Grace

Amazing Grace was left behind at the AFKAPS show in Orlando, Florida, in March of 2000. I was a volunteer to help bag fish and tear down tanks at the end of the show. When all the tanks had been emptied, there she was. She had been disqualified from the show. Some thought she was sunburned, another diagnosis was that she had some unknown disease. No one wanted to fool with such a fish. I couldn't leave her behind and offered to take her home with me. Call me crazy, but I have a soft heart. She survived the trip home and I waited until the next day to examine her. The pectoral fin on the left side had nearly been ripped from her body. I swabbed the open wound with PP, careful not to let it get beneath the gill cover and began antibiotic injections. Within two days, she developed a very large abcess above the injury which required surgery. I wasn't particularily thrilled with the thought of cutting on this fish, but... it had to be done, or she would certainly die. She was put to sleep with Oil of Cloves. My first cut, in the center of the huge swelling, which was so bad that the scales protruded like a pine cone, produced no fluid. Unsettling to say the least, I examined her further and found a soft spot slightly above the abcess and tried again. This time, I was rewarded with a gush of fluid. Her other side had started to abcess as well, so I found a soft spot there, and cut into it as well with the same results. The wounds were then flushed with a mild saline solution and she was again put on another round of antibiotic injections. Below, you will find pictures of her at 3 days post surgery, 10 days post surgery... and after her release to the pond. She has fully recovered and has been swimming happily with her friends in her new home for 2 years now. It was a lot of work to save this fish. Special thanks to Roark for his support and instruction, without which, I could not have helped this amazing fish. She now rewards me with her beauty and fishy kisses.