Hi everyone,
While at our local pet store tonight I noticed a huge (huge!) goldfish literally destroying a smaller oranda... I've never seen fish aggression to that degree before… it was actually disturbing to witness. After alerting an employee, the oranda was removed from the tank, but had suffered a large amount of fin/scale damage. I already had a quarantine tank set up at home, so I thought I would give her a chance at recovering… and even if she doesn't make it, at least she'll have known love and will have had some peace and safety. So I have her temporarily set up in a 10 gallon (but will move her to my 30 gallon once she recovers), and based on the info I've found online about treating injuries, have added salt and started treating with melafix to help with healing. All but one of her fins (a pelvic fin) are moderately to severely damaged and some were quite bloody when she was pulled from the tank… her two pectoral fins have been reduced to tiny stubs (she's using her pelvic fins to balance/steer as she swims), she's missing at least half of her tail almost down to the base and a lot of what's left is quite frayed and bloody with some black at the tip (though this seems to be fading since starting the treatment), her dorsal fin is partially tattered, and she's missing large patches of scales on both sides of her body. Behaviourally, she seems quite happy to have a tank to herself and has been swimming and foraging enthusiastically all night with no signs of the injuries slowing her down, which has been so great to see! She's very alert and keeps coming over to see me… she even stopped to nibble at my fingers on her way out of the transport bag But in terms of getting her through to recovery, I'm wondering if you might have any additional advice or insight for dealing with these injuries? Also, does anyone have any experience with fins that are this injured (especially the pectoral side fins) growing back? I've treated fish with mild fin fraying and fin rot before, but I've never had or seen a fish with this much damage… and I just want to give her the best chance I can at a longer life
While at our local pet store tonight I noticed a huge (huge!) goldfish literally destroying a smaller oranda... I've never seen fish aggression to that degree before… it was actually disturbing to witness. After alerting an employee, the oranda was removed from the tank, but had suffered a large amount of fin/scale damage. I already had a quarantine tank set up at home, so I thought I would give her a chance at recovering… and even if she doesn't make it, at least she'll have known love and will have had some peace and safety. So I have her temporarily set up in a 10 gallon (but will move her to my 30 gallon once she recovers), and based on the info I've found online about treating injuries, have added salt and started treating with melafix to help with healing. All but one of her fins (a pelvic fin) are moderately to severely damaged and some were quite bloody when she was pulled from the tank… her two pectoral fins have been reduced to tiny stubs (she's using her pelvic fins to balance/steer as she swims), she's missing at least half of her tail almost down to the base and a lot of what's left is quite frayed and bloody with some black at the tip (though this seems to be fading since starting the treatment), her dorsal fin is partially tattered, and she's missing large patches of scales on both sides of her body. Behaviourally, she seems quite happy to have a tank to herself and has been swimming and foraging enthusiastically all night with no signs of the injuries slowing her down, which has been so great to see! She's very alert and keeps coming over to see me… she even stopped to nibble at my fingers on her way out of the transport bag But in terms of getting her through to recovery, I'm wondering if you might have any additional advice or insight for dealing with these injuries? Also, does anyone have any experience with fins that are this injured (especially the pectoral side fins) growing back? I've treated fish with mild fin fraying and fin rot before, but I've never had or seen a fish with this much damage… and I just want to give her the best chance I can at a longer life