I think my SAL burned itself on the heater pretty bad on its tail and I was wondering if anyone had experienced this and knew if it might grow back or if it was permanently damaged and wouldn't regrow. Thanks ~Trent
SAL and heater burn
- Thread starter amazonfishman
- Start date
That's a good question. I am sorry I cannot help you there. I don't heat any of my lungfish tanks, instead I just keep their room warm - so I'm afraid I can't help here. But if the heater burn is anything like a superficial skin wound, then it should heal over pretty well. Just keep an eye on possible fungal infections that these guys can become prone to.
You mention hoping that "it" will grow back. I presume you mean the skin? That sounds like a nasty burn. A photo would help us, I am sure.
You mention hoping that "it" will grow back. I presume you mean the skin? That sounds like a nasty burn. A photo would help us, I am sure.
skin and even moderate damage (sometimes even severe damage) will heal up just fine with time. you may want to buy a heater guard for your heater or make one out of drilled PVC piping. this way the lungfish won't continue to hurt itself. in their natural habitats, most fishes are not exposed to objects that give off such extreme heat as aquarium heaters, so they often do not sense any problems until it is too late (happens with stingrays and bichirs as well).
if you have a sump on your tank, i would advise keeping the heater in there. a temporary fix would be to raise the heater to a level in the aquarium where the fish can't get to it as easily, and then eventually get a heater guard.
as santoury said, keep an eye out for infection. keep the water clean, so regular 50% water changes will help with the healing process. you can also add some salt at about 1 tbsp per 20g to help stave off infection...also raise your heat to about 82F. keep us posted, and i am sure your lungfish will recover fully, good luck--
--solomon
if you have a sump on your tank, i would advise keeping the heater in there. a temporary fix would be to raise the heater to a level in the aquarium where the fish can't get to it as easily, and then eventually get a heater guard.
as santoury said, keep an eye out for infection. keep the water clean, so regular 50% water changes will help with the healing process. you can also add some salt at about 1 tbsp per 20g to help stave off infection...also raise your heat to about 82F. keep us posted, and i am sure your lungfish will recover fully, good luck--
--solomon
Thanks for the quick responses guys, glad you chimed in Sol because I was gonna pm you if I didn't get responses soon 
Water change of 50% has been done already yesterday and temp is between 80-82 now. Not currently treating with salt but watching for infection and dosed with Melafix immediately after noticing the wound. Its about a 10-11" SAL and the damage is about a half nickle size missing from the top of the tail area which is horrible I was really upset by the damage and hope it heals soon. Rest assured I'm doing all I can at the moment to keep the SAL doing well and recovering quickly. Leroy (SAL) is one of my more revered fish and I'd hate to lose him.
BTW: Heater guard is in the works this week after I get done with studying for a couple test and should be on before friday ~Trent
Water change of 50% has been done already yesterday and temp is between 80-82 now. Not currently treating with salt but watching for infection and dosed with Melafix immediately after noticing the wound. Its about a 10-11" SAL and the damage is about a half nickle size missing from the top of the tail area which is horrible I was really upset by the damage and hope it heals soon. Rest assured I'm doing all I can at the moment to keep the SAL doing well and recovering quickly. Leroy (SAL) is one of my more revered fish and I'd hate to lose him. BTW: Heater guard is in the works this week after I get done with studying for a couple test and should be on before friday ~Trent
amazonfishman;706873; said:Thanks for the quick responses guys, glad you chimed in Sol because I was gonna pm you if I didn't get responses soon
BTW: Heater guard is in the works this week after I get done with studying for a couple test and should be on before friday ~Trent
sounds like he will be in good shape and recovering soon trent, keep us posted
----solomon
no1lungy;707961; said:
is the room temperature where your tank is 80F or warmer? if not, i don't see how the tank could maintain that temperature during winter in the midwest. our apartment is set at 70F and the native tanks are definitely only at 70 or a couple degrees below. how often are you checking the temperature, and do you have a constant thermometer running in the tank?--
--solomon
Just an update: Leroy, my SAL, is healing up nicely. It turned out to not be heater burn and instead the $*@^#$* carapo knifefish which I almost made into a feeder for the pbass out of anger but instead let him live and relocated him to a friends tank. The total damage was about 3/4-1" of my poor SAL's tail being taken out at random which I still find weird since the knife was fine with the SAL for weeks then randomly flipped out.
I have never had any damage to fish from a heater ever.I have had 1 of my fish sustain injuries that looked like burn marks ,like it had lost it,s slime coat and had a dried out patch..A chocolte I had would fall asleep near the intake tube and the suction was doing the damage.I found it like that several times.Always healed quick though.