Can a Bent Spine Correct Itself?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I don't believe it will correct itself, regardless of the source of the deformity. However, that does not preclude it from growing up to be a nice, well loved pet fish who will give you lots of happiness. Nice of you to rescue and nurture her/him.
S/he seems very much interested in living. I had the blackworms ready and plopped them in the bag as soon as I opened while it.
No hesitation whatsoever for a feeding frenzy.
They’re still super cute, and the tail reminds me of my first bearded dragon.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey
All but w/c TSN we get in our hobby have sub par genetics of varying severity. This one is on the bad end. I am sure it will never right itself.

I don't think it causes pain. It's a guess. Fish nervous systems are quite primitive versus mammals, etc. It's an interesting topic though worthy a look-see - how to determine if a fish feels pain? From the tiny bit that I know there is not even a consensus whether caught and hooked fish feel any pain as there are arguments pro and con to it. So this is worth reading up on...
 
All but w/c TSN we get in our hobby have sub par genetics of varying severity. This one is on the bad end. I am sure it will never right itself.

I don't think it causes pain. It's a guess. Fish nervous systems are quite primitive versus mammals, etc. It's an interesting topic though worthy a look-see - how to determine if a fish feels pain? From the tiny bit that I know there is not even a consensus whether caught and hooked fish feel any pain as there are arguments pro and con to it. So this is worth reading up on...

oh wow, that’s terrible. I never thought I’d end up with a TSN, but here we are ??‍♀️
The other TSN at the store had weird-looking pectoral fins that seemed to be dorsal-oriented (pointing up, not down), and this little one wasn’t an exception. I don’t think it’s normal?

0F7483E8-31BB-400D-898C-0E715E5C5668.jpeg

8CB73E30-88AF-4257-9558-DB434616EFD5.jpeg
He’s been chillin’ at the bottom, relaxed breathing, so I think he’s feeling alright.
 
My state of understanding is that 99.99% of TSNs in the aquarium trade are cheap and come from 2 sources - carelessly and unfathomably cheaply raised in SE Asia specifically for aquarium trade and the culls from food fish farms in South America. Both types possess inferior genetics, abound in defects, more often than not grow slower and smaller than their w/c kin.

I don't think either source practices natural spawning. Must be artificial spawning and not of great quality at that because of the prevalence of deformities and other latent defects.

Moreover, we as a community e.g. wednesday13 wednesday13 are not sure of their species, looks the closest to fasciatum, or maybe a hybrid of several species.
 
My state of understanding is that 99.99% of TSNs in the aquarium trade are cheap and come from 2 sources - carelessly and unfathomably cheaply raised in SE Asia specifically for aquarium trade and the culls from food fish farms in South America. Both types possess inferior genetics, abound in defects, more often than not grow slower and smaller than their w/c kin.

I don't think either source practices natural spawning. Must be artificial spawning and not of great quality at that because of the prevalence of deformities and other latent defects.

Moreover, we as a community e.g. wednesday13 wednesday13 are not sure of their species, looks the closest to fasciatum, or maybe a hybrid of several species.
:OMG:
Oof, I had no idea about any of that. So store-bought TSN are basically their own ethical issue in and of themselves. The ones the LFS was selling were pretty cheap, I think $12, the same price as some larger-sized GBR.

I read that bent spines usually cause stunted growth, even when the fish isn’t a shovelnose.
Slower and smaller growth rate may be a blessing in disguise for this impromptu adoption situation, as 150gal wouldn’t be sufficient for a healthy TSN for very long.
I told myself “no more large fish” until I get the grow-outs I’ll probably keep (2 jags, 2 green terrors, marble fenestratus, Kanye) an aquarium/ pond that won’t make me sad to look at them in once they’re older. It will be one of the first things I acquire once I get a property, but the market is shet right now.
Real estate buddy said it’ll probably turn around in the near future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thebiggerthebetter
:OMG:
Oof, I had no idea about any of that. So store-bought TSN are basically their own ethical issue in and of themselves. The ones the LFS was selling were pretty cheap, I think $12, the same price as some larger-sized GBR.

I read that bent spines usually cause stunted growth, even when the fish isn’t a shovelnose.
Slower and smaller growth rate may be a blessing in disguise for this impromptu adoption situation, as 150gal wouldn’t be sufficient for a healthy TSN for very long.
I told myself “no more large fish” until I get the grow-outs I’ll probably keep (2 jags, 2 green terrors, marble fenestratus, Kanye) an aquarium/ pond that won’t make me sad to look at them in once they’re older. It will be one of the first things I acquire once I get a property, but the market is shet right now.
Real estate buddy said it’ll probably turn around in the near future.

Ive kept many deformed TSN in my day… used to think they were unique/different until i kept enough to realize they were just man made. 50+ specimen, i had a group of 17 at once ?… IMO the deformities are more prominent from handling the eggs with man made breeding as well as from using the same genetics over time. We see the same thing with any kind of “hatcery fish”… IME every deformity ive kept grew with the fish. I used to collect the “spoonbills” and had several varying degrees of skull deformities as well, even fish born with missing gill plates. All of which got on in life/captivity just fine. We also get the “runts” of the litter in the hobby. These fish are solely made for food production. You should expect maybe 18-20” in 3+ yrs time. It really is a feat in itself to get one of these “farmies” much over 26–28” and that would take almost 10yrs. They hover around the 20-24” mark for quite a few yrs even when given plenty space. Mine were kept in 1100-1700 tanks/pools and still wouldn’t grow much or quickly. Yours will stay in that size range from its genetic make up more so than from the deformity. Had plenty 24-26” ers with all kinds of skeletal problems.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com