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Equipment
Prior to any operations to be
carried on on your precious arowana,
ensure that there are enough transmore
in your
transmore bottle to knock out your arowana.
You will than need to prepare a tank
half filled, and a big pail of water.Ensure
that the scissors you are about to use
is sharp enough for the GIll Curl
operation and the finest sandpaper available
in the market. Remember to wet the sandpaper
before use.
Equipment needed
1. Sharp scissors.
2. Fine sandpaper.
3. Wet towel.
4. Clean aged water.
5. airstone & air pump.
6. Transmore (enough & not expired).
7. Bag to tranquilize aro.
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Transmore
Prior to the operation, remember
to starve the arowana for a couple of days.
Pour the
required amount of transmore as prescribe
on the bottle into the tank with aged water.
Next, proceed to bag your arowana into a
plastic bag and drip a few drops of transmore
into the plastic bag. When the effect of
the tranquillizing sets in, the arowana will
be calmer. The arowana is now released into
the tank with transmore.
If you are operating on a smaller arowana, it might be easier to bag it first
and knock it out when it is in the bag (experience required). Less transmore
needed.
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Knockout
Belly-up & when the arowana
is completely motionless without any resistance,
you are now ready to proceed with the Operculum
Surgery.
Inspect
the part to be operated on.
Aro should not be out of water for more
than 10mins for the whole process (max time
for the operation).
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Operation
table
Place a wet towel over the work area you
are going to work on and another moist towel
near you in the event your arowana slip from
the work area, you are able to grab the slippery
arowana with the moist towel and place it
immediately back into the tank. Always be
prepared.
Remember to always wet the tower as
a dry towel will soak-up/remove the wetness/slime
of the fish, causing damage to the protective
layer.
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Close
Up
Inspect carefully the area closely
that you are about to operate on. It is
not advisable to keep the fish out of the
water for too long. Start the operation
as soon as the fish is placed on the operation
table. Many of us tend to pause and admire
at the beauty of it's sheen and coloration
at this stage.
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The Right Angle
Place the
arowana in a position you are most comfortable
with.
If the arowana
is still trashing about when placed on
the work area, quickly place it back into
the tank and add more transmore.
Sterilise the scissor over a flame and
after a several seconds, gently lift the
operculum and proceed to trim the targeted
area.
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Cutting
Always cut in a relax manner and
if your scissor is sharp enough, you are
able to just slice all the way to the end
of the gill for a good cut. If your scissor
is a little blunt, you may have jaggedness
in the cut. The best scissors for this kind
of job are usually hair scissors but they
cost a whole lot more than ordinary scissors.
A sharp pair of scissors with short thin
blade is good for this job....
Lower blade of scissors should always
be nearest to aro to provide clean cut & support.
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Shaving
After cutting, you may need to
place the arowana back into the tank with
the transmore
for a while before proceeding further.
When you are ready to shave, use the scissors
to shave to even up and tidy up the operation.
This should not take more than a minute.
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Sandpaper
Final touch...... Smoothen the
edges by sanding in one direction to achieve
better
result (outward motion). This procedure
will provide a natural look when the operculum
membrane
grows.
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Finish
As you can see from the picture
on the left, the damaged operculum membrane
is completely removed.
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Revival
Slowly release the arowana into
a tank with clean aged water and steady the
arowana. Providing air will help speed up
recuperating period. When the arowana is
semiconscious, you can then proceed to put
it back into its original tank.
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Summary
Adding Salt 0.3%, heater 32c, yellow
powder (anti bacteria medication) & blackwater
after operations will help prevent infections.
Recovery period (usually
3 weeks to 3 months) depends on water, environment
conditions and also age of arowana (usually
3 weeks to 3 months). If a proper job was
done,
you
will not even be able to tell the difference.
It is usually best left to the professionals
to do the operations for a nominal fee.
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3
Months later
This
picture was taken 3 months later. Notice
the recovery
of Operculum Membrane. |
