Gwenz

One of my Leopard danios (name : Shiny) has a split fin. I noticed this yesterday. One of my other fish (Zebra Danio) had a split fin when I'd just bought him. ( but that was because he got himself stuck in the filter - that was when they were realy small - just makes me realise how much they've grown! They'd never fit in through that little gap now!!) I let his fin heal by itself and he's doing fine now. Should I be doing anything to help/treat Shiny?

I'd put him in the Q tank to treat him but I already have fish in my Q tank. Should he be OK just to be left to heal by itself like I did with my other fish or should I be doing something?

I did a water change today. Should just doing more frequent water changes help?
I have Melafix - would that be ok to help him. If I treated him with Melafix without moving him from the tank, would the Melafix harm the other fish?

Thanks

Gwenz

Richard

IMO,as long as it's not fin-rot,he'll heal just fine over time..I've never used the dissolvable vitamin blocks before but I can only imagine that they'd help his immune system and hasten his recovery..dunno if anyone else here has used them to weigh in on their benefits..they're pyramid-shaped and contain a bunch of vitamins including 'C',and you just drop them in your aquarium.

Gwenz

Thanks Richard. He's swimming fine. I think I might just leave him to heal by itself.

I was wondering, how could he have torn his fin? In the tank I have 2x Leopard danios, 6x Zebra Danios, 6x Neon Tetras, a cave, a small rock, a few small ornaments, a fake plant and 2 live plants (Vellisnaria spirals (sp?) ) All these things have been in there since I've had the tank. Nothings changed in there. Any ideas what might have happened?

Thanks

Gwenz

Gwenz

I know I wrote this post ages ago, but Shiny's fin still isnt healed properly. The fin has kind of healed itself back together, but it's not how it was before. It still kind of flapps aroround a bit. He has a little black/brown line where the fin was split now. It doesn't seem to bother him at all. Do you think this is just how it's going to be now? He seems fine, so I don't know.

Thanks

Gwenz

Isabella

One or two of my angels had a lightly split fin once or twice. I let it heal on its own. I do large and frequent water changes in that tank (50% twice a week ... yes, lol, because the tank is full of angels, way too many as for a 30 gallon tank), so I didn't add any medications. The fins healed literally within 2-3 days. (Though the splits were rather small.)

chickadee

Some fish fins grow back very slowly but since you had no trouble with the other Danio I doubt that this is the case here. I am wondering if he got it hurt and has picked up a little bacterial infection. Marty got bacterial fin rot and it took forever for his fins to regenerate and one of the otos had a little fin that got caught under a piece of gravel and torn. He took forever to heal and I finally ended up having to isolate him and do a water change almost every day (about 20%) just to make sure it was clean as possible. The isolation tank was a new bucket with NO GRAVEL at all to hold dirt and I syphoned every water change. I also made sure that he was warm and still had to give him half doses of Melafix before it was regrowing. It helped to grow back. My fish do get vitamins every day and it does say that they do improve their immune systems and help to regenerate damaged tissue faster. I do believe that there has been good results for the most part as I have only had the 2 little guys get really sick with something bacterial. The Otos got well very fast when I finally put him in a really, really clean areal where there was nothing he could reinjure himself on.

You may also want to watch the tetras. they do nip fins sometimes.

Rose

Gwenz

Thanks. Maybe it is the tetras. I did have 6, but one died, so now I have 5. Since then I have noticed that they chase each other more frequently now. Should I maybe get another one?

A few Qustions :
1) When you say you put your oto in a bucket, how big was the bucket? Did it have a filter/heater in there?
2) I never heard of giving vitamins to fish before. What are they like? Should I be giving them to my fish?
3) I have a Cory (Mo) in my Q tank. He will be leaving there soon, to go to the 7.5gal. Should I move Shiny to the Q tank once I've moved Mo out, just to be sure?



Thanks

Gwenz

chickadee

My bucket is a 24 quart or would be 22.7 liters to you.* (BIG bucket) and I have never used it for anything else but a fish quarantine area when I have too many fish to quarantine like when I buy more than one type at a time (Betta and Otos at the same time) or when Marty had fin rot and the girls were in the little q tank because of the snail problem.* Yes, I have a filter and heater in it because it is big enough to support one.* The little Duetto or my Eheim Aquaball works great and I keep Bie-spira for that purpose all the time.* or you could just use a small part of your filter media in the filter for bacteria.* I weight down a little fake plant and give them a little rock to hide behind and they have a small lamp over the top of them and I think I have a picture I can post.* Marty actually got mad at me when I put him back in the tank the last time.* He likes the bucked because he can see out the top of it and he has more surface area.* The only drawback is there is no cover so there is nothing to keep fish in who jump.* But my otos and bettas are pretty laid back so i haven't had a problem, i just don't fill the bucket all the way up.* (like an inch or a few centimeters - 3 or 4 from the top)

I started giving my little ones vitamins after I lost my first fish and have given them to them every day since then.* I like them but it is entirely a matter of individual choice.* They say that it increases the fish's immunity to disease and helps their fins to regenerate when they are damaged.* but I do not know because I have never had any damaged fins when they were not taking the vitamins.* Marty was totally stressed when he got finrot the first time and got over it slowly but I understood why he got it.* (change in tank and change in tank mates and change in food - lots of changes all at once)* up until then he was the picture of health.* The little oto got hurt by getting caught under the gravel so i cannot blame that on disease.* But they both healed well and are fine now.* Even when Marty was so sick the other day, it was 24 hours and he was up chasing otos and eating like a piglet again so I do think he is basically healthy but i do not think anything is going to keep them 100% healthy.* The vitamins I give them come in a little squeeze bottle and you give 1 drop per gallon of water per day.* The directions say to give 2 times a week that way and to put it on their food the other 5 times but the bettas won't eat it that way and the otos never get the food eaten the same day I give it to them so into the water it goes.* I think Gunnie uses vitamins on her fish too, if I am not mistaken.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+22763* (Freshwater Variety is what I use)

I think the idea to put Shiny in the q tank you already have set up is a fine one.* You have a cycled filter and heater there and it isn't like Mo was sick just not ready for the 7.5 gallon yet.* Shiny can wait where he is for a few more days unless you see some real deterioration of the rest of his fins and then perhaps you need to move him into another place until he can go into the q tank, but I truly doubt that this will happen.

Rose

I am going to see if I can find the picture of the bucket with the fish in it. The picture I found was of the smaller bucket I used before I got the really big one but you get the idea.

Attached Images

jssm_100_0575.jpg (103.4 KB, 12 views)

Gwenz

Thanks Rose. I think I will wait until Mo has gone to the 7.5gal and then move Shiny in there.

Gwenz