Made a big ooops when moving my fish to new tank, help!

[shamu]

Just moved my fish to a new 20 gallon tank, I have had fish before but had a small accident while transfering my pleco, he is rather large (about 4 to 5 inches) so didn't have a net big enough so I wa trying to coax him into a container to transfer him and he got caught in the net and I ended up having to cut the net to get him out. Now I have notice his front right fin is ripped (not to badly) but do I need to watch for anything? Will it get infected? Do I get anything to add to the water so it does not get infected? Are the other fish going to attack him now? I have 2 barbs, a molly and some kind of small grey & black shark (sorry don't know his name)Anyways sorry for all the questions but hopefully someone can give me some advice.
Thanks
Shamu

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about your fish. It might heal on its own, you'll probably want to watch it closely and make sure it isn't getting infected and keep your water very clean. Is the tank fully cycled? What are your paramaters (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia).

Also I think you're way overstocked for a 20 gal?! A 5" pleco AND a shark, etc? I'm no stocking expert but that sounds like trouble to me.

 

[GuppyLover]

Just moved my fish to a new 20 gallon tank, I have had fish before but had a small accident while transfering my pleco, he is rather large (about 4 to 5 inches) so didn't have a net big enough so I wa trying to coax him into a container to transfer him and he got caught in the net and I ended up having to cut the net to get him out. Now I have notice his front right fin is ripped (not to badly) but do I need to watch for anything? Will it get infected? Do I get anything to add to the water so it does not get infected? Are the other fish going to attack him now? I have 2 barbs, a molly and some kind of small grey & black shark (sorry don't know his name)Anyways sorry for all the questions but hopefully someone can give me some advice.
Thanks
Shamu

Your shark sounds like a Bala shark, your first problem is that your tank is WAY to small for the balla shark and Pleco. Keep you water parameters in check and it should heal fine.

 

[shamu]

Thanks for the comments, oh no! thought the tank would be big enough for my pleco, another ooops will have to look for bigger one. the shark may not be a shark I'm not sure but he is only about 2 inches long right now.

 

[mfdrookie516]

For future reference, it would probably just be better for the fish to catch it with your hand. The majority of us catch bigger fish with our hands and reserve the net for smaller fish like tetras, rasboras, etc. But, I do agree, that tank is a bit on the small side.

 

[shamu]

Dumb question maybe?

I always thought fish only grew to the size of their tank, can someone explain this to me?

 

[jcolon]

I always thought fish only grew to the size of their tank, can someone explain this to me?

Common misconception ... fish will grow ... regardless of tank size. However ... what happens from what I read is that fish in smaller tanks may not grow as much on the outside ... but the internal organs do on the inside. So organs are growing in a body that isn't ... basically stunted growth.

 

[GuppyLover]

I always thought fish only grew to the size of their tank, can someone explain this to me?

If you keep fish in a tank thats to small for them they will go through a very painful process called stunting. Here is a good article on it fishstunting - freshwaterfanatics