Splitting Tails

[This Old Spouse]

Well of course keep an eye on him to be sure nothing develops, but I really wouldn't worry too much.

Are your water parameters excellent? My oldest fancy guppy came from a home where the water params weren't the greatest, but once I had him for a few weeks, his tail healed and I haven't had a problem since.

 

[thisguyek]

yes my water is where it should be.

buuuutttt.... i was looking my tank over just now and i noticed one of my smaller female platys' tail looks quite red and a bit frayed. Its not clear like the others. Its a twin bar, so it has its black stripe, then clear fin, then a patch of red, clear, black stripe. it looks like shes compacting it... instead of fanning it out like the rest of them. shes not as active as the rest of them, but shes not hunkered down in a corner either.



should i be concerned now?


i just don't know enough/had enough experience with fin rot to know if thats actually what i have. it is not as bad as pictures ive seen researching... but maybe because its not to that stage yet??

I did a water change monday, should i do another one?

 

[thisguyek]

well my power just came back on after 3.5hrs... in which case i find my platy with a bad tail dead and my guppies lower half of his tail missing... FML


water change in the morning i guess

 

[This Old Spouse]

What's eating these tails??? Do you have anything but guppies and platies in the tank?

 

[soybean]

Can you post your exact water readings, and what method you are using to test ie strip or liquid, please.

 

[thisguyek]

Can you post your exact water readings, and what method you are using to test ie strip or liquid, please.

Just did a test... Ph 8.1, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 15 using the API master liquid test kit. temp is 79F

What's eating these tails??? Do you have anything but guppies and platies in the tank?

the only other fish is a 7" Pleco. but i never had problems with it before that i know of (maybe?)

 

[This Old Spouse]

Hey, just looked at your profile to see how big your tank is and noticed you're a cheesehead! My hubby was born in LaCrosse.

Anyway, with a 7" pleco you're asking for trouble. The bigger they get the more unpredictable. He's going to get much too big for your tank, so you should probably look at rehoming him soon. They honestly have been known to crash through tanks when they get big enough!

 

[thisguyek]

yep! born and raised cheesehead! lol


so you think its my plec then? hes one of my originals... what should i do with it then? i just find it odd that its tail has been split for this long and its been left alone... any idea what happened to my platy?!?! that came out of nowhere!!

 

[This Old Spouse]

It could be your plec. It's so hard to tell. Since they're mostly nocturnal, it could be doing the damage at night when you can't see it.

At any rate, it will eventually outgrow your tank, guaranteed. Ask your LFS if they'll take it. If not, maybe a zoo or public aquarium? Maybe an ad on your local Freecycle.

 

[thisguyek]

there really isnt any type of aquarium nearby (within 2-3hrs) of where i am... you think someplace like petco or petsmart would take it? what would they do with it?

 

[thisguyek]

you think that could explain why my neons and danios i had once upon a time all disappeared?

 

[Didge007]

I havnt read through this whole convo (very tired), but one of my angels has ridiculously long thick fins & seems to be good at splitting his tail. I've put it down to when I feed the tank he dives at the food between rock caves, gets himself stuck, wiggled himself through then continues to do it to other bits of food. Why he can't eat from the top like the other fish is beyond me

 

[thisguyek]

well after focusing and re-focusing my eyes, trying to see what is going on with mu guppy, i have come to the conclusion that its tail is starting to grow back. the bottom half of his tail, which is just a stump, has the appearance of the end of a fin. I think i will still try to dig out my old 10 gal, but not sure when i can find time to clean it and set it back up... he might just have to walk it off for a while! lol. none of my other fish are showing sings of damaged fins yet (except for my oldest male platy, but i suspect that was from horseplay over a female). Ill keep you updated on my guppy!

 

[thisguyek]

Here are a couple pics of the poor guy. hopefully someone out there can confirm what we got here.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Wow. That actually looks like he got it caught in the impeller or something. Is that possible? It's an awfully clean break.