Badly Damaged TSN Dorsal Fin!

[SNRMADE]

Gday everyone,when i went to check on my fish this morning i noticed that my TSN had taken a half inch slice into his dorsal fin.looks like its hit the lids overnight.its done it before but not this bad.last time it grew back in a few days with no medicines or treatments but it was a much smaller slice.will it grow back ok this time????

 

[klmt]

treat he tank with melafix/permafix, but it looks like he ripped out his dorsal spike. this i am afraid will not grow back. i think the fin will fall off to the last dorsal rays that are attached,he will still have some fin left, but catfish are very hardy fish. i am sure he will be ok in a few weeks. good luck.

 

[necrocanis]

Definitely need to move him into a qtank where you can better treat him. The core of the spine is pulled out completely probably will lose the first two dorsal fin rays. This needs to be monitored closely. If the skin dies around the bone and starts to flake off you will need to trim the fin off where it is not connected. If you do not trim it and just let it drop off more than likely he will get a severe infection. Personally I would trim it now. Just behind the 2nd dorsal fin ray also known as the first soft ray after the dorsal spine. More than likely if you leave it he will get fin and tail rot. Trust me I lost a nice marble cat to the same thing. Start treatment right away with an antibiotic, and increase the temps just a tad depending on where your temps are now. Watch very close for infection and rotting on the fins. The next 48 hours will tell you more. Keep us updated frequently on the status. That is such a nice looking tsn I would hate for you to lose him.

 

[necrocanis]

also if you go the trimming route just be advised to have a wet towel ready, and do it quick. Probably easier to get someone else to hold it while you perform the surgery. Use clean scissors or knife that you have disinfected in alcohol. Inspect to see if the second ray is still attached or has it been ripped out also. At the very least take off that spine. If you leave it other fish in the tank will start to notice dead meat and pick at it also. I feel for your fish right now. I hope it turns out ok. good thing you posted on here right away.

 

[SNRMADE]

thanks 4 the advice its much appreciated,iv put some melafix in the tank in the tank this morning.iv got a qtank but he wont fit in it comfortably as its only 20'' x 22'' and the tsn is nearly 19''.im afraid it will hurt itself more in the small confinement.il moniter it 4 the next 48 hrs and if its not healing il trim it back.the temp is 26 deg c.

 

[TLkmDN]

yikes that looks like one nasty wound...like the others sed, the TSN shud be fine cause they r pretty badass fish but judging by the wound the dorsal fin will never quite be the same again. yet there is still hope for the healing process to bring it close to normal again. wat size tank do u keep it in originally? anyway to prevent this from happening agaim? (ie. do u have any driftwood u can get rid of)

 

[malawi haps]

Ouch !!!Hopefully he wil be ok but monitor him closely..

 

[SNRMADE]

ive got my fingers crossed hoping the dorsal spike will just drop off then heal itself.im pretty sure hes smashing the centre glass lid supports from underneath.im going to have to find a way to make the underneath edges not so sharply square edged.the way the tank has been designed,the two overflows that lead to the mini reef wouldnt even be an inch lower than the roof of the tank which means that when he does an aggresive search for food at the surface he must hit his fin on the roof.the tank has 2 rather small pieces of driftwood in there but they havnt been mis placed.iv got him in an 8x2x2.il keep everyone posted on his recovery.

yikes that looks like one nasty wound...like the others sed, the TSN shud be fine cause they r pretty badass fish but judging by the wound the dorsal fin will never quite be the same again. yet there is still hope for the healing process to bring it close to normal again. wat size tank do u keep it in originally? anyway to prevent this from happening agaim? (ie. do u have any driftwood u can get rid of)

 

[Bogwoodbruce]

I hope that he recovers but they are pretty hardy fish.

 

[necrocanis]

ive got my fingers crossed hoping the dorsal spike will just drop off then heal itself.im pretty sure hes smashing the centre glass lid supports from underneath.im going to have to find a way to make the underneath edges not so sharply square edged.the way the tank has been designed,the two overflows that lead to the mini reef wouldnt even be an inch lower than the roof of the tank which means that when he does an aggresive search for food at the surface he must hit his fin on the roof.the tank has 2 rather small pieces of driftwood in there but they havnt been mis placed.iv got him in an 8x2x2.il keep everyone posted on his recovery.

Letting it fall off on it's own could be dissasterous. You should really consider trimming it. You don't want a nasty fungal infection to occur. Trust me it's happened to me, and the infection was so deep it killed my marble catfish. Almost the exact same injury as your's. I hope it does work out, but if you look at it, the spine is not broken off it is ripped out of socket. That wound goes straight down on top of his spinal column. How large is the TSN? Might be time to consider an indoor pond. 8x2x2 is a little small unless your tsn is really small. I have a 350 gal cattle trough that's 6' dia and 2' deep. Nothing to injure the fish in a pond. Just a suggestion. Hope it turns out ok though. There's a chance it will, but you will definitely need to medicate, and use an antibiotic(can't stress that enough) WHen I say trim I don't mean the whole fin just a verticle cut to get rid of the spine which is definitely a loss, and trust me it will never grow back because the whole thing is gone. They can grow back if just part of it is broken off, and it might heal if only pulled out part of the way, but this is pulled out all the way. I expect that he will never have at least the first ray, maybe the second. The bottom of them are closely tied together. Share pics daily of his progress if you can.