Our House Has Fallen Ill

Not of the human variety but our precious fish. It's quite surprisingly upsetting. Maybe not the loss of Tammy the Tang except for the fact that we had just purchased her and it seems that with her arrival came the parasite Ich which has hit every living thing in our saltwater tank. We will forgive her for bringing this unwelcome guest as long as the others survive. Until then we will continue to kick ourselves for not hesitating on the purchase and cross our fingers that the buggers make it through. Our lionfish is not even looking at food. Worrisome considering he was first in line and always an avid hunter from day one.

To make matters worse one of my red blooded parrot fish that I've had for over 5 years is now looking sickly! I can't find anything online to diagnose her with but her scales have turned pale except for even red lines throughout, her eyes no longer poke out but in instead, and her demeanor is rather lacking. Desire for food has gone out the window as it seems staying in one place is the main focus. I tested the water as I remember from my pet store days that "the first signs of bad water is a sick fish" and everything came out with perfect numbers, nothing off even a little bit! I haven't done anything extreme to the tank to cause an undue amount of stress either. Besides, these guys are used to stress, they've moved with me 5 times, once being across state lines with a 24 hour period of being stuck in a huge bucket that at one time held ice cream. Stress doesn't even exist in their dictionary!

It's very saddening as these buggers have lived with me through some of my fierce life changes. Their personalities are bigger than their bodies and they're a mating pair(though not breeding, that's impossible for this species)!!!

I hope with all hope that she pulls it through, I don't want to miss her classic glares from behind the tank glass, her ever hungry mouth snipping at the water when I walk nearby, and her incredible need to defend a territory made up of fake driftwood and cloth plants.

Oh dear friend, just keep swimming.