Gill hangin out

[Little Stinkpots]

i have an eclipse catfish with a gill hangin out and i cant figure it out. why or how. i have 2 and they like to wrestle but i dont see any damage to the outside so im confsed any advice

 

[Innovator]

Most likely the gill filaments were dislodged/ripped during aggressive behavior. This can have an effect on the fish with labored breathing, but fish can survive and sometimes heal if the damage isn't overbearing. The biggest threat other than proper care of the system is other fish picking at exposed gill tissue.

 

[ChelseaLake]

Hmmm. I did a little research on this. It seems as if "hanging gills" occur due to some sort of external trauma (as Innovator said). Aggressive behavior, as well as knocking into decor can cause the gill tissue trauma and cause them to "come out". This makes the gills very susceptible to bacterial infection, so you're going to want to watch your little pal very closely.

No white dots/strings?

 

[Little Stinkpots]

no the weird thing is the cat acts like nothings there