicassoClown04 · Aug 28, 2020

I’ve had several fish jump out of my acclimation bowl (don’t like using a 5 gallon bucket cause they’re nasty) they’re on the ground for maybe 30 seconds but the ground is carpet (VERY nice to try to clean if I spill anything -.-) so they do get kinda dusty. All of mine have made a full recovery within 3 days, some were kinda lethargic and swam a little funky. I spot fed a few with garlic to get some calories in them then they were good to go.

thewalkingdad · Aug 28, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
There are two issues: surviving the peracute stress and then, surviving possible external bacterial infection brought on by damage to the skin.

All you can do for the peracute stress is to lower the light levels and give it time; the fish will either recover or not. If it makes it past the first 36 hours or so, it will likely survive, unless a bacterial infection starts up, then you'll need to treat it in a QT with antibiotics. The fish's skin actually looks pretty good in the video, so I would wait to treat it until you see signs of an issue; frayed fins, white or red patches on the skin, etc.

I was able to calculate the breathing rate from the video: 150 BPM. That is elevated, but I would expect it to reduce over time. Less than 100 BPM would be best.

Jay

Thanks, Jay! This was very helpful (and comforting).

The new tank is underneath an open sump stand so it is only receiving moderate levels of ambient light. His respiration has slowed down but perhaps slightly elevated (100-120 BPM). He still isn't swimming around much but is on the opposite side of the tank, so I know he is moving around.

I have Furan-2, Metroplex, Neoplex, and General Cure available and on-hand. I'm actually due to prophylactically dose another dose of GC in about 48 hours, so maybe that will help with any potential bacterial infection.

Starkrost · Aug 28, 2020

I think my Diamond goby liked the dog. She jumped out a couple times and before I could retrieve her, she was wrapped in dog fur. I picked off what I could and threw her back in. She did fine. Just stunned for several hours.