Lone Mbuna

[blue2fyre]

SO I have a badly injured OB zebra. She's starting to look like she may make it but her tail is totally gone and it's not certain if it will grow back. Now if her tail never grows back I'm not sure if she could go back in the main tank since I worry the other fish would pick on her. What size tank would I need to keep her in a tank by herself?

[ohhsweetness]

i had a jack dempsey femaleabout 6" the male
nipped her tail right off thats been about 4 months its just over half way grown back now

just leave her in a separate tank for a while then maybe you can add her back ?

[blue2fyre]

I hope so. If her tail grows back then I will move her back. I'm just thinking to the future in case it doesn't. Right now she is in a 5 gallon hospital tank getting meds and 50% water changes daily

[efors]

I see it is a female. What is her size right now? Who was the abuser?

[blue2fyre]

She's just about 2" I'm guessing with the gender since I have not vented her. I believe it was my other 2 OB zebra's they've all been bickering and she seemed to have caught the brunt of it being the smallest. It happened while I was at work though.

[efors]

She(?) can be in the 5g for a while. IMHO, I think you should consider to increase to 5 the number of fishes of each species you have; except for the demasoni that should stay singly. This is to spread aggression a little bit, among more fishes of each kind or species.

[Pittbull]

If the damage went into to the flesh part of the tail then it wont grow back but if it is only the tail should grow back soon.. a 29gal would be a nice permanent home for it..

[blue2fyre]

Yeah it's all the way down to the tail but some parts of the tail are still there. So I'm not sure if part of the tail will grow back or if it's all lost forever.
A 29 gallon you say? I guess it's because of the footprint. I was looking to get a 10 gallon to upgrade my current 5 but if I need to keep her alone then I will look into going larger for her sake. For now it's just more treatment. Once she's better and if she can go back in the main tank I plan on keeping her separate for a little while to help her grow a bit and maybe catch up in size to thew others so they won't pick on her. OBs are pretty hard to come by around here so for now the three are all I can get.

[7itanium]

a 10 gallon is way to small for even 1 cichlid... a 20G would be bare minimum and you wouldnt be able to have ANYTHING else with her... and if you do go with a 20.. I would definately get a 20LONG because they tend to swim back and forth and stay to the bottom of the tank

[Coler]

You might well be very surprised at the extent to which the tail will heal given time and pristine water conditions. At 2'' the 5G hospital tank is fine for now. Focus on a 100% daily water change and see how she does for a month.

Long term, to keep her apart from any other mbuna, you would need probably at least 20G Long. It wouldn't be the happiest of existences as mbuna are very social animals but what might be possible would be to grow her out to a nice size in there and then reintroduce, even if her fin does not come all the way back. Kudos to you for being willing to give her a chance in any event.

[kay-bee]

Caudal fins grow back (sometimes quite rapidly):

Female metriaclima msobo

Before:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20cichlids%202007/01_msobo_fem.jpg

..and about two months After:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20cichlids%202007/femalemsobo.jpg

[blue2fyre]

I think you misunderstood the 10 gallon upgrade was planned before all this happened. I know a 10 gallon is too small for her. The 5 gallon hospital tank is all I have for her right now and it should do while she heals.

I feel really bad if she has to live her life alone and I hope I can get her healthy enough that she can be introduced. If she can't though I want to be prepared for that event. I will look into a 20 gallon but I want to give her some time to heal and see if the tail is going to regrow. She is one tough little fish and deserves a good life :) I will bump up the water changes to 100% and see if she continues to improve. Someone suggested treating with pimafix along with the melafix I'm already using. Is that i good option?

Kay-bee that is really encouraging! Thanks for the pictures

[evelyn80]

i had a simalar event happen to a red zebra. a kenyi removed its tail to a 1/4 of an inch to the flesh and within 2 months he fully healed. good luck luck with her blue!

[Pittbull]

cool deal i say for a short period she will be ok and as coler stated keep up on the water changes in those small tanks.. just my experience if it goes into the flesh not at the tip of the beginning part of the tail but deep into the flesh beyond the tail towards the dorsal many times it will not grow back i said 29gal because i wouldnt want to live by myself at the least add a small catfish for company..

Also if you do reintroduce her re-arrange the rockwork while doing a water change and turn off the lights and then sneek her in this will confuse current residents if this isnt done she will be tailless again.. good luck..

[blue2fyre]

Thank you I will do that then