Uchi's will to live!

We have not yet introduced you to our beautiful fish, Uchi!

Uchi is a female betta fish that we bought last summer (July 2011). We bought her on a 90 degree day and hadn't really planned on getting a fish right then. We were driving around catching up on errands and had planned on stopping to eat at Cracker Barrel in Springville/Spanish Fork. We did our shopping prior to eating and we saw cute little Uchi on the shelf and had to rescue her from her sad life in a tiny cup. We still hadn't eaten and wouldn't dare leave her in the roasting car, so we brought her into Cracker Barrel with us! We weren't sure they were going to allow that, but it didn't seem to bother anyone. Uchi bonded with us over a lovely meal and she has tied us to food ever since! haha

Recently, we noticed she was really sick after moving into a larger, 1 gallon bowl. Uchi had been swimming strangely and floating near the top of her tank. After closer observation, we noticed that Uchi's left fin was nearly gone and that she was a little bloated. Smaller than Nemo's fin, Uchi struggled and contorted her body to get small gulps of air. Later, we noticed that her top fin was shrinking and that one of the fins on her belly was gone too. She developed a grayish looking goo near her mouth and seemed to be at death's door. After some research online, we decided that Uchi had a common condition called fin rot, caused by bacteria. We purchased an antibiotic from that pet store that is often given to acne stricken teens called tetracycline. After reading the instructions on how to administer the medication for a 10 gallon tank, some simple arithmetic led us to the proper way to give Uchi the proper dose of antibiotics for her quart of living space. After two rounds of 4 doses provided in specific routine of adding and subtracting new and old water and medicine and a 24 hour fast to get rid of the bloating, Uchi began to improve.  She was once again able to swim to the bottom of the tank. After she swam to the bottom and nibbled on some of her own poo, we decided to end her fast and feed her.

Uchi has been doing well but, we recently noticed that her toils may not be over. Her right eye is bulging and she seems to be floating near the top again, with slight bloating of the belly. Uchi has started on another round of antibiotics today to treat her new symptoms. As it turns out, most fish ailments in betas can be cured by one type of antibiotic. Every now and then, Uchi goes crazy and darts around her tank until shooting straight up and out of the water and into the hole-punched shrink wrapped lid we fashioned after witnessing her acrobatics. She once launched herself through the air, like a pro diver and landed behind the bookshelf. So far, Uchi has been lucky that we have been there to witness her recklessness and illnesses. We strive to keep her from eating her poo and to keep her healthy. It's surprising how much personality one fish can have. If you don't believe us, ask Zach, as he willingly watched over her while we were gone for christmas last year, before she got sick. They became pretty good friends too.

Hopefully, Uchi will get all better soon, we hate that she struggles so much to swim and get gulps of air. There's no doubt that we love this little fish though! ah, ah, ah, ah Staying alive, Staying alive!