pyroinsanity
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
- Messages
- 3
Recently, I got 2 guppies to go with my Betta in his tank, a good sized one and a tiny one(about 80% of an inch from tail to head, and about only about 15% of an inch from belly to top). I thought the small one was cute, so thats why I got him.
Last night, at like 11, I saw the Betta thrashing around. Upon going to look, I saw the tail of the small Guppy in the Betta's mouth. It was struggling and the Betta was ripping the poor thing apart. I stuck the net in and pushed the Betta around gently until I made him let go of the poor little Guppy. His tail was ripped severely.
This morning I got a better look at him. It looks like his tail has been ripped in two right down the middle. The bottom half looked fine, but the top is destroyed. It has about a few tiny patches of red, but it seems like the Betta sucked the color off until it is clear. It is frayed around the edges and seems destroyed. It is hanging down, so it looks like the backbone may have been broken near the base of the tail. I immediately put him in this tiny little tank I had, from when I was a noob and kept a goldfish in at first, only about a 1/2 a gallon, and filled it up with tank water and added some extra stress coat to the water. He isn't really moving much(but this may just be because of the tiny tank), and he won't eat. He seems to be alive though, and I don't know if I should just try to let him heal or put him down. I can't afford medicine, all I have is stress coat.
I've moved him to my Dad's study. Its very quiet, medium lighting, so he should be comfy there. I won't feed him for a few days, and he has started swimming around more. Also, I made a mistake before, after another measurement, the container is actually 1/3 of a gallon which is tiny, but like I said, I'm doing water changes like crazy. While that might stress him out now that I think about it, I think I'll change 50% every few hours to 25% three times a day. His back fin, the damaged area, as you can read, is split. The top half seems to be partially transparent, and the few spots of the original red have turned deep crimson. I think that part of the fin has completely died, kind of like the dead skin that is a hangnail. This may be a stupid question, but should I cut it off to avoid it rotting while it is still attached to the fish? My procedure would be as following:
Quickly net the fish
Put him on a soaking wet paper towel that has been soaked in tank water.
Cover all parts of him with the paper towel except the part of the tail to be removed.
Quickly cut off the piece of the tail near the base, not cutting into the fishes main body at all.
Brush the cut quickly with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide with a paintbrush.
Brush the cut quickly with tank water to remove traces of Hydrogen Peroxide.
Place him back in the tiny tank.
I could definetly do this in under a minute, probably in under 30-40 seconds.
Also, if I do cut it off, what should I use? I could use a sharp knife, sharp scissors, or a sharp nail clipper, any of them disinfected with rubbing alchohol and then boiling water before the operation.
Do you guys thing I should cut it off, or just leave it? I'm afraid, since it seems totally dead, it will rot while still on the fishes body, both A)Polluting the small amount of water and B)Possibly killing the fish and C)Creating an opportunity of parasites and infection.
So should I do it? I really want to help my little Aegir as much as possible.
Also, can I use a tiny bit of table salt without iodine instead of aquarium salt? Thanks.
Wish me and Aegir luck!
Last night, at like 11, I saw the Betta thrashing around. Upon going to look, I saw the tail of the small Guppy in the Betta's mouth. It was struggling and the Betta was ripping the poor thing apart. I stuck the net in and pushed the Betta around gently until I made him let go of the poor little Guppy. His tail was ripped severely.
This morning I got a better look at him. It looks like his tail has been ripped in two right down the middle. The bottom half looked fine, but the top is destroyed. It has about a few tiny patches of red, but it seems like the Betta sucked the color off until it is clear. It is frayed around the edges and seems destroyed. It is hanging down, so it looks like the backbone may have been broken near the base of the tail. I immediately put him in this tiny little tank I had, from when I was a noob and kept a goldfish in at first, only about a 1/2 a gallon, and filled it up with tank water and added some extra stress coat to the water. He isn't really moving much(but this may just be because of the tiny tank), and he won't eat. He seems to be alive though, and I don't know if I should just try to let him heal or put him down. I can't afford medicine, all I have is stress coat.
I've moved him to my Dad's study. Its very quiet, medium lighting, so he should be comfy there. I won't feed him for a few days, and he has started swimming around more. Also, I made a mistake before, after another measurement, the container is actually 1/3 of a gallon which is tiny, but like I said, I'm doing water changes like crazy. While that might stress him out now that I think about it, I think I'll change 50% every few hours to 25% three times a day. His back fin, the damaged area, as you can read, is split. The top half seems to be partially transparent, and the few spots of the original red have turned deep crimson. I think that part of the fin has completely died, kind of like the dead skin that is a hangnail. This may be a stupid question, but should I cut it off to avoid it rotting while it is still attached to the fish? My procedure would be as following:
Quickly net the fish
Put him on a soaking wet paper towel that has been soaked in tank water.
Cover all parts of him with the paper towel except the part of the tail to be removed.
Quickly cut off the piece of the tail near the base, not cutting into the fishes main body at all.
Brush the cut quickly with 3% Hydrogen Peroxide with a paintbrush.
Brush the cut quickly with tank water to remove traces of Hydrogen Peroxide.
Place him back in the tiny tank.
I could definetly do this in under a minute, probably in under 30-40 seconds.
Also, if I do cut it off, what should I use? I could use a sharp knife, sharp scissors, or a sharp nail clipper, any of them disinfected with rubbing alchohol and then boiling water before the operation.
Do you guys thing I should cut it off, or just leave it? I'm afraid, since it seems totally dead, it will rot while still on the fishes body, both A)Polluting the small amount of water and B)Possibly killing the fish and C)Creating an opportunity of parasites and infection.
So should I do it? I really want to help my little Aegir as much as possible.
Also, can I use a tiny bit of table salt without iodine instead of aquarium salt? Thanks.
Wish me and Aegir luck!
