Will Nipped Fantails Repair/Regenerate?

[Osage_Winter]

My beautiful Red Cap Oranda has been nipped at by a new member of our tank, a Calico Fantail (an aggressive little bugger) and it seems her fantail has sustained a bit of damage...very subtle, but I'm wondering if their tails kind of regenerate on their own...will the damaged area grow back?

[i3k]

They do if you stop the nipping. You will need to keep the water very clean to prevent tail rot. You can buy some stress coat which has aloe vera extracts in it to help with damaged fins/tails.

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by i3k

They do if you stop the nipping.

How do I do that?

You will need to keep the water very clean to prevent tail rot.

I don't think she's getting to tail or fin rot just yet...

At any rate, I just replaced a cartridge in one of my filters, so this should help with cleaning the water a bit...

You can buy some stress coat which has aloe vera extracts in it to help with damaged fins/tails.

I will go and buy some -- thanks for the tip. Any particular brand of stress coat?

[mudraker]

Thumbs up on keeping up with the PWC - big time.

Clean water is critical when fish are both stressed and injured. There is nothing to replace the curative and preventative properties of clean water.

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by mudraker

Thumbs up on keeping up with the PWC - big time.

Clean water is critical when fish are both stressed and injured. There is nothing to replace the curative and preventative properties of clean water.

Funny thing...I just read some guy's response to someone's question on Yahoo! Answers regarding hobbyists and water changes, and this one guy felt very passionate about the exact opposite -- he claims he has been keeping fish for 25 years and he NEVER does water changes, going on to support the benefits of good filtration and evaporation topoffs (I know all the stories about replacing trace elements and nitrate issues in this regard) and how he never agreed with the water change theory...that he believes removing large amounts of water in a tank system can dramatically throw temperature and chemistry off thus causing more stress to the inhabitants, and so he only did the evaporation replenishing thing, citing an imitation of nature (and yes...I have read all about the open ocean systems and their way of "changing" the water and replenishing vital elements and such)...

It was an interesting read, but that's for another time...

As for my fantail, she's not really "injured" per se; she hasn't been attacked by the Calico at all...just playful nipping which they all seem to do to one another at some time. I was just wondering if the small area that seems to be frayed a SMALL bit on her tail would repair back to normal over time...

Would adding some stress coat help?

[Khalix]

The only reason I ever take issue with the evaporation replenishment route is it seems like people are just adding water to heavily concentrated water.

It's like if you have a pitcher of water and add toxins to it... then let some of the water evaporate.. typically the water evaporates, not the toxin. The toxins just further integrate into the remaining liquid.. so adding water would seem to be like adding water to concentrated orange juice. You're at the same amount of concentration all over again. I'm not sure if that makes sense?

Fins will usually repair themselves over time, though I often use melafix to speed up the recovery. Good luck and hopefully he/she will heal up nicely. As far as the stress coat goes, it should help as well. I wonder why he is picking on her, though!

Originally Posted by Osage_Winter

Funny thing...I just read some guy's response to someone's question on Yahoo! Answers regarding hobbyists and water changes, and this one guy felt very passionate about the exact opposite -- he claims he has been keeping fish for 25 years and he NEVER does water changes, going on to support the benefits of good filtration and evaporation topoffs (I know all the stories about replacing trace elements and nitrate issues in this regard) and how he never agreed with the water change theory...that he believes removing large amounts of water in a tank system can dramatically throw temperature and chemistry off thus causing more stress to the inhabitants, and so he only did the evaporation replenishing thing, citing an imitation of nature (and yes...I have read all about the open ocean systems and their way of "changing" the water and replenishing vital elements and such)...

It was an interesting read, but that's for another time...

As for my fantail, she's not really "injured" per se; she hasn't been attacked by the Calico at all...just playful nipping which they all seem to do to one another at some time. I was just wondering if the small area that seems to be frayed a SMALL bit on her tail would repair back to normal over time...

Would adding some stress coat help?

[jsoong]

As long as the rays are intact, a shredded fin will grow back. +2 on keeping clean water ... I am a firm believer on water changes. <And fish don't get stressed even with big pwc's if you temp & parameter match the change water...>

As for fin nipping ... goldies are not really known to do that. It is quite possible that you have a male chasing a female. Typical mating behavior is for the males to stick his face right against the female's tail vent & bump her. The female can get a bit battered in the process. This usually only last a few weeks in spring & the fish otherwise should get along. <The mating behavior is triggered by temperature change. Males get their breeding stars & start to get a bit aggressive. I minimize all that by having a heater & keeping my water temp constant.>

[mudraker]

On the water change issue, I have seen people keep tanks without water changes for years, usually with goldfish, but the fish and tanks don't look very healthy.

It's like it's functioning, but not thriving.

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by Khalix

The only reason I ever take issue with the evaporation replenishment route is it seems like people are just adding water to heavily concentrated water.

It's like if you have a pitcher of water and add toxins to it... then let some of the water evaporate.. typically the water evaporates, not the toxin. The toxins just further integrate into the remaining liquid.. so adding water would seem to be like adding water to concentrated orange juice. You're at the same amount of concentration all over again. I'm not sure if that makes sense?

Yes -- that makes sense, and you're most likely correct...I have heard that when water evaporates, it leaves behind the stuff changes are supposed to remove...but in my case, I've had such nightmares with the changes that I have decided to attempt the evaporation replenishment route for now just to see how it goes and if the parameters stay normal.

Still, while your explanation and rationalization indeed made sense, I am not sure if I put 100 percent stock into the notion -- I mean, filling the tank up with fresh dechlorinated and conditioned water has to be better than nothing, or just leaving a goldfish in a rotting, stagnant bowl of some kind...

Fins will usually repair themselves over time, though I often use melafix to speed up the recovery. Good luck and hopefully he/she will heal up nicely. As far as the stress coat goes, it should help as well. I wonder why he is picking on her, though!

I wonder too -- I have been told this is possibly a territoriality issue, or perhaps a mating sign as a male chasing a female...although I don't know why the new Calico wants to nip during this. I will look into melafix -- is this a stress coat chemical as well?

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by jsoong

As long as the rays are intact, a shredded fin will grow back.

Thanks J...

Yes, the rays are intact; there's just some very subtle nip fraying on the very tip of the end of the veil -- it's very subtle.

+2 on keeping clean water ... I am a firm believer on water changes. <And fish don't get stressed even with big pwc's if you temp & parameter match the change water...>

Right -- but it's difficult to temperature match the water exactly with what's in the tank, as well as to treat incoming water with chemicals to get the chemistry equal with the tank water...and I think that was this guy's point in some way.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with water changes -- I don't agree that they should be completely avoided purposely like he does or so it seems, but I just took to his feelings because I am growing tired of doing disastrous ones.

As for fin nipping ... goldies are not really known to do that. It is quite possible that you have a male chasing a female. Typical mating behavior is for the males to stick his face right against the female's tail vent & bump her. The female can get a bit battered in the process. This usually only last a few weeks in spring & the fish otherwise should get along. <The mating behavior is triggered by temperature change. Males get their breeding stars & start to get a bit aggressive. I minimize all that by having a heater & keeping my water temp constant.>

Good to know -- but it's not spring...

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by mudraker

On the water change issue, I have seen people keep tanks without water changes for years, usually with goldfish, but the fish and tanks don't look very healthy.

It's like it's functioning, but not thriving.

I haven't done a water change in quite awhile, and the appearance -- not official conditions/paramters as I haven't checked lately -- of the tank and the fish is far from unhealthy.

[jsoong]

Originally Posted by Osage_Winter

Good to know -- but it's not spring...

Goldies in tanks don't know the season! It has to do with the day length (ie how long you keep your lights on), temp variations, etc. If your tank conditions feels like spring, it is spring for your fish .... even though it is snowing outside. <And breeders do manipulate the tank conditions to get fish to spawn when they want ... so you have baby fish for sale at Christmas ... etc.>

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by jsoong

If your tank conditions feels like spring, it is spring for your fish

I didn't know this!

[Ilovemyfishies]

My goldies fin tore (I'm not sure how), but it is re-generating on it's own and very quickly as well. I hadn't added any Melafix or anything to the water.

[Osage_Winter]

Originally Posted by Ilovemyfishies

My goldies fin tore (I'm not sure how), but it is re-generating on it's own and very quickly as well. I hadn't added any Melafix or anything to the water.

Thanks! Good to know. Welcome to the forum BTW.

Any pics of your tank(s) to share?