Injured fish! Please advise!

SunnyD192

Feeder Fish
May 31, 2018
3
2
8
Hi there!

I’ve recently set up a tropical aquarium (a month ago) and have been slowly adding fish with advice from my LFS. I’ve been keeping a close eye on them and have (perhaps unwisely) carefully chosen names for all 13 of them.

Today I came home from work and as usual checked the temperature and made sure filter was working and tried to count the fish. I count them out of habit, I like to know they’re all safe and sound. Last week I added 4 clown loaches to my tank and have had a hard time keeping track of them (as they like to hide in a large barrel decoration) so when I only counted 12 I thought little of it.

A few hours later I returned to feed my fishies and noticed an odd colour in the filter. I immediately suspected a plant leaf had been caught up but was horrified to discover one of the smaller loaches Tony (as in Tony the Tiger, don’t judge me lol) had been trapped under the lid. I can’t be sure how long she was there or even fathom how she got there!

I freed her from the filter and waited to see how she would respond but only became more distressed as she remained floating listlessly at the bottom of the tank on her side. I removed her from the tank and placed her in my hospital tank and can now clearly see damage to the fin on her back. She is unable to keep herself steady - constantly tilting to one side - and seems unable to move her tail at all.

I really don’t know what to do. I want to help her as best I can but if she could possibly be irreparably damaged I don’t want to cause her further suffering. I’m also concerned as I have much smaller fish in my tank and couldn’t imagine what would happen if the same happened to them. Tony was my smallest loach but one of my dwarf rainbow fish is 1/3 of her size (smaller than my thumb nail)!

Any advice would be so welcome right now!
 

kno4te

MFK Moderator
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Not much can be done for tony. Would suggest keeping the water clean and reducing the water level so it’s easier for the loach to stay upright. Reduce stress and dim lights. Can add some plants for cover.

Add a sponge filter over the filter intake maybe an option.
 

SunnyD192

Feeder Fish
May 31, 2018
3
2
8
Thank you guys. Since moving to the hospital tank she has perked up for an hour but sadly has pretty much remained motionless. I’m still keeping an eye and have kept her in a place where lights won’t stress her out. I’m so sad, I really wish I’d thought that this could have been a problem beforehand.

I’ll head to the shop first thing in the morning and see about a sponge to cover the filter to prevent this happening again.

Thanks again for your help.
 
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SunnyD192

Feeder Fish
May 31, 2018
3
2
8
Tony has passed away. About an hour ago - 1am my time - I noticed that she was no longer breathing. Her gills where motionless. My family don’t seem to get why I’m so upset and I wish they would understand. I really wanted the best for these wonderful little creatures.

Thank you for your quick and helpful responses, I hope my experience can at least teach others something that I myself hadn’t considered before and won’t forget.
 
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kno4te

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Sorry for the loss.
 

Deadliestviper7

The Necromancer
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Aug 6, 2016
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Sorry for your loss, with loaches always monitor intake lines and holes in lid, same goes for eels
 
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