Can this fish be saved?

[dRoseOFC]

Today I noticed one of my fish sucked up against the filter intake and appears to have lost its tail. Yesterday it was not like this... I have removed the fish and put it in its own hospital tank for now (for the past 30 min now). I just want to make sure Im not putting it through pointless pain and me wasting time trying to save it if its obviously not possible. It is a glofish danio. And yes, until tomorrow morning the hospital tank is a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone running. Its all I have for time being.

 

[Colin_T]

Cant tell anything due to the glare reflecting off the fish.

Is the fish still eating?
What does its poop look like?

If it isn't eating then it's probably on its way out and should be ethanised.
You can maybe wait until tomorrow morning and see if it eats, if it doesn't then put it down.

 

[itiwhetu]

No

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I think you probably know the answer to your question already tbh

Without a tail, a fish is pretty much done for, there will be high levels of distress and pain involved when the injury happened and that distress and pain will only increase with every movement that the fish makes.

The kindest thing for you to do is to euthanise it with clove oil/water mix. Takes a few seconds to go and although none of us like to have to put fish to sleep, it is the best treatment for fish that are so severely injured and where their quality of life will be so poor.

 

[dRoseOFC]

Cant tell anything due to the glare reflecting off the fish.

Is the fish still eating?
What does its poop look like?

If it isn't eating then it's probably on its way out and should be ethanised.
You can maybe wait until tomorrow morning and see if it eats, if it doesn't then put it down.

Sorry. Ill try getting a better pic. Deff isnt easy , i promise i tried.. One sec tho

 

[Lynnzer]

I'd be concerned as to how it lost its tail. If a fish gets sucked up against a rotating fan on a filter then you have a problem with how you use your equipment. However, if it just pulled up againt the filter panel it obviously didn't have the strength to swim away so got stuck there. That doesn't result in losing a tail though.
It seems to me that there's been a dust up with another fish and it lost the fight when it's tail was eaten off. Perhaps watch out for this happening to other fish.
Anhyway, the question...... If it can't swim it'll just go downhill from here on in. Clove oil it.

 

[dRoseOFC]

Learned some things with my phone camera..i did google it before coming here and every where I read says fish can grow their tails and fins back. It just doesnt really say how much.

 

[Lynnzer]

I'd say the chance of that growing back is very small.

 

[dRoseOFC]

I'd be concerned as to how it lost its tail. If a fish gets sucked up against a rotating fan on a filter then you have a problem with how you use your equipment. However, if it just pulled up againt the filter panel it obviously didn't have the strength to swim away so got stuck there. That doesn't result in losing a tail though.
It seems to me that there's been a dust up with another fish and it lost the fight when it's tail was eaten off. Perhaps watch out for this happening to other fish.
Anhyway, the question...... If it can't swim it'll just go downhill from here on in. Clove oil it.

It is a fluval fx, so anything rotating would have been far away from where it was sucked up against. In this tank I have some yoyo loaches (like 5), 4 kuhli loaches, a glofish shark, a really small sucker fish (cant recall name, only grows to an inch, type of catfish I think), and 3 glofish barbs. So basically got my daughter some glofish thinking good first pet, wrong, so i ended up with them, upgraded tank to 75 gallon and added the rest of the normal fish.

 

[dRoseOFC]

I'd say the chance of that growing back is very small.

Lol ok thats sort of what I was thinking but wasnt sure with the little research I did do alls I could really find was that its possible but couldnt find to what extent. The fish is still breathing and every once in a while itll do some fresh breakdance moves bobbin its head like its listening to some good music. Jk. I dont mean to sound heartless. Just looks like a little OG fish when it tries to swim. I did see a youtube vid awhile back, I believe anyways, that mentioned barbs as being fin nippers.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Learned some things with my phone camera..i did google it before coming here and every where I read says fish can grow their tails and fins back. It just doesnt really say how much.

Can you imagine the pain that fish is feeling each and every single time that it tries to move? Or how its balance is all gone cos the tail helps with the balance of a fish, not just its directional movement and basic swimming ability?

Not to mention that it has probably become infected right into the cartilage structures of the spine which will be excrutiating every time it tries to swish a tail that is no longer there.

Euthanise the poor thing, please do not be cruel just cos Google said it might grow back cos it is highly unlikely and the longer that fish is alive in that state its stress levels, pain levels and general feeling of being unwell are increasing.

 

[dRoseOFC]

I think you probably know the answer to your question already tbh

Without a tail, a fish is pretty much done for, there will be high levels of distress and pain involved when the injury happened and that distress and pain will only increase with every movement that the fish makes.

The kindest thing for you to do is to euthanise it with clove oil/water mix. Takes a few seconds to go and although none of us like to have to put fish to sleep, it is the best treatment for fish that are so severely injured and where their quality of life will be so poor.

Ive done the clove oil thing once before. Just to make sure what I read is the way to go, basically get the fish drunk on some vodka and then after a bit add the clove oil? I will deff relook up the steps, but just to be sure it involves some alc and toothache drops.

 

[dRoseOFC]

Can you imagine the pain that fish is feeling each and every single time that it tries to move? Or how its balance is all gone cos the tail helps with the balance of a fish, not just its directional movement and basic swimming ability?

Not to mention that it has probably become infected right into the cartilage structures of the spine which will be excrutiating every time it tries to swish a tail that is no longer there.

Euthanise the poor thing, please do not be cruel just cos Google said it might grow back cos it is highly unlikely and the longer that fish is alive in that state its stress levels, pain levels and general feeling of being unwell are increasing.

I agree. I honestly wasnt sure. When I googled it, nearly everything I read made it sound completely normal and that even though it may look bad, fish grow them back all the time. Wasnt sure to what extent, so I posted pic on here. I don't drink though so I have no alcohol. Maybe some sailor jerry actually, unless alcohol isnt necessary

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Ive done the clove oil thing once before. Just to make sure what I read is the way to go, basically get the fish drunk on some vodka and then after a bit add the clove oil? I will deff relook up the steps, but just to be sure it involves some alc and toothache drops.

You do not need to use alcohol at all

Warm water in a bowl, add a 4-5 drops of clove oil, mix (it will go cloudy) and add the fish. It takes a few seconds for the fish to go to sleep and the heart stops.

 

[Lynnzer]

It may sound extremely heartless but a quick slap with a heavy object also causes no pain. And the heart stops immediately. Just saying like ..........