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I got 4 new fish on monday night and by tuesday night i noticed that Sally, my sailfin pleco had 2 tears in her pectoral fins and a round hole in the middle of it aswell. I was in the middle of setting up another tank to change the new fish into when the heater went bung, so instead i took cuttings of plants and tried to put in some more hiding areas etc.

By Wednesday night i noticed Sally's fins weren't as bad, By friday the hole in her fin was gone and the other tears were hardly noticable and by tonight she has completely healed.

I've been told that my water conditions would have to be perfect for her to heal herself so fast is this true?

Also i've decided that i don't think it was the new fish that done this to her as if it was they would have kept doing it to her and she wouldn't have had time to heal herself. I'm thinking maybe she darted off under some driftwood and maybe tore her fin on the way past.

If your water quality is good the fish can heal themselves.

fish are just like people, they can heal fine on their own if the conditions are right.

As for the injuries - it is possible that they were caused by the new fish. Plecs can be susceptable to change, and can also injure themselves by scooting round the tank if distressed by something.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Thanks for the help she is completely healed now and i've been sitting there of a night time with the light off and every now and then shining a torch into the tank to see if perhaps the were attacking her nocturnally, however she has now more tears or anything and she doesn't seem to be bothered by any fish in the tank. That said however i will still be keeping a very strict eye on her just in case.