Zebmale beyond saving or what to do ?

drd · Post by **drd** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:35 am

Hi guys.
I have a bad zebby and i am afraid it could be to late to do anything about it.
This is one of my adult males, 8½ cm long.
It have some sort of a bumb on his forehead and also have got his ass whopped pretty bad from one of the other males.
I saw him yesterday as this but his fins has got a little bit worse today.
Hi is in a tank with 5 other zebbys, lots of caves and shelter.
30 degrees,7.2 ph and 400 microsiemens soft tap water.

Plz i need help fast on this one

Joby · Post by **Joby** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 3:26 pm

Somebody more knowledgeable will be along to help but in the meantime I really hope he makes it for you. Perhaps separating him into a breeding trap within the main tank so water change is not a shock to him but he won't sustain anymore injuries? Don't know what the bump on the head is

Good luck with him

jerry58 · Post by **jerry58** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 4:16 pm

Hi
I am In no way saying to do this its just an idea and purely an input only.

I like Joby have not had enough experience with this but I have searched on the site and it seems that the damage done to the body will almost clear up with very good water conditions and frequent changes,in time.
I agree with Joby that they need to be separated from each other as soon as poss ,I expect it is fish No 2 and that it is fighting with what you call fish No 1 poss alpha male and look to each other the same size which is probably the cause of the longer period of fighting, as in this pic.

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/files/t ... ni_662.jpg

If you have not got a way to separate them the other alternative is to rearrange the caves so they are more distance from each other or put a rock or wood between them so fish cannot see each other or able to swim from cave to cave in a strait line if not that section off from one an other.
The damage to the fins will probably be helped with a dose of something like Melafix.
This is just something I would use and done with caution maybe half dose not sure ?.
I do know this does help the the growth of the very damaged fins on other types of fish that I have,I have used it on my zebs and its been ok but just to help condition them.

Deep breath

Now as for the lump on the head I am almost certain that you purchased the fish with the lump on it looking back at the markings of the fish on the left from this pic(not clear but I think it is).

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/files/t ... 46_179.jpg

That means it was probably born like it or sustained an injury before you had it.

This has grown a bit and doing anything about it will not make the lump disappear think it will have to live with it if it pulls through its got a good chance its in good condition other than the damage.

Sorry to be long winded and hope this helps.

Jerry

drd · Post by **drd** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 5:03 pm

I have put the zebra in another tank so he swims on it´s own.
I took 75% of the water from the main tank and put in new aged water the rest and then i heated it up to same temperature as the main tank and same ph.
Then i let the fish in the new tank and after a little while i put in medication in form of Aquafuran fron Aquarium Münster.
It´s suppose to fix internal and external bacteria and stuff like this.
I got a tip from a fellow swede.

Hope he will recover.

Stevie.K · Post by **Stevie.K** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:51 pm

I think Jerry has said it all, he should be a detective!
He certainly has taken a battering, I think the he will recover, as I have seen worse as there are no flesh wounds.
Just good water changes & a bit of treatment just in case.
It may take a while to replace his scales, I have had it take 6 months + & patterns change!

jerry58 · Post by **jerry58** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:46 pm

Hi
As you have decide to move the fish to another tank,keep an eye on your water perimeters ph,temp,you have ok, but IMO using 75% of old water and even if you have transfered media from you old pump to new one it still can be capable of producing a NITRITE spike even a small one that will not help the fishes situation also could happen in the other tank just keep eye on it in both and do frequent water changes to keep it down if appears.
Also it may help to keep feeding down to keep the water in the best condition possible this is just my thoughts.
The best of luck for you and your zeb.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

Jerry

drd · Post by **drd** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:04 pm

Now i am not feeding him at all for the first 4 days.
If no change on his condition then i do 30% waterchange as the note that was with the medicin say so and replace the medicin that was changed.

I have no filter media at all in the tank now since the note for the med say that it detroys filterbacteria.

He is well fed so i don´t think he will be hungry for the days to come

Post by **Barbie** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:45 pm

I would do the water changes every day before you add more medication. The effective dosage is exhausted pretty quickly when dosed as a bath. Bad water parameters will kill him much faster than a build up of medication will help him, IME.

He's actually not in bad shape at all, compared to a couple of my males I've saved over the years. Don't lose hope, and please let us know how it goes!

Barbie

drd · Post by **drd** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:31 am

Why change water every day ?
The paper that was with the med say 3-4 days no food and on 4th day do water change 30% and replace with water and needed med.

But i am sure you are right Barbie , i have seen much worse males to but not here in any of my tanks so i am praying this will go well

If he pulls through he will swim rest of his days in my 720 litre tank with some L333´s and L200´s and a couple of L144 instead of the mean buddys

brazilian · Post by **brazilian** » Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:58 pm

well, here we only use methelyne blue. We belive had been fighting among them, our pH is 6.8 and we keep a constant temperature and use salt, keep in 28 C. and must change water 20% all day. keep in place with less clarity
we had get sucess here, but some time, depending on the degree of trauma lose

drd · Post by **drd** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 4:33 pm

Since saturday when i put the sick little fellow in a own tank with medication i saw him on the bottom today.
Now his resting in a slatecave and had actually fed on a little shrimppellet i gave him.
Hi has got some more colour on the back of him to.

Fingers crossed that this is going well

Joby · Post by **Joby** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:45 pm

That sounds promising, hope he continues to improve

Jo's Zebs · Post by **Jo's Zebs** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:37 pm

How did you get on with him?

drd · Post by **drd** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:13 pm

His fins is actually growing out a bit now so i say it´s looking very good

Joby · Post by **Joby** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:45 pm

Thats good to hear