ok so we overhauled the tank on saturday, changed from gravel to tahitian moon sand. the fist were in buckets with bubblers for some time, while we removed the old gravel, cleaned everything, put the new sand in, waited for it to settle...etc. anyway the pleco and our dwarf gourami were in a bucket by themselves. the pleco was fine when he went in...when we took him out and put him back in the tank, I noticed that he had a hole in his dorsal fin...near the top between his fist and second spine. its was small and oval shaped. it didnt look rotted..it was a clean hole...almost like someone poked a hole in it. anyway its been 2 days and the small hole has went from small to the point now from where the bottom of the hole was up is gone. is this something I should be concerned about or did he just injure himself somehow and hope it grows back. thanks.
pleco question...fin problem
- Thread starter loki993
- Start date
I would just keep up on your water changes, clean water should heal it up. If you notice any fungus (white fuzz) then treatment would be necessary.
I plan on in. the water isnt going to get any cleaner than it is right now. we were going to only take out about 50-75 percent of the water for the gravel change, but taking out the gravel kicked up so much junk we took it all out, I kinda wanted to do this anyway, so thats good. Im keeping an eye on the levels in the tank closely, in case it cycles a bit again after the change.
so im guessing you think he may have just hurt himself somehow?? like I said im not seeing any kind of rot or fungus, other than the tear in his fin its clean.all the other fish seem fine and are loving the new setup.
so im guessing you think he may have just hurt himself somehow?? like I said im not seeing any kind of rot or fungus, other than the tear in his fin its clean.all the other fish seem fine and are loving the new setup.
the gourami could have taken a nibble when they were in teh bucket, he could have gotten snagged on something. Regardless, i think as long as you keep the water clean and there are no secondary signs of infection or issues he will heal right up. I had a gourami that got his fins chewed off by another gourami and they grew back in less than 2 weeks with just keeping the water pristine.
Pleco fins actually tear pretty easily. This happens a lot when moving them, handling them, or just whenever. Like Msjinkzd says, keep the water clean and keep an eye on it and it should heal right up within four or six days. You can use melafix to promote healing, but it's not really needed unless there's a problem.