Cherry Barb In Trouble

[Hemigrammus]

I just bought 4 cherry barbs last night 1 male and 3 females for my 5 gal tank and i just noticed just few minnutes ago that one of my females does not have a tail she's been swimming around in pain it looks like she's forcing ger self to swim around and be active so it seems ok but heres the thing i never noticed that she was missing a tail win i got her last night.. the lady who was handling the fish was terrible she kept on dropping them and was not very carful with them while handling so either she crushed his tail or one of the other cherrys did it but i don't think it was because cherrys are supposed to be peacefull what should i do? to help

 

[Jodiem]

i also have a cherry barb with no tail, a stump, she swims around a bit but mainly hovers but she is fine, still alive after i thinka year!, if u dont want her im sure the pet shop will take her back but she might end up in worse hand!

Jodie

 

[WILDER]

Bless her.
If the fish is struggling to swim bad news it makes they exhausted and they usually end up dying.
If he's looks in pain I would end her suffering.

 

[celaeno]

what i'd i do is isolate her in a breeding trap so the other fish can't get to her. then treat with melafix for 2 weeks to see if there's regrowth. sometimes, cherry barb males can be a bit nippy on the females, but none of them should wind up losing its entire tail.

 

[salemchic]

either she crushed his tail or one of the other cherrys did it but i don't think it was because cherrys are supposed to be peacefull what should i do? to help

It's highly likely the other barbs did it. Barbs are notorious fin-nippers. They can't be in any tank with long-finned fish for that exact reason. They don't typically go after their own, but back when I had them, they did occasionally do so.