Guppies tail shredded!

[beautifulfish]

Guppies tail shredded!Will it grow back?

Today I cleanded out my 29 gallon tank and put my 2 male guppies in there. They were previously in a 6 gallon tank which I wanted to make into my quarantine tank. I put the guppies in their new tank with 2 mickey mouse platys, 2 female mollies, and 1 blue gourami. I was going to watch them closely all day to see if everything was ok. I left for about 20 minutes because everything seemed ok. The fish were leaving them alone and not pecking at them. Well, when I got bak my yellow guppies tail was shredded! Huge chunks out of his beautiful flowing tail! So I scooped them back out and put them back into their 6 gallon tank. Now I don't have a quarantine tank! Do you think my guppies tail will grow back? And do you think I could put a platy in the tank with them for it's quarantine? I would move it to the big tank in a few weeks? Please help me with my guppies! :help: :sad:

 

[MargieMay06]

If it happened that fast, I'm guessing that one of the fish was was nipping on it. Maybe the gourami? It should grow back as long as it doesn't continue to be nipped and doesn't get infected. The platy should be fine with it, but I don't know why you'd want to take it away from the other platy. I hope the little guy's alright!

 

[beautifulfish]

ok..thanks..he is only with another guppy right now. I am not going to take any of my platys out of my 29 gallon. I want to get another platy to put in my 29 gallon and wanted to quarantine it in my 6 gallon with the guppies.

 

[Rometiklan]

Dang, I'm sorry to hear about your guppies. I advised you to put the guppies in your 29g thinking it would be alright, but I had no idea your guppy's tail would be ripped to shreds inside 20 minutes. But scooping them out and replacing them in the 6g was the right thing to do. I would recommend buying some Melafix, which is an anti-bacterial remedy available at your LFS. It treats torn fins and tails and prevents infection.

Is the guppy swimming around alright? Or is it resting on the bottom of the tank? If it can't swim, it might be a good idea to lower the waterline a little bit so it doesn't have to go as far to get food on the surface. Or make sure the food sinks so your guppy can get to it. I would advise against getting another platy until your guppy has recovered from its shredded tail.

 

[beautifulfish]

He is swimming around..just not as much as he used to(I think cause he was stressed out). Will his fins look weird after they grow back?

 

[MargieMay06]

It depends on the fish and the fin. A regular ol' dorsal fin will usually grow back as good as new, but with a fancy fin like that it probably won't look perfect. You'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure it will be fine, functionally speaking though.