Broken back? :(

[djr83]

My Florida gar is mostly swimming like a banana and I think he's been unusually slow since I noticed this. I have seen him straight too but mostly he's like this.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/88075/CIMG9561.JPG

Is his back broken or is he just... resting strangely?

 

[KNH]

It doesn't look good. What size tank is he in?

 

[djr83]

720 L (~190 gallons I think)

 

[KNH]

I've seen many threads about gars with broken backs. Hopefully it isn't but it looks that way to me. Good luck.

 

[djr83]

If it is broken, what should I do? When I've googled for it, it seems like they can live with a broken back. But he's not as good looking now as I want him to be...

 

[xander]

definately broken, and seems pretty bad. how is it? does it still have full control of all its fins? if it cant swim or seems to be struggling to breathe, euthanasing it may be the only way to go. sucks when this happens, but it's not an uncommon occurance when keeping gar. sorry it happened

 

[phobull]

Yeah broken back - my mate had one like that for 6 months didn't hear so he froze the fish. Good luck anyways.

 

[djr83]

He's mostly using his front fins but I've seen him flap all the fins. He can swim and cant see that he's struggling to breath. So basically it just affects his good looks (looking like a banana is not a good look for a gar) and they way he swims.

If I have to euthanase him, how do I do it?

 

[AU_Arowana-RG]

If he's as healthy as you say he is, then euthanization will be unnecessary.

 

[djr83]

Ok. If something happens I'll keep you updated.