Rescued hbrtg need help!

[davis101]

Alright so I have since added salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons), found an aquaclear 70 power head that I added to the prior powerhead and fx6 set up. I'm running it in reverse as it is suppose to have a higher output, but it feels like it's less. Could feel less powerful because it has a larger outlet when ran the opposite way (I dunno). His barbel area is not red anymore and he seems to be turnin less awkwardly now. ( I think his movement was strange because he was used to being in a confined space. He is eating but spitting out floating pellets, so I don't think it will be long before he starts eating. I am going to try to do 30-35% water changes twice a week.

Having said all this, is there any other thing a that I can try to cure the gill curl? I was thinking of getting a larger power head... Like 3000 gph or so. He barely has to swim to keep up with current I am creating now.

 

[pURPLEcHILLIrED123]

Just keep doing water changes and the curl and tip of the mouth will heal.

 

[davis101]

Okay thanks. The gill curl is already starting to look better and he ended up eating a ton of market prawn last night I was hand feeding him right infringe of the powerheads so he would actually have to do some swimming. He ate a few pellets as well but he wanted market shrimp and I'm not going to argue until he gets settled in a little better. Lol

 

[Rhomadeas]

'Fish Surgery' on the King of DIY's website - Uaru Joey. Gill curl is common and can be corrected. barbells however are a different story

 

[davis101]

I'm going to hold off on surgery for a while as it not the hard plate. Are barbels sometimes non repairable? If so what constitutes a non-repairable barb?

 

[DeadFishParadise]

Once the gill curled, the chance for it to go back to normal is very rare. You would need to do gill operation. You can do it yourself by watch it on youtube, but you would also need the drowsing medication. Since one side has curled, you should operate other side as well.

 

[DeadFishParadise]

For the barbels, you should also cut them both at the same length during the gill operation. They will grow back over time.

 

[DDK]

For the barbels, you should also cut them both at the same length during the gill operation. They will grow back over time.

DO NOT cut the barbs. You cut them, they probably never grow back. Barbs are a hit or a miss, you dont need to cut them for them to regrow, but they'll only regrow if its not to the base. Honestly you can cut the gill curl off but I wouldnt, your just going to stress him out. If you leave it will improve and look a pretty great.

Gill curl doesnt harm the fish so I personally wouldnt risk harming it and stressing it out just so it can look better faster. Good water quality and a strong protein diet is all you really need.

 

[davis101]

The barb are still there a bit and both are the same length. I won't be performing surgery any time soon. I will update on it's condition as it goes. Right now it is eating everything including: pellets, shrimp, bloodworms, mysis shrimp, the odd earthworm (I was more interested to see if he would eat them rather than it being part of his diet). His movements in the tank are getting better as well and from what I've read, soft tissue gill curl is fixable without surgery. His gill is already laying way flatter than it was before. I will give it some time and see what happens.
I also added a Rena xp3 to the set up so I could change to inline heaters and to create a bit more current with the spray bar.

 

[DDK]

The barb are still there a bit and both are the same length. I won't be performing surgery any time soon. I will update on it's condition as it goes. Right now it is eating everything including: pellets, shrimp, bloodworms, mysis shrimp, the odd earthworm (I was more interested to see if he would eat them rather than it being part of his diet). His movements in the tank are getting better as well and from what I've read, soft tissue gill curl is fixable without surgery. His gill is already laying way flatter than it was before. I will give it some time and see what happens.
I also added a Rena xp3 to the set up so I could change to inline heaters and to create a bit more current with the spray bar.

Good to hear you wont be pulling it out the tank and start hacking pieces off of it lol. Good luck and I'm sure you'll get him to his prime.