Gator gars tail question

[Ramesh]

I have noticed my Alligator gars tail is not straight but points sightly downward. I noticed when I was looking at old pictures and videos of her and wondered if something is wrong?
I am convinced she has suffered some kind of trauma and hurt herself.
The last pic is when she first moved into the 500g tank where her tail is a lot straighter.
Any thoughts on her posture??

 

[Pomatomus]

Hmm, I haven't seen that in the Florida gars I've kept but I have seen plenty of fish get something like that as they grow older. Maybe its scoliosis.

 

[Ramesh]

The fish is too young for that but I have heard of gars hurting their backs.
From her caudal fin back her tail slopes downward slightly.
She is eating the same as normal but her posture has changed.

 

[Ramesh]

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[Pomatomus]

Definitely looks like scoliosis or some other spinal deformity to me. How old and how big is it?

 

[E_americanus]

The fish is too young for that but I have heard of gars hurting their backs.
From her caudal fin back her tail slopes downward slightly.
She is eating the same as normal but her posture has changed.

how old does a gar have to be for scoliosis to occur?


that question aside, this is very likely a spinal damage issue. luckily it doesn't look too severe, and from what we can gather from your post it does not seriously hinder the gars movement/natural behavior. is it in with any tankmates that may have spooked it? looks like it has plenty of room in that tank, but all it takes is the wrong stimulus to send it into the walls or some other object and they can very easily damage their backs.

i would not be too concerned as there is nothing that can be done to improve the condition from your end other than leaving the fish alone. just make sure there are no tankmates that would antagonize the fish and you should be fine--
--solomon

 

[phillydog1958]

he do see a slight abnormality, but he seems fine and looks healthy. i would not worry too much. there isn't much you can do about it, anyway.

 

[Ramesh]

how old does a gar have to be for scoliosis to occur?


that question aside, this is very likely a spinal damage issue. luckily it doesn't look too severe, and from what we can gather from your post it does not seriously hinder the gars movement/natural behavior. is it in with any tankmates that may have spooked it? looks like it has plenty of room in that tank, but all it takes is the wrong stimulus to send it into the walls or some other object and they can very easily damage their backs.

i would not be too concerned as there is nothing that can be done to improve the condition from your end other than leaving the fish alone. just make sure there are no tankmates that would antagonize the fish and you should be fine--
--solomon

I am hoping it will recover as I have no idea what has happened to cause the inury. The gar is alone in the tank other than some cleaner Gibbies.
It is a strange injury as the fish seems fine other than the sloping tail.
I will keep you posted as she grows and moves into her out door pond soon.

 

[Pomatomus]

I don't think he was injured, just grew that way. I doubt it's caused by any trauma.

 

[E_americanus]

I am hoping it will recover as I have no idea what has happened to cause the inury. The gar is alone in the tank other than some cleaner Gibbies.
It is a strange injury as the fish seems fine other than the sloping tail.
I will keep you posted as she grows and moves into her out door pond soon.

if it were to grow that way as the post by pomatomus said, it would have presented earlier, i've raised 100's of gars and these sorts of things present very early on, not relative sudden onset after rapid juvenile growth has ceased.

and by 'cleaner gibbies' do you mean types of plecos? if so, those can definitely spook and cause problems for a gar, which may have lead to the injury. if gibbies are another type of fish, please clarify. given just this injury, i am sure the gar will be fine (they usually don't recover to exact normal conditions, but they can move toward recovery and will function relatively normally) --
--solomon