and now for something completely different....

[jhemdal1]

All,

Here is a shot of a deepwater Japanese roughy, Gephyberyx japonicus. I got two back in April, both had bouyancy problems at first (they come from 200 to 400 meters). They would not feed, so I began tube feeding them twice a week. Eventually, to save time, I began force-feeding them whole smelt. I tried EVERY trick I could think of to get them feeding on their own. Changed environmental parameters, live foods, various stick feeding attempts, etc. Sometimes they would acknowledge the food, but would never go for it. A couple of weeks ago I tried live gambusia on a stick (one more time) the idea was that after this attempt, I was going to euthanize them. Well - one struck at a gambusia and ate it. Then it ate 7 more. The second fish started to get curious and then it began stick feeding the next day. They aren't out of the woods yet (long-term starvation can cause liver problems with fish) but it is by far the longest time I've had a fish (other than a moray) refuse to feed and then start feeding on its own.....

Jay Hemdal

 

[twicebirth]

How about temp ?

 

[CarlC]

Temp I would think would be a huge issue. It's got to be in the low 50's f at that depth. If even that warm.

Carl

 

[Anonymous]

You force fed them with a tube and syringe? How do you force feed a whole smelt?

 

[jhemdal1]

Right, these are cool water fish, 55 degrees F. or so. I tube fed it a gruel mixture (after using MS-222 to sedate it). That took too long, and I wasn't sure that most of the gruel wasn't just coming back up, so I tried force-feeding smelt halves. Turns out these fish have HUGE gullets, but they also have back-curved vomerine teeth. Ever get your finger stuck in a Chinese finger puzzle? That's what happened to me the first time I used my finger to push the smelt down its throat, I used the end of a pipette bulb after that!

Jay

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, so when you sedate the fish, does it stop breathing like humans do? Do you have to give it an antidote to reverse the sedation?

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, so when you sedate the fish, does it stop breathing like humans do? Do you have to give it an antidote to reverse the sedation?

It continues breathing but stops moving. Ideally it floats upside down and continues gilling at a normal pace. To get it to "wake up" you just place it back in tank water. MS-222 is available through places like www.aquaticecosystems.com if you'd ever like to try it, although it is a delicate process. An overdose can easily kill the fish.

 

[Anonymous]

Me try it? Not no, but hell no! I have read Jays book book, though and his surgeries and necropsies are really fascinating! I would love to follow him at work for a year or a decade or so! I really want to be an Ichthyologist! Or a fish surgeon...

BTW, Jay. After I read your book, I really can't get interested in others, which is weird 'cause I think I've bought every fish book available! So, to keep me up to date, I think you need to write another book? How about Super Advanced Advanced Stuff for Home Aquaria Hobbyists?

 

[Pavaphon]

Hope that someday I could have a trial on these guys. They should be definitely alot more difficult than those flashlight.

 

[jhemdal1]

Hi SeahorseWhisperer,

Actually, I have two more books due out next year; Bugs as Pets and Mini-Aquariums. I doubt that I'll be able to reprise the advanced book, the market is too limited I think.

With the MS-222 and these guys, it was kind of tricky. I could not just use a sedation dose (like 75 ppm) because these fish would thrash around as they slowly went under, and were causing damage to their snouts, fins and eyes. I ended up using what amounted to a killing dose (200 to 250 ppm) to knock them down FAST, then would force feed them quick and start to revive them by moving them to new water and working their gills for them until they began breathing on their own again....a bit nerve wracking.


Jay

 

[Anonymous]

So, you really do do a general anesthesia like we do with people! Ok, when a person has surgery, we put a tube down their throat and use a ventilator to mechanically ventilate them. Or put an airtight sealing mask on them and use a bag to push air into their lungs. With a fish, you have no ventilator, right? So, you use a large syringe to push oxygenated water in and out of their lungs/gills? Or is there a mask and bag you use? Or do you just move them back and forth in the water to force water through their gills?

What other fish have you done this to?

 

[jhemdal1]

Seahorsewhisperer,

Page 328 of my advanced book describes an anesthesia table that I'ved used for long term anesthesia of fish. In the case of the roughies, I didn't need to supplement their ventilations with any equipment, just knocked them down, fed them and revived them as fast as I could.


Jay

 

[Anonymous]

Your book was what first got me interested in being an ichthyologist! Very intriguing!

Ok, so can I ask more large public aquarium questions??


Do you ( by you I mean your staff) do regular scheduled water changes on your big tanks?

 

[jhemdal1]

Yes, we change lots of water here, we use something on the order of 140,000 gallons of saltwater (Instant Ocean and Reef Crystals) each year.

Regarding water changes at public aquariums, our facility probably can't be used as a good example as we are perhaps the only original "old school" aquarium left in the US now that Belle Isle has closed down. We finally have funding to renovate and expand our facility and update all of the life support systems - but that won't happen for another 4 or 5 years. So; in the meantime, our mantra is: "the solution to pollution is dilution".
Typically, our marine tanks (except our reef exhibits) get at least a 30% water change each month, some get much more - depends on the bio-loading.

Jay

 

[Anonymous]

Wow! How can I complain about my 20 gallon weekly chore? Do you use RO water?

What are yours plans for updating the equipment?

 

[jhemdal1]

We use RO on our reef systems, just tap water on our fish systems. The planned updates will include larger exhibits, using foam fractionation and ozone rather than simple biological filtration as most of our tanks have now.

Jay