I really would like some input and maybe a little good news coming my way.
I have had Marvin for about 6 years, and he is my baby. He gives me kisses and we are very close buddies.
I cleaned tank, as usual, but the next day, he started gasping. I checked all water tests, temp, and things were fine. It has now been 3 days, and he is still in distress. Gills flared, and breathing very hard.
When he swims up to the top to visit, it is better, but returns to this state when at rest on the bottom.
Being an investigative person, I try to rule out things, and narrow down the possibilities. Here is what I have come up with, but need expert advice to see if I am anywhere in the ballpark.
First of all, he likes to play with rocks (which I have removed as of last night). I have seen him shovel one in just for fun, but have been able to get him to spit it out. He may have done this at a time when I was not around. These are decorative round and smooth quarter-sized ones that he loves to move.
Here is my next crazy hunch....................maybe he is not a Marvin, but a Marvella! Can't really put an exact time frame on this, but I have (at least 3 times) sucked out masses of instant oatmeal looking debris from a corner of the tank. He eats small cubes of prepared beefheart, and I am always making sure that what has been extracted from his gills, isn't allowed to stay around and get rancid. This, however, doesn't really resemble what I generally clean out.
Have also recalled that he has this sort of behavior for a few days after I remove these masses.
SO.......HERE IS MY CRAZY QUESTION..............could he be a she, and could these be eggs? If so, what is the behavior of such a female fish after depositing egg masses? Without a man around her house (if she is indeed a Marvella) could she be stressed that they are gone, or could "she" be physically be undergoing a recoup from the ordeal?
I am just about as stressed as Marvin. He is my baby and I will do anything not to lose him.
H-E-L-P!!!