Urgent Help - Beaten Up Tiger

[Miles_hot]

Sorry to double post however I know this section of the form is busy and fast....

We've got 16 tigers who are still sitting out their pecking order. Grumpy took a bit of a beating and lost some of his Paul but he's coping. This evening we've noticed that another one is in a poor state with all of the delicate section of his Paul gone in tatters and the rear edge of the dorsal fine is tattered like a flag in a gale.
He seems to be using his front fins for most of the locomotion required but is head down mist if the time and seems to be having trouble nor floating upwards (ie is expending a lot of effort to do so)
We have a hospital tank available, at what point should we pull him out or does he need to stay in the pack / shoal? Will they turn on him when he cones back / pine when he is away?
Thanks for your quick replies - our instinct is to intervene but we don't know if it is wise.
Miles

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd take him out now. It's most shoaling fish's natural instinct to pick on sick fish so as to remove them from the shoal and not attract predators, so it'll probably only get worse.

 

[minnnt]

Assuming you're using auto correct and mean tail? lol.

Yes remove the affected ones and nurse back to health if you have the means to do so. Most tail injuries caused by nipping etc will regrow within a week or 2.

 

[Miles_hot]

Ah yes the joy of predictive text. Ok he's in the hospital tank but seems to be having trouble getting away from.the filter. Am I safe switching it off?

 

[minnnt]

No, you need to leave it running otherwise it will be the end of him for sure.

Is he struggling in the flow or to actually get away from it? Turn it down or face it towards the glass/rock/wood etc to disperse the flow.

 

[Miles_hot]

It is a u2 and he keep getting stuck to the bottom of it or side (ie the intake) and is unable to swim more than 1 cm from it before being pulled in again.
We've put a sinking pellet that the always go mad for (meant for the loachs) at the other end and he's not able to get to it. Mind you I've had the filter off for 5 min and he's still not interested... might take that out in a moment.
Can I safety cover one aide of the filter or will that just create a maelstrom on the other side?
Miles

 

[minnnt]

Blimey, he must be very weak. If you have a piece of wood or slate that you could place against it then it may help. make sure it's on the spray bar setting.

 

[Miles_hot]

Ok, taken the pellet out as he wasn't interested and we don't need an ammonia issue. As side note the main tank was on their starving day (hence the thought that feeding might raise his energy levels and did recovery)

Minnnt
At the moment as the filter is brand new all it is doing is providing circulation - in his weakened condition is this useful to him?...

 

[minnnt]

Shouldn't make a difference. Just keep an eye on him, try and block the filter intakes a little but not too much and leave him be in the dark. Then do a water change tomorrow of at least 20%. Water changes every other day will help immensely with the repairing of fins. You will be suprised!

Is the filter cycled? You will need to add some cycled media from your main tank if not.

 

[Miles_hot]

Filter is still off and he's swimming around in the tank more, are you sure he needs the circulation ?
If we do big water changes every day to ensure the ammonia stays low (zero) ...

 

[minnnt]

If the filter is uncycled then there is no use for it really. A filters main priority is to filter the water to remove toxins such as ammonia produced by the fish when it poo's. It's secondary use is to add circulation.

You could do a 50% water change everyday, but it may be very stressful for the fish.

 

[Miles_hot]

Maybe I over spec'd the filter - a u2 for a 5 gallon tank? I can get a smaller one if needed. We chose the u2 for the bio media.

 

[minnnt]

You will only need a small filter for that sized tank, even a sponge filter run from an air pump will be sufficient. Get yourself to P@H and get the little filter they sell, it's about a fiver and providing you have an air pump already it will be more than suitable for the 25L tank you have. You can kind of cycle if by rinsing your old filter media in some old tank water and ensure that some of the 'muck' gets onto the new filters sponge. Not ideal, but better than just shoving it in with nothing.

 

[Miles_hot]

Given our last cycle was 100 days I'll try to find some way of using the existing filter media bit I'll get that filter if nothing else comes up (not having an air pump - what sort of thing do I need)

 

[minnnt]

Just the cheapest one you can find. Also get a clamp for the pipe to control the bubbles.