Opinions Please

[star4]

Right o, 2 weeks ago one of my blue acara was savaged by its tank mates, it seemed such a nasty unprevoked attack as there are 2 other blue acara of the same size in that tank. I am not happy with the condition of this fish (to be honest he looked iffy when I brought him home a couple of months back, but put it down to stress) Since the attack where he lost all of his tail (which is thankfully growing) my concerns on the general health of this fish are increasing. He eats fine, but has a sunken belly, poo is normal though???, he has tiny white marks on his head, which to me look like HITH, but with having 40%wc twice a day due to having no tail and the stats all being zero its got me scratching my head. I do know HITH can be caused by pure stress, which unfortunately this little fella has had a very rough time. Another concern is the redness around the gills, in particular on his left side (see pics) around the muscle of the fin looks red and almost lacerated. Now hubby recons I am seeing things because I am constantly checking on him, what do you think?? could there be something not right with him which is why he was attacked even in the tank he acted normally???

Tail just starting to grow, red around the gill/fin area

White marks on the head

Dipped belly?

Not as red on the other side

 

[Mikey1]

that does not look like HITH to me, they just look like "battle wounds"

give him some salt and lots of time, be patient, he will heal

 

[DrRob]

He certainly doesn't look well.

How much of that is due to the beating he's taken is difficult to say. HITH is possible, but they could simply be wounds, as could the gill.

Do you have an photos of him before for comparison?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Look up fish tb. Just a thought.

 

[star4]

Before the attack he was a normal healthy fish eating well. I saw him being dragged around the tank and caught him and put him in a fry trap while I set up my hospital tank. While he was in the fry trap he emptied himself (looked like a weeks worth of poo in one go in the trap)

This was how he looked when I moved him to the hospital tank, deeply shocked not able to hold himself straight, rolling over onto his back or side, he remained like this for nearly 24 hours, I kept a blanket over the tank keeping him in the dark.

This pic shows the blood around the tail.

After a few days all the broken rays broke away. And he started swiming realtivly normal considering no tail.

Sorry thats all the pics I took as I am trying to keep him as quiet and unstressed as possible until the pics in the first post.

The marks that are on his head now are too small for bite marks as the other fish he was in with were bigger and after 2 weeks the bite marks he did have are healed, hence me thinking its HITH due to stress as he keeps dropping his colour then colouring back up again.

The sunken belly happened immediately in the fry trap, he looked like a squeezed tube of toothpaste, but he is not gaining any weight again.

Doing daily wc. Feeds are being soaked in Vitazin every 2 days. I am concerned there is something wrong that is not visible to me and that is why the other fish so suddenly attacked this one, there are smaller fish than this one in the tank, and the tank itself is peaceful again.

 

[Wills]

It is a bizzare one... But the thing that stands out to me is the sunk stomach and bent spine - just wondering if it is something like fish tb?

Bit of a toughy.... One things for sure though, if hes going to pull through your the one to do it!

Wills

 

[star4]

I was putting the "humped" look down to him not having a tail, looking from the surface there is no "s" shape to the spine, but if it is tb that will come I suppose and his outlook is poor, I would have no choice but to euthanise him. At the moment he still seems "happy" he will wriggle to the glass to say hello to me, now I have the tank part covered his colour is good again. The only thing I can do is keep trying and hope he pulls through.

Thanks everyone

 

[star4]

Well what ever is up with this poor fish isnt going away with clean water or medication , its a shame his fins are growing and tail is coming along nicely but whatever the underlying cause is its only showing as slightly paler colouration on his gill plate, under his eye to his mouth, not fluffy or white, just slightly paler than it should be, now he has stopped eating, so I fear he is giving up.

 

[redwood]

You need to dose with antibacterial - but maybe too late as infection has reached body. Try ESHA 2000 at doble dose - if it is too late then at least you will have some if it happens again. Also try 50% water change before dosing and add an airstone. This has worked for me when I had a L plec that got an infection and eroded fins nearly to the base.

 

[star4]

I have already double dosed with Esha 2000 and he gets daily wc, he has air with an air operated filter, its why I am so worried about him, nothing in my repertiore of fish healing is working on this poor guy , even boosting his vitamins with vitazin isnt having any affect.

 

[9murphy9]

it could be some kind of pox there is no known cures but it is not fatal,i know koi get it,it's probely not but it's an idea

Alex