Damaged Fish

[baker360360]

Just got some new fish today and noticed one looks a little rough with most of its tail fin missing. It's been in my tank a few hours and already found it resting on the filter inlet strainer. Can a fish recover from this? I have seen it eat. Should I contact the shop as they have a 5 day guarantee policy...

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Depends what you want to do, if all it is is nipped fins then it can grow back if you provide nice pristine water, just watch out for fin rot.  If you don't want that effort then you could return it (especially if you think it might be otherwise ill).  Personally, if it isn't ill, I'd think it's chances are better with you than at the LFS.  Do you have a hospital tank?  That could work best with a gentle flow to make swimming without it's fins easier.

 

[baker360360]

Depends what you want to do, if all it is is nipped fins then it can grow back if you provide nice pristine water, just watch out for fin rot.  If you don't want that effort then you could return it (especially if you think it might be otherwise ill).  Personally, if it isn't ill, I'd think it's chances are better with you than at the LFS.  Do you have a hospital tank?  That could work best with a gentle flow to make swimming without it's fins easier.

I don't have any other tank and the lfs is far from me I don't drive, so running it back will require a lift from someone. The fish is a shell dweller cichlid and has gone out of site behind rocks on the gravel so I think it has a chance to rest were the flow is calm. I'm concerned that it won't be able to access food from there. I'm thinking of getting some live daphnia to increase its chances of eating.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Do you have a breeding net?  If not, you could attempt to make one...  a quick one would be to cut the top and bottom off a 2 litre plastic bottles, sandpaper the edges and wash it... the cover the bottom and sides with pantyhose and figure out a way to hang it in your tank.  It would protect your fish from too much current and allow you to feed him on his own as he heals.

 

[baker360360]

The fish lost a lot of weight and wasn't getting better so I pulled my tank apart to find it and I made a make shift spot for her using my fish net and some sucktion pads. She's been in there for 4 days with a shell. She's eating and put all the weight back on so looking normal in that way she's also using the shell and swimming about. The tail looks like it may be starting to go back. Looking 100 times better I won't to leave it another week before thinking about getting her back with the others

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yay!  Sounds like great progress.