Can a Bent Spine Correct Itself?

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DirtyPaws949

DirtyPaws949

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2015
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Newport Beach
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Hey folks, I was at my LFS today, and noticed one of the baby shovel noses had a deformity. I have an affinity for underdog fish, like my one-eyed flagtail. I pointed it out to the guy who usually helps me, and he said I could “adopt” it with my purchase.
S/he is about 3” right now.
I was just wondering if maybe it’s from a deficiency, and maybe there’s hope it might straighten out.
If the spine never corrects, that’s fine too.

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Super healthy appetite!
I offered some live blackworms and he’s slurping them down with gusto— I even went back to get him a second helping from the fridge ?
He seemed lethargic and listless at the store, so I’m happy he’s an enthusiast-eater.

I’m still prepping his temporary aquarium (moving badis and pea puffers and shrimp out lol). It’s small for now, but will also be a QT tank. He’s too little to put in any of the larger tanks— definite snack/ bully target. And he’s a catfish with a quick growth-rate, so too dangerous to put in community tanks.
From the temporary tank, the 75gal will be a good stepping-stone until he’s large enough to not get eaten by Kanye (H. nemurus) in the 150gal.

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He’s in the QT tank, definitely not lethargic o.o
He’s very aware of his surroundings, if I move a bamboo stick next to him his whiskers are on it.
When he swims, it’s pretty erratic and all over the place (at least when darting).
I put some home-grown guppy/endler fry in there, it’ll be interesting to see if he can hunt.

I’ll try and get a video of him swimming and some better pictures out of the bag once he’s acclimated.
 
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aussieman57 said:
If a bent spine results from a genetic deformity it will not correct itself.
If a bent spine results from an injury, there is a remote possibility it may heal and correct itself; however it is unlikely based on your pics.
Click to expand...

would a deformity like this cause pain?
He made a goofy attempt to check out part of the tank… a lot of running into the pearlweed.

big ol’ fat blackworm belly
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