You will have to bear with me... It is 130am here and my first post on this forum. I have spent hours in here reading though. On to the problem........

I have a mid sized oranda who is a rescue fish from a pet store. I call him Devil Fish, as the first thing he did when i put him in my tank was kill of my fantails. I have had him for the past few months. All of his sores have healed. (treated with melifix when he first came home)

His tail is gone though, Not just tail fin but all his tail. There is one small section regrowing which proves to me that most of his tail will never regrow. He has some spunk. Comes up for feedings most of the time. He spends a lot of his time under the heater. I think this is cause it holds him level. More often then not when he swims he is head down. Lack of tail makes him very front heavy. (will post pic if/when i can figure out how)

My Questions:
Can a fish live with out a tail? Does this cause him to much stress and strain? Is there anything that can be done to make his life easier or should he be PTS?

I have grown very attached to this fish but dont want him to suffer if this is to much for him. He is still young and should have many more years. However, If not haveing a tail is too hard on him it is only fair that I let him go.

Thanks for all your help in advance!
Min

*crosses fingers pic works*

Fish can live without a tail. But you need to make sure he is able to eat and is not bullied by any other fish. His tail should grow back with time but it will never be the same.

So even though it was eaten past the tail fin to the base of the body he may regrow it???

He is in a 10 gallon with one other smaller oranda. I know is to small am planning to upgrade them in the next few months when ever hubbly lets me get a bigger tank for them. He was very pouty with out any friends and 3year old daughter picked second fish our would have left him alone until bigger tank was found. Water test all come with in reason for goldfish. I also do waterchanges ever 5-7 days for them.


I hope Devil will be ok with out tail... so far this is giveing me hope! I'll gladly take any oppinions i can get...


Min


So even though it was eaten past the tail fin to the base of the body he may regrow it???

He is in a 10 gallon with one other smaller oranda. I know is to small am planning to upgrade them in the next few months when ever hubbly lets me get a bigger tank for them. He was very pouty with out any friends and 3year old daughter picked second fish our would have left him alone until bigger tank was found. Water test all come with in reason for goldfish. I also do waterchanges ever 5-7 days for them.


I hope Devil will be ok with out tail... so far this is giveing me hope! I'll gladly take any oppinions i can get...


Min

The tail will re-grow but it would be good to treat the tank with an anti fungus and finrot med as both finrot and body fungus are common diseases to set into such types of wounds.

ty didnt know that...

he was treated with melifix when he came home... and also lifegaurd recently...does that cover it?


Do you think his tailless stait causes a lot of stress?? He spends about half the time head down. I like the little guy and would like to see him happy. I dont want him to suffer anymore than he has by haveing the tail eaten off. I just worry about him latley.

Though new tank mate seems to bed doing great. Never see them picking on each other. Devil is more active than he has been the past few weeks. I think the new fish is a good addition to Devils life. Now just to find a bigger tank for them.

Looks to me like the wound has healed, any redness or open sores? As some of the body might be gone too then it may not grow back, but fish are resilient if well looked after and i dont see any problem with how he swims
he looks happy and healthy otherwise.

I would change the water more often and add a level teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon to aid in the fishes recovery.


((and i hate to say this but your sig is way too long. Please put your fish list in your profile page))

I add about 1tbsp salt with each water change to keep a slight salt level in his tank at all times. He is compleatly healed. No open sores or redness what-so-ever. I should say is picture is deciving. I happened to catch him on a good moment swimming normal. He normally swims head down. I'll try to get a more accurate picture or video of him soon.

Thank you all so much. Seems like my little Devil will be with me for years to come. Though I have a strong feeling from watching how the tail has healed he will never grow his tail back. I'm sure most of the damage is back into the body with just the one small area that is just fin.

*sig gone, sorry saw many with similar or longer sigs and thought it was ok*