Ray nailed my clown knife ! What to do now ?

CanadianKeeper

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2012
1,252
72
66
Ontario
Ok so! The other morning I thought forsure my knife was going to die his gills where all swollen out he was suuuper swollen and puffy... I raised temp put him in his own tank and droped in some meds my buddy gave me... no idea what they were... After 5 days he still has this weird looking bulge mark thing... Do you think it will go away ? The ray is fine still and still has his spine on his tail so I know for sure it still isnt in there... I took the clown out and checked to be positive about it...

Here are some pics of the clown
 

MonsterMinis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 28, 2009
6,048
9
0
Wisconsin
You positive he got tagged by the ray? looks like his jaw got dislocated underneath... the V should be under the gills not over like they are. I ask because looks like some scuff marks on him, imo more likely from the gar then a ray.
 

aquaman45

Aimara
MFK Member
Jan 6, 2009
3,778
657
135
England
This is unfortunately a common problem with Clown kniives (Chitala chitala).
This has nothing to do with the Stingray it is an unfortunate thing that sometimes happens when these Knives lunge at their food as they do, the tongue actually becomes dislocated and protrudes through the soft tissue of the lower jaw and if left in that position the skin around it will attach itself making for a permanent disfigurement. The Knife will continue to feed just doesnt look the same.
Now I have tried to rectify this problem with these bony tongue fish many times but never got the tongue to take up its normal position, in most cases I had to anaesthesiaswith the fish with Clover oil and literally remove the tongue with sharp sterilised nail scissors. Now this might sound gruesome but its an easy process, you literally open the huge mouth taking away one third of the tongue, there is no blood involved its nothing more than a white stump of semi hard bone, the lower jaw skin will nit back together but the process is best done asap before the skin fuses around the tongue, don't worry about the hole which is left this will heal on its own. As soon as the fish is returned to the tank you need to ad a half ounce per gallon of salt to ensure the wound doesn't become infected.;
PLEASE NOTE
The fish needs to be places in a shallow dish outside the tank to put it to sleep, I mix 2ml of Clover oil to a couple of gallons of water, mix it well then place the fish in it.
Wait for the fish to roll and become limp (DO NOT LEAVE IT IN TOO LONG) usually a minute or two will see it lose consciousness, remove it from the water and wrap the whole body in a damp towel, open the mouth and push from under the jaw to get the tongue to point upwards, there will be resistance this is why it has to be removed (last third) don't forget.".not the whole tongue"
Once this is achieved you must then support the fish in a normal position whilst waving water towards its gills or better place its head approx 20cm away from some kind of flow,head on of course, been a fish that breathes atmospheric air it is important to keep lifting the head out of the water so the fish can take air from the surface, it will soon start to swim, hold it until it can resume its normal position in the water. I have performed this operation 3 times and all were successful .
Your welcome to Pm me if you need further info or if anything I have wrote isn't clear.
All the best.
 

Simonson

Exodon
MFK Member
May 15, 2013
42
1
23
Canada
I have a very similar tank, knife is avout 14-15 inches now, will keep an eye out for this, very informative aquaman, much appreciated
 

Deubie Doo

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 18, 2012
902
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Rootstown, Ohio
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My ray cut my armatus back wide open when he was swimming up the was and the armatus was under the ray when the ray was on his way down. He healed up fine, just give him afew days and don't stress him out. Clowns are hardy, he will pull through.
 

FuriousFish

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2012
2,427
98
81
America
On a toatally unrelated not why is there a tiny loach in there


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