I Need Some Advise.

[karin15]

yeah so 2 days ago my walking catfish (so called, it looks like a white tadpole with wiskers white with red eyes) got its tail bitten off right to the bone by my golden gouarmi, this cat fish is a sort of eel tail cat fish kinda, I bought it without knowing what it realy was I know it grows about a foot long, anywais ever since it has been eating fine and swimming around the tank verry active as if nothing happend, my tanks readings are 0. 0. 3 nitrate, i did a huge water change today and I added a powerfilter with a 4 sponge, 1 carbon, filtration attachment, and about 5 new plants... anywais ive never had a problem with dieases, once I bought an angel fish from petcetera and when I brought it home I realized it was coverd in white spot (didnt notice because the angel fish is practicaly completly white with some gold near his head) and he heald in about 4 days, didn't quarintine him or use medication or anything... whatever I'm doing the fish seems to be doing fine so I didn't do anything (I was going to quarintien him in a fry net but he has no trouble completing for food he is still as greedy as he was a week ago when I bought him)

ok so dose anyone have any Idea's of what I can do to help him heal faster?

plz try to keep the self ritious rants and the prophicies of doom to a minimal, I only need some help thanks.
(yes I know I can't spell in english)
i'm going to go to planet catfish to see if I cant get the proper name of this catfish.

ps: no hes not getting bullied around the tank, my gourami has a bad habit of randomly takeing chunks out of fish, he bit my angelfish about 5 times now her fins heal realy fast.

my gut instinct tells me hes going to be fine, however I have no idea if his tail is going to grow back or not.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

depends how bad it is really, can you post a pic?

i usually treat with melafix to help heal wounds

 

[karin15]

actauly I my mom just got a new camara phone ill try to get some pics up tommorow.

ok let me illustrate here

say the fish is this long
-----------------------------((((
ok now say the gourami comes along and decides to be a jerk lol
he is now this long, like the actaul finn got bitten off and a little extra
---------------------------
ok this I realy need to get pics up.

ok i found one it
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...p?species_id=90

this is the catfish I bought for sure, he an very albino version

 

[Miss Wiggle]

aaaah clarias catfish, i love them, hope you've got a big tank!

 

[karin15]

I do = D

so is it beter to take the fish put him in a big jar with watter from your tankand add some melflax and leave him in for about an hour or two with the lid open, seeing as these fish can breath air, would that be better than treating the hole tank?

 

[andywg]

Well, it sounds like a fairly nasty injury, though have no fear, should the cat survive he will soon get his revenge by consuming the gourami. They are regarded as one of the (if not the) hardiest catfish there is.

I know you don't want criticism, but I would estimate you have 6-12 months before the clarias starts to see pretty much everything in that tank as a swimming lunch. Check out this thread for more info on Clarias catfish.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I do = D

so is it beter to take the fish put him in a jar and add some melflax and leave him in for about an hour or two with the lid open, seeing as these fish can breath air and can live out of water for a long time, would that be better than treating the hole tank?

in a jar no way!

if you have a spare decent size tank with a mature filter and heater by all means move him to there and treat him there as it's only him who needs treating, however unless you have proper conditions to keep him in then it's going to do more harm than good, if he's in water that's not properly kept clean then he's going to be much more likely to pick up and infection and get even more ill.

if you don't have a hospital tank then treat the whole tank.

 

[andywg]

bah, double post

 

[Squid]

Karin15,

You say "no rants" etc, and this is not a rant. But.. if there is a fish that is biting other fish, then you have a compatibility problem. Yes you do need to know how to heal the fish (as miss wiggle has offered advice), but you also need to sort out the problem as to why the fish are getting hurt. You say he's not being bullied, but i doubt he thinks the same with his tail missing

Squid

 

[karin15]

I do = D

so is it beter to take the fish put him in a jar and add some melflax and leave him in for about an hour or two with the lid open, seeing as these fish can breath air and can live out of water for a long time, would that be better than treating the hole tank?

in a jar no way!

if you have a spare decent size tank with a mature filter and heater by all means move him to there and treat him there as it's only him who needs treating, however unless you have proper conditions to keep him in then it's going to do more harm than good, if he's in water that's not properly kept clean then he's going to be much more likely to pick up and infection and get even more ill.

if you don't have a hospital tank then treat the whole tank.

lol I said for a hour or so... ok ok ok just an idea
but melfax dosn't work like a salt bath dose it ?

good point though if hes in a jar with no filtration for an hour he probably will get an infection

see I'm not thinking very well right now

Karin15,

You say "no rants" etc, and this is not a rant. But.. if there is a fish that is biting other fish, then you have a compatibility problem. Yes you do need to know how to heal the fish (as miss wiggle has offered advice), but you also need to sort out the problem as to why the fish are getting hurt. You say he's not being bullied, but i doubt he thinks the same with his tail missing

Squid

he isn't, its just my gourami he randomly bites my fish, I think i'm going to give him to the pet store.

 

[Squid]

Karin15,

You say "no rants" etc, and this is not a rant. But.. if there is a fish that is biting other fish, then you have a compatibility problem. Yes you do need to know how to heal the fish (as miss wiggle has offered advice), but you also need to sort out the problem as to why the fish are getting hurt. You say he's not being bullied, but i doubt he thinks the same with his tail missing

Squid

he isn't, its just my gourami he randomly bites my fish, I think i'm going to give him to the pet store.

Sounds like a plan

Squid

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i think they need to be in a tank with the medication full tiem so an hr or so would probably just stress them out even more and have no effect, just treat the tank!

and yes get rid of the gourami, sounds like a nasty piece of work

 

[karin15]

lol nasty piece of work... nice

yeah ok ok, are you sure it won't hurt the other fish?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol nasty piece of work... nice

yeah ok ok, are you sure it won't hurt the other fish?

yup

might not be the nicest thing in the world for them but it won't do them any harm

 

[jollysue]

he isn't, its just my gourami he randomly bites my fish, I think i'm going to give him to the pet store.

Sensible. It doesn't matter what you call it, he is not suitable for that tank. It sounds like the catfish will have to be moved eventually too--or the other fish.

With MelaFix and PimaFix, you can treat the whole tank. Your fish should be able to tolerate it. As I remember it is a 5 or 7 day treatment not a bath or a dip. Read the instructions on the labels. They are fairly clear.

Glad you got some mature, nice people to help you.