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Hi guys,

I woke up this morning and noticed that one of my neons was hiding in a plant, away from the others and twitching strangely. On further inspection I realised his tail was gone! There is just a ragged stump where it used to be

I've kept neons in my tank for almost two years now and this has never happened! I can't figure out who the culprit is either as I was led to believe the fish I had were relatively docile.

In the tank I have:

9 neon tetras
3 head and tail light tetras
and 6 guppies

Can anyone tell me which one has done this? Also does anyone have any advice on what to do with the neon without the tail? I've heard they can grow back, should I put him in a hospital tank? Is there anything I can do for him?

Thanks!

Vicks

I accidentally placed a piece of wood on a guppy's tail once... He emerged several days later with a ragged stump.
Have you been redecorating the tank?
Is there anything his tail could've got caught on?

When this happened to the guppy, I made sure he was eating and had a place to hide in the main tank... He survived, and grew back his tail. There's hope!

Thanks for the reply!

I did wonder if maybe he had caught it on something but I really can't think of what. Nope no redecorating.
Glad your guppy got his tail back!!
Hopefully my neon will get his back too!

Vicks

I would put him in the hospital tank & wait till he's better. Add some Melafix & keep the water clean.


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I'm not sure if this is a stupid question.... but how long approximately would it take for a fish to grow back a tail??? only because i do have 2 guppies that have nipped tails..and also my female JD is all mangled from being in such a little tank with al the other JD's.. and I'm just wondering if it will ever mend completely...

Again..sorry if it's a stupid question...

Depends entirely on the fish, small fish with high metabolic rates can replace fin tissue in as little as a few days, with others, especially larger and armoured fish with dense bones and tough cartilage structures it could take months or never happen. The simpler the physionomy of the fish, generally the faster it regenerates. With small fish like guppies with large tails it usually takes a few weeks for little tears to fix, and a few months for almost entirely lost tails. Generally if the stump at the rear of the fish is badly damaged the fins never regrow. The same goes for the smaller fins around the body, if its cut too short the small bones and muscle tissues retreat, and scar tissue forms over the top preventing the fin from growing back.

ps. with small tetras make sure it isnt fungus or finrot, it doesnt always show up as white patches or fluff, and sometimes its easy to assume the fin has been forcibly removed when it may have in fact been rotted by fungus or eaten by bacteria rapidly .

Thanks for the info everyone.

I had a good long look at the tank this morning and noticed that another tetra has no tail and its top fin is half gone. Also, my guppies are starting to act very strange. They're not as active as usual and are just hanging lifeless in the water sliding down the side of the tank One of my male guppies also has a ragged tail! It used to be beautiful

Do you think this is finrot??

Last week I bought 5 new neons for the tank, could they have been infected? How quickly does finrot spread? Would all the fish catch it or just the tetras?
I remember at the time when I was buying the neons I noticed a larger fish in the tank, not sure what kind, and it had no tail! I asked about it and was told it had been nipped off.

What do you think?
Thanks

Vicks

Can you post a close up picture of your fish?. It would help alot.


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I don't have a digicam sorry but I'll try and borrow one.
On the neons there is just a stump where the tail used to be and the top fin thats half gone just looks like its been torn but my guppy's tail is different, it looks like theres little pieces of it missing and theres white marks on the end.

My fish really do look unwell now, a few of my guppies are starting to lose balance in the water and swim upside down.

Now 3 of the tetras have had their tails chopped off and to be honest they're acting very aggressive. They keep darting about and chasing each other, they've never acted like this before! They're not schooling either, haven't done for a few days now. They're all off on their own around the tank and chasing each other, very agitated.

Vicks

I think its a fair assumption to say youve got finrot in that tank, go with anti fungus and finrot meds to be sure, A bout of fin nipping might have started the whole thing off, but you have to deal with the finrot now. The only thing left now is to determine whether its fungal or bacterial in origin, try melafix and pimafix for a week and see if things improve, if not go for some hardcore meds.Get on the water changes too.

Thanks for the info - can finrot kill fish? Because I've just lost 4 guppies There were a few babies in there too that have now died and the rest don't look very healthy. They're all either floating at the top gasping for breath or lying on the bottom. Is this definitely down to the finrot or could there be something else going on?

Vicks

It certainly can kill fish,as it progresses it absorbs nutrients from the fish's tissues, absorbing essential fats sugars and minerals, leaving the fish debilitated. The loss of fin tissue also leaves the fish exhausted from swimming all the harder to compensate for its lack of swimming ability. In the final stages chunks of tissue may rot and become septacaemic, and the fish dies of a combination of weakness,and blood and organ poisoning. That is of course if the fish's immune system doesnt fail completely and it becomes victim to the multitude of potentially lethal bacteria that are present in almost everyones tank.One problem generally will lead to another, and I suspect most people fish usually die from more than one problem, singular ailments are comparatively rare.Fungi and protozoa are well known for their abilities to lower immune systems and lead to a whole range of other infections and complications.

Sometimes a good cleanup of tank conditions will cause peripheral infections to disappear, but you shouldnt really count on this, and go in with an initial clean up, start medications later that day, and then finish after all symptoms have gone (days or even weeks later) with carbon filtration and a more thorough maintenance program of more regular water changes, keeping the gravel almost spotless and making sure all filter equipment runs efficiently. Make sure not to leave uneaten food in the tank or overfeed to start with.

Most fungal infections ( probably 95%) are caused by water quality or cleanliness issues, and the lack of decent quarantine) , and practically anyone with a tank will experience finrot sooner or later.Its not to everyones personal shame that it happens, we all get caught out sooner or later.It is however, a quick wake up call to doublecheck that you are doing enough maintenance. We all need a little reminder now and then.

Sometimes people just get unlucky like times when a fish may injure itself, people have had tanks go toxic or invaded with bacteria and fungi because a tiny piece of food, even stuff you wouldnt guess, like garlic, or pears,even fruit acids in the water. Large communities will inevitably get the odd dead fish, and sometimes its a while before the corpse is spotted if theres a lot of decoration in there. Sometimes the water flow is at fault leaving detritus to build in places you might not expect, places like on the back or in crevices on bogwood not even in the substrate, sometimes fish will lay eggs that rot and this will start things. Then theres powercuts and equipment failures etc. Point is the possibilities are endless and usually all solved with one thing- a thorough clean out and water changes.

Youve had several deaths though, so things are afoot, so get some meds for fungus and finrot, and maybe melafix and pimafix, and a good antibiotic or antibacterial if things persist. These things never seem to go away on their own, and most people lose their fish while in a period of indecision as to what to do about it. Personally I get stuck straight in, and consequently I have very few losses.

It sounds like the water quality at the moment is having a bit of a nightmare, presumably no ammonia , nitrite, and nitrate readings from you mean you havent got a test kit or havent used one recently. You REALLY do need one. Start with about a 50% water change making sure you use dechlorinator to start. Get a test kit or have your local fish shop do a quick test for you so you know what your up against. Ideally ammonia and nitrite should be zero, and nitrate should be less than 40 parts per million (ppm). Any ammonia or nitrite reading of more than zero is generally really bad news.

I dont know how sound your basic fishkeeping is, but anything you dont know, please dont be afraid to ask, its what were here for.

Good luck.