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Freshwater Fish Disease Forum for discussing freshwater aquarium fish disease. Are your fish dieing or do you think your fish might have ich? Post your questions here and the Fish Lore members will help sort you out. Also see the following articles: Freshwater Fish Disease Chart, Quarantine Tank Setup, Ich: Old Cure for Old Disease, Sick Fish, What To Do

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Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
injured fin =(, please help!

I noticed that one of my beloved silver hatchet fish has been swimming a bit crookedly; looked like he was favoring one side. When I looked closer, I saw that one of his fins looks fairly limp and he does not move it as he does the other.
I have no idea what could have happened! I hate the thought of him being uncomfortable. Is there anything I can do for him? Does anyone have any knowledge of this sort of occurrence?
Thank you.
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
What other fish are in the tank with him? It could be possible that another fish could have got to his fin or that he got his fin caught on a decoration or something.

Do you have a quarantine tank you can put him in until his fin heals?
ShaynaB is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
Thanks for answering, Shayna.
He's in with 1 other silver hatchet, 2 marble hatchets (they're a bit smaller) and 2 algae eaters (my tired mind stupidly can't remember their proper name ><). I've never seen them bother each other.
I wonder if he did get it caught on a decoration or perhaps when jumping (which he occasionally does).
I don't have a quarantine tank. =( If I did, how long would you leave him in it?
Thanks again.
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
It could be from a jump or a decoration.

How are your water test readings? (Just in case!)

Well, fin regrowth depends really. It could be really quick or take a couple months. Does his fin look torn or is it just limp?
ShaynaB is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Master
 
If you can get some garlic guard (or fresh garlic in a jar) and add a few drops daily with some 25% or so water changes, as well as some fish protector and vita chem, those will help him heal well...poor fella I hope he gets better soon..keeping their water changed a bit daily is a must when they have some fin issues...goodluck!
Shawnie is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaynaB View Post
It could be from a jump or a decoration.

How are your water test readings? (Just in case!)

Well, fin regrowth depends really. It could be really quick or take a couple months. Does his fin look torn or is it just limp?
The fin just looks limp, not torn, thank goodness. My water test readings are good, also, thank goodness:P
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnie View Post
If you can get some garlic guard (or fresh garlic in a jar) and add a few drops daily with some 25% or so water changes, as well as some fish protector and vita chem, those will help him heal well...poor fella I hope he gets better soon..keeping their water changed a bit daily is a must when they have some fin issues...goodluck!
Thanks for replying, Shawnie! I've never heard of garlic guard; I didn't know that garlic was good for fish. What does it do? And, what is fish protector? I have Prime that I put in their water when I change it. Is that like vita chem?
How much water should I change daily?
Sorry for all the questions, and thank you again!
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 1st, 2008  
Fish Mentor
 
The garlic guard is a garlic suplement which is good for fish as it boosts their inmune system and helps them eat. The fish protector is a water conditioner that also has a lot of benefits for them; calming, reducing stress... and the vita chem is just a vitamin suplement to increase his healing.
Alessa is offline  
Old August 2nd, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by alessa1235 View Post
The garlic guard is a garlic suplement which is good for fish as it boosts their inmune system and helps them eat. The fish protector is a water conditioner that also has a lot of benefits for them; calming, reducing stress... and the vita chem is just a vitamin suplement to increase his healing.
Thanks for the info., Alessa. =)
Can I get those products at any pet store, do you know? Are those things I should be giving them all the time?
Thanks!
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 3rd, 2008  
Master Of Fish Poo!
 
www.thatpetplace.com is where we get those 3 products, since it's usually hard to find them locally for most people.
COBettaCouple is offline  
Old August 4th, 2008  
Fish Master
 
Well, seeming as ypou've already been given the advice about healing him up, here is my general hatchet care thing:

So, hatchets are schooling fishes, they need to be kept in groups of at least 6. They have a reputation for being difficult to keep alive because of attempts to keep them in smaller numbers. I personally keep them in groups of at least 8 though, since these fish can show some pretty bad consequences when stressed (I've tried keeping them is small numbers and they are plain difficult!). But remember: you can mix the species of hatchetfish and they will all school together!
You see those little 'wings' on the top of their body? Hatchetfish are the only actively flying fish in the world, they use those 'wings' the propel them through the air, whereas Flying fish only jump and glide. A hatchet can 'fly' several meters away from the danger when stressed. Of course, the increased stress caused by small numbers mean water change time can be tricky. As far as I know, only species from the Carnegiella genus (Marbled, Marthae silver, Pygmy and Dwarf) can jump several meters, although others are good jumpers. For this reason, a tight cover is an absolute MUST!

These fish are easily outcompeted (Platys are peaceful but outcompete them at feeding time!) and I ave lost many hatchets due to malnutrition. They need a carnivorous diet and will not take food from anywhere but the very surface. For this reason, I recommend you feed them carnivorous flake food, and Tetra fresh delcia. Fresh Delcia is really useful when feeding hatchets because you feed it from the very surface. Tiger barbs are bad tankmates because they will outcompete their delicate friends. I find small fishes like Neons and Cherry barbs are good tankmates for hatchets.

I find Marbled hatchets to be less hardy than silvers. I cannot tell you how hardy Marthae silvers tend to be, because I have had mine for only a small amount of time.

A big hazard to your hatchets in a filter! Their bodies are only a few millimeters thick, and they can easily be sucked into your filter to need a grizzly end. I have lost almost an entire school of hatchets to a filter before! So, the answer is to get a special guard for the filter. I find plastic mesh to work well, and cable ties are good to make them tight. Fit this sort of guard to ALL your filters in hatchet containing tanks! They are also useful to prevent small fish being sucked.

There is much debate about the adult size of hatchets. Want to hear my advice? Treat all the common ones as 2". Their bodys are only several millimeters thick, so even if the marbled hatchet does get 8cm (I actually read that in a few places) long it is still a tiny bio load producer.

I find that hatchets LOVE floating plants, Hornwort is an absolutely GREAT plant to have in a hatchet aquarium.

A little word about disease: Marbled hatchets are said to be prone to Ick, but I have not heard of this in other species. This may be another thing arising from the stress of being kept in small numbers, but I am not entirly sure because there is a great lack of info on these amazing fishes!
Blub is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
^Thank you SO much for all of this wonderful advice! It's incredibly helpful and I'll keep it in mind for the soon-to-come new tank. =)
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Master
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e View Post
^Thank you SO much for all of this wonderful advice! It's incredibly helpful and I'll keep it in mind for the soon-to-come new tank. =)
Try to get at least a 29gal - you could fit 8 Hatchets in there with about 15" of fish left.
Blub is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
^I was eyeing a 29gal. tank, as a matter of fact. =) How often would you need to clean such a large tank? I clean my 6gal. once a week.
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Master
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e View Post
^I was eyeing a 29gal. tank, as a matter of fact. =) How often would you need to clean such a large tank? I clean my 6gal. once a week.
NEVER clean it, if by cleaning you mean breaking the tank down and giving everything a good washing. It damages or even destroys the bacteria colonys you worked so hard to create in the nitrogen cycle! The answer are weekly 25% water changes. Much easier, and better for fish!
Blub is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
Oh, I worded it wrong! My mistake. I meant change the water. Oy. ^^;;;;; That made me sound pretty dumb, hah.
But thank you for that answer on how much to change and when!
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Master
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e View Post
Oh, I worded it wrong! My mistake. I meant change the water. Oy. ^^;;;;; That made me sound pretty dumb, hah.
But thank you for that answer on how much to change and when!
No worries. You can always change the water twice a week if you want - your fish will be happier with the cleaner water! But 1 25% a week is MINIMAL.
Blub is offline  
Old August 5th, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
^In the size I have now, 2x's a week is better, or in the 29gal.? Or both?
Thanks for patiently answering my questions!
Je55*e is offline  
Old August 6th, 2008  
Fish Master
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e View Post
^In the size I have now, 2x's a week is better, or in the 29gal.? Or both?
Thanks for patiently answering my questions!
Both. The more often you do water changes, the better!
Blub is offline  
Old August 6th, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
I've never seen a hatchet - Are they fun? Nice to watch etc...?
Steve113 is offline  
Old August 6th, 2008  
Fish Master
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve113 View Post
I've never seen a hatchet - Are they fun? Nice to watch etc...?
There is a reason I have one in my avatar and my profile page is dedicated to them! They are great fish to watch, especially when a large school dominates the upper region of the tank. They're a bit like tetras in care, except they are easily outcompeted and easily sucked up by the filter.
Blub is offline  
Old August 6th, 2008  
Fish Keeper
 
Thanks hatchethaven =)
Je55*e is offline  
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