Guppys shredded tails

[MarkF]

having rescued my 2 Blue Guppys from my new Betta, they are safe in the fry tank - how long till their tails repair ? Should i feed them some high protein food or something as well - The tails are just missing a few bits as i managed to get them out fast - Thanks

 

[x_swan_x]

My male guppie had a run-in with something too,his tail was ripped straight down the middle,the healing process took around 6 weeks till it knitted together again,although I can still see the scar,but hey.."he's a dude!" 8)

 

[bigfish]

Use a product melafix and keep water clean to avoid a secondary infection, should see results in 2-3 days.

Do the fins appear clean, no fluffy white edging or red streak's in them?

 

[MountGuppy]

ive had a fishwith a broken tail for a week and it still hasn't mended

 

[bigfish]

Try melafix it does work, and important to keep water very clean so that the wound doesn't get infected.

Is the guppy swimming well and eating normally?

 

[shecho]

I have rescued my 4 guppys from my betta tank as well....but 2 of the males have had their tails chewed...they are in community tank and seem to be doing fine after 2 weeks....do I need to put melafix in the water? will it be ok for the rest of the fish? does the melafix help the tail grow better or just kep them from infection?

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi - sorry to hear about your guppies. I've got an injured guppy in my hospital tank too (injured by his own kind, sadly).

Tails do usually grow back, unless they've been injured from the root like my male cherry barb. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the fish can't survive happily, although he'd look really odd.

The time taken varies according to the severity of the injury and the size of the tail - my betta's fins are slowly growing back after he was attacked by some tetras (who probably mistook him for some giant fly wings), but it's going to take several weeks.

Melafix is soluble tea-tree oil (you may have heard of tea-tree oil being used in humans for fungal infections and acne? ). It's a relatively mild anti-bacterial, anti-fungal product that can help prevent infections occurring in these kinds of situations. It is safe for your filter and won't do any harm, but remember to take any carbon out of your filter if you have any in there.

Depending on what other species you have in there, salt can be useful to aid healing.