Male Pearl Gouramis Finnage Still Hasn't Grown Back

[Elisabeth83]

Well for some reason 1-2 months ago my male pearl gouramis fan type finnage on the top and bottom fins started to just fall off. I didn't treat straight away ..I tried to stop it with frequent water changes and adding garlic to the water. I got a little worried last week so I decided to try some fin rot medication which I used for 4 days ..I don't see any improvements but I can't really see that it's getting worse either.

Could it be permanent damage? None of the other fish in the tank have lost any of their fins. I have 5 cherry barbs, 5 harlequin rasboras 1 bristlenose pleco and a female pearl gourami.

My male acts normal. He eats and swims around fine.

edit: I just wanted to add that the males finnage started to fall off when I moved him from one tank into another so I'm thinking it was stress related. I usually do 2 25% water changes a week.

 

[sylvia]

I suppose you are reffering to the extended fin rays dropping off - it could have been stress-related or due to a change in water parameters - regardless, if it's just these edges and the remaining fin has not been infected, they should eventualy begin growing back. If the fish is not fully grown it'll happen quicker and he'll probably recover fully so you won't even be able to tell the difference. However, if he is fully grown (or if he is still stressed), it may take a lot longer. Fully grown fish also may not fully regain the length of the fins either. However, as long as the damage wasn't done at the base of the fin, it isn't anything to worry about and should heal up and re-grow (to some extent) if you are patient. It won't happen overnight though. Give it a few months.

BTW, I love the fish in your avatar.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi Sylvia, Thanks for responding!

He is young and has quite a bit more growing to do but the worry I have is that his rays dropped off about 2 months ago and I still can't see significant re-growth

I just took some pictures of him. You can see some little rays sticking out but they look thick and short and his others were very long and thin so that's one of the reasons why I asked if this was permanant damage as they look thick and stunted now.


Here's the pics what do you think? Oh and sorry about the dirty glass...it looked clean but I guess the flash shows the truth

By the way I love the fish in my avatar too. I'm sure you know what it is but I'll tell ya anyways it's a Scarlet Badis Badis..I would love to get a pair someday.

 

[sylvia]

I see what you mean about the stumpy-ness of those fin rays but they don't look to be infected or fungused or anything so I still think you should just give it time. It may very well be that he never regains the exact length on those that he had before but, with time, all the rays should become extended and it shouldn't be as noticeable.

I love badis - they are such beautiful fish. I've been wanting some badis badis badis (the normal type - but the scarlets are also lovely ) for a while now. I want to set up a 55 gallon species tank. Unfortunately, so far, I have not had the time or money to get this started. It's deffinately the next tank I'll be setting up though...

Lovely photos BTW, the harlequins realy do look lovely with the pearls.