clown loach spine problem

[floater33]

one of my clown loaches eye spines is permanently stuck out on his left side... it doesnt really look damaged but i know this aint right... i haven't netted anything so it must have been a skirmish with another loach i am assuming

when i walk by the tank he begs with everyone else but otherwise he just sort of sits around by himself.

does anybody know what kinds of things i should do to try and help?

 

[JakeH]

I dont know about that one bro. There's probably not much you can do to help, but hopefully one of the loachpros will come thru & give you some ideas... How many are in your shoal?

 

[jcardona1]

interesting, never heard of that before. my first instinct would be to catch and see if it will move, buts thats prob a bad idea

 

[JakeH]

That Loach will cut you man...cut you good! Seriously...you will bleed if he hits you with that razor blade, so make sure you dont handle him over the tank.

 

[Pilze]

I have heard this before. In all cases the spine eventually went down. It must have lost a pretty nasty battle.

 

[Lupin]

You can't do anything about it. I'd leave that alone and wait for it to eventually fix itself.

 

[ewurm]

You can't do anything about it. I'd leave that alone and wait for it to eventually fix itself.

I agree

That Loach will cut you man...cut you good! Seriously...you will bleed if he hits you with that razor blade, so make sure you dont handle him over the tank.

Good lord man, it's a small fish, not OJ Simpson!

 

[floater33]

thanks alot for the replies guys.

How many are in your shoal?

i've got 8 total
2 - 8"
2 - 6"
2 - 5"
2 - 4"

it's one of the 5inchers that is haveing the problem and it has been like that for about 8 hours now...
i guess i'll just have to wait and hope he doesn't gouge anybody with it.

 

[floater33]

on another note... it is pretty interesting to actually be able to examine the spine. every other time i have seen one it has been a split second and haven't really gotten a good look at it.

 

[ewurm]

I dissected one and I have to say that it is an amazing evolutionary achievement. They are very sharp, very flexible, and every fish should have them! Subocular spines kick ass!