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Today i saw that one of the smaller males had lost his tale probably from a fight.

The whole tale is gone, and it seemed heavily beaten at his rear end, i just hope he survives

Will the tale grow back out, or is it gone forever ?

Regards

Tom

It's probably gone for good. A fin can grow back but if its base is gone or damaged, it's not likely to.

Hey Tom

How is the zebra doing?

Rob

Still alive, and looks healty, but the tail is a mess

After a closer look it still has one of his tail bones left, but the other one and everything in between is gone.

Just hope it grows back out again, it is not a pretty sight.

Have you got any ideas regarding regrowth ?

Regards

Tom

I have a female that intermittently loses the tips of her pecotial fins. They do grow back, although any they do tend to be a little stumpy. Your main priority now will be to ensure that the fish does not geta localised infection. It shouldn't be too bacd as the tail is elevated off the floor, but is something you should watch for. If you notice any fine white strands of fungus, almost like asnow flake, I woudl advice a little treament. I'm not a huge fan of treating with anything other that water changes, but this is something that can be quite bad. I find myxazin does well can can be applied directly to the wound if requried.

If the bones are still there, but showing, then the chances are the fish will end up with some stunted growth. So long as it heals before infection sets in however, I woudl say you had nothing really to worry about.
Just don't tell him he's ugly!!! , He's special!!

Rob

Thanks Rob !

I am a little less worried now.

I posted a pic of the poor fellow here

http://www.plecoworld.com/forum/viewtop ... =1152#1152

let me know what you think

Regards

Tom

OUCH!!!!!

On the bright side, it appears to be starting to heal, and there seems to be no dead tissue.

I would keep an eye on him, but he certainly look healthy enough. It probably will grow back but I think it will be rather "crumpled" or scarred. The tissue of badly nipped fins often appears to grow back slightly finer. I'm sure there is an anatomical reason for this, but my years of biology are long forgotten.

Good lcuk

Rob

Thanks Rob !

I definatly will keep him under obsevation.
I hope he has learned a valuable lesson and stays out of trouble in the future.

Regards

Tom

Just a little update

The little fighter is doing well, and some of his tale is grown back out already. Now you can actually see that he has a tale

Tried to take some pics today but had no luck.

I did not think he would recover this fast, but he has got almost half his tale back

Tom

That's great news Tom .

If as you say the tail is growing out he is well past the stage of picking up a bacterial infection. Be prepared for the tail not to grow back exactly the same, if you haven't noticed any defomity in the regrown section so far it may be alright. Fins that regrow as a consequence of damage/disease are often crooked, that said the main thing is that he has survived .

Adam

That is good news mate. Surprising how hardy these little fish can be eh?

Well said Dr P, I think that they are a lot hardier than we think. The little guy that I had to remove a growth from has now totally regrown the missing part of his pec fin. I took off about half of the fin together with the growth, the only way I can tell it was him now is that the leading ray of the fin has a bit of black on it now, it didn't before.

Recovery pic here

http://www.plecoworld.com/forum/viewtop ... =1181#1181

Think it is healing nicely

Regards

Tom