I need immediate help!! (Not sure if this will be a happy survival story or not yet) My poor fry!!

So I was checking on my fish and went to the fry tank.
I was feeding them all and not concerned cause it looked like they were all there eating everything.
But then I noticed qn object behind the tank on the walls ledge... I thought maybe a leaf somehow got there but NO! It was one if my fry!
I immediately just thought he was dead (it was one of my males and I don't have a lot of them )
So I grabbed a long pair of the aquascaping tweezers and very gently pulled him up and put him on a paper towel. I could see that his back fin was almost completely dried and his back has a white line from his top fin drying out.
But then he twitched his fin and did a TINY bit of movement.
I didn't keep my hopes high and thought maybe it was nerves but I put him back into the tank just in case. I used the tweezers to move him around and move water through his gills.
He actually started to move around and his tail start was starting to "rehydrate"!
He is moving but is VERY shocked and stressed so he only makes a small jump and tries to stay afloat but falls down cause of how weak he is.
You can see him on this photo kinda leaning to the side but he moves his fins and I'm hoping for a nice recovery!


If he pulls through I'm keeping him and he NEEDS a name!
P
Is there ANYTHING I can do? Should I use salt? I'm going to do a water change as well today...

I can tell he has a lot of fight and a will to live!
Luckily I found him.. He could have dried out completely.

I don't think there is anything you can do.
Either he will die or will pull through.

Just leave the fish alone, no "treatments" will do any good...he may or may not make it

Tight-fitting lid?

connorlindeman said:

I don't think there is anything you can do.
Either he will die or will pull through.

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Ok .. I'm going to do a small water change on the tank. I hope that will help.
I don't want to lose him

Slaphppy7 said:

Just leave the fish alone, no "treatments" will do any good...he may or may not make it

Tight-fitting lid?

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Ok. Thank you. I will try to just leave it. May do a water change though....

He's moving a LITTLE bit more, so that's good but he turns over on his side a lot...

I never worried about a tight fitting lid. This was a tank set up in a hurry with the fry needing a place to live. I'm about to tear down the tank in HOPEFULLY less than a month as well sooo...

Sometimes he will swim semi-normally, but then he does this and lays on his side

Doesn't look good...you need a lid, or keep the water level lower

Slaphppy7 said:

Doesn't look good...you need a lid, or keep the water level lower

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Ok. Maybe I will bring the water level down but I don't like doing that cause it contaminates quicker...

Right now he has a fuzzy white film (aka excess slime coat) on him... So I'm hoping his natural processes will aid him

Thank you for the help! I do appreciate it!

Rocky998 said:

Thank you for the help! I do appreciate it!

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Always welcome

I hope he survives! Try not to disturb him or he may be more stressed.

If he survives, name him "Lucky"

Fishmanic said:

If he survives, name him "Lucky"

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I've decided on Wooble if I keep him

Alright! Update time!!

He is doing SIGNIFICANTLY better! He is swimming in the middle section of the aquarium now and is a lot more active...
Sadly, I think he has permanent damage to his tail fin from it drying. (Its not flaring like it should, it stays stiff).
So the name Wooble stays lol...
He has discolored a bit but thats normal considering the stress he went through.

It also looks like the dorsal and anal fins are damaged like the tail fin as well... It is kinda stiff but still flows a little...
But definitely recovering well!