need some advice for a beat up fish :(

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freebyrd

freebyrd

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 6, 2010
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Virginia
Well this isnt a careless noobs fault this time, maybe it is. I got a chance to get a 12-13" monster male jaguar who is very laid back and cool, so i put him in the tank with my dovii pair in the 265g. BUT yes....the tank has a sturdy(so i thought) egg crate divider that i made from various pieces of plastic pvc. i have used it when my dovii spawned to keep the male from being overly aggressive. i checked this morning before i left for work and everything was fine, jag was cruising around and i did notice the male dovii pacing the divider. when i got home this afternoon, the dovii busted through the divider and has beat the jaguar up, had him pinned in between some rocks. i seperated them again(reinforced and bound with tyraps) and while doing so the jag seemed ok just tired and stressed and injured..

my question now is he is laying upside down, and he is moving but not much at all, i dont see any really bad cuts or abrasions just mostly bruising and missing scales / ruffed up fins...when i shine the flashlight on him, his eyes move in my direction...his gills are faintly moving.. im really upset about this...whats the best options i have to do?

btw the dovii is a mere 9-10" and did this to a 12-13" managuense...what a monster!
:WHOA: :cry:
 
There's not much you can do. He might not be all that injured but a fish can die from stress. If he makes it thru the night he'll probably come around. It'll really suck if he's floating in the morning...been through that.
 
thanks balton, its very unfortinate as this was a VERY nice mana, and he was so laid back...i hope he pulls thru, he is very - very stressed...i think thats mostly his problem, he didnt really have time to adjust to his new home and he had some massive brute dovii beating him relentlessly... is there anything to do for stress?
 
Sorry to hear it man. Someone was talking about a stress additive in another thread and said say it's really good. I've personally never used stress meds in my tanks.
 
I've added aquarium salt before to help reduce stress but there's a lot of debate as to whether this actually does anything or not. Like balton said, the only thing you can really do is make sure he is as stress free as possible. maybe add some plants or something around the divider to break up the lines of site so the mana can't see the dovii and vice versa. you could also try adding a few smaller fish like platys..if they're out and about swimming around that might make the mana feel safer. of course these fish would likely be eaten if the jag does recover but I'm sure you know that. lol

I hope he pulls through...I've only had 1 fish come around once it got to the "laying on the bottom of the tank upside down" stage.
 
Hope he pulls through for ya, i had the same thing happen with my red devil and parrot fish, Good Luck!
 
yeah break up the sight line. Let the jaguar be totally hidden. Hope he makes it
 
ok, ive broken line of sight as much as i can, the mana is...well...upside down beside a big flowerpot, and out of the way. my severums are in the tank with the managuense, they just swim around and squabble with eachother, nothing new there. lol. i hope they make him feel more comfortable.. thanks for the tips anything else would be most helpful i dont want to lose this mammoth mana
 
Hes probably finished if he is upside down, but u could try to revive him like he was a large mouth bass flipping him right side up and moving him back and forth would be good if u had a powerhead let the oxygen go through his gills, if he makes it ( pretty unlikely if he is upside down already) do a 30% water change and add aquarium salt and stress coat. dont know if u have powerheads but they are really good especialy in the summer. i dont run a cichlid tank without them. good luck.
 
Wow sorry bro and that sucks. If he is upside down then he will prolly pass during the night. and although you cant see any bad damage on the outside, Dovii are very powerful fish and will ram other fish as well as commensing to destroy them so the Jag may have endured some really bad internal damage from the dovii. I would say remove the jag to another tank cause the dovii will either break thru the divider again or possibly hurt himself trying. but good luck bro and i hope the jag makes it.

if you cant remove any of them then make another divider for the time being and divide all 3 with the female in the middle
 
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