I have a bit of an issue in my tank at the moment, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I was out all night and all day yesterday, and when I came home I found that one of my red ryukin had somehow managed to trap its fin and tail in the least sinister looking crack you could imagine on the filter. As I'd been out for some time I had no idea how long it had been lodged like this, however after some careful manoeuvring I was able free him.
Unfortunetly his tail looked far from healthy (clumped up instead of it's usual 'fan spread' appearance, and a noticeable darker orange colour than usual). It quickly became clear that he was completely unable to use that side, and swimming was clearly tough. I put a bit of food in, but he showed no interest at all. Instead, he spent the next day hanging around the filter where he's been stuck the first time (go figure). Amazingly, today he managed to get stuck again (again, I really have no idea how he's managed it once, let alone twice in one day - I've had the filter for a long time and never had this problem before). This time I noticed right away, however, and managed to free him without causing any further damage. he was stuck on the other side of his tail this time though, and now seems completely unable to swim at all. Any attempts just result in barrel rolling continuously. There is another ryukin in the tank, and he's fine, so the behaviour can only really be linked to the most obvious symptom I would imagine.
What's troubling me is that he's completely given up trying to swim, and keeps lying sideways on the pipes of the filter, and staying there indefinitely. I've taken a photo so you can see for yourself -
Sorry for the poor quality photo, it's right at the back of the tank, and my phone camera leaves something to be desired.
I know he looks very lifeless, but believe me he's alive. I've encouraged him to move from this spot a couple of times, because it's so close to the surface (sideways fish + water surface =
), but both times he's managed to navigate his way back there and makes no efforts to leave. I figured it was best to leave him there. It did occur to me that he no doubt needs rest and destressing (the light's stayed off, and unfortunetly I don't have the means to put him in a separate tank to heal up at the moment). Basically I'm wondering what the likelyhood of him recovering from this is, as it doesn't look so great at the moment. Also, if there's anything in particular I could do to help, I can't imagine that encouraging him to keep moving is the right thing to do, but seeing him lying sideways on the filter for hours doesn't feel like much of a great alternative either.
Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks.
I was out all night and all day yesterday, and when I came home I found that one of my red ryukin had somehow managed to trap its fin and tail in the least sinister looking crack you could imagine on the filter. As I'd been out for some time I had no idea how long it had been lodged like this, however after some careful manoeuvring I was able free him.
Unfortunetly his tail looked far from healthy (clumped up instead of it's usual 'fan spread' appearance, and a noticeable darker orange colour than usual). It quickly became clear that he was completely unable to use that side, and swimming was clearly tough. I put a bit of food in, but he showed no interest at all. Instead, he spent the next day hanging around the filter where he's been stuck the first time (go figure). Amazingly, today he managed to get stuck again (again, I really have no idea how he's managed it once, let alone twice in one day - I've had the filter for a long time and never had this problem before). This time I noticed right away, however, and managed to free him without causing any further damage. he was stuck on the other side of his tail this time though, and now seems completely unable to swim at all. Any attempts just result in barrel rolling continuously. There is another ryukin in the tank, and he's fine, so the behaviour can only really be linked to the most obvious symptom I would imagine.
What's troubling me is that he's completely given up trying to swim, and keeps lying sideways on the pipes of the filter, and staying there indefinitely. I've taken a photo so you can see for yourself -
Sorry for the poor quality photo, it's right at the back of the tank, and my phone camera leaves something to be desired.
I know he looks very lifeless, but believe me he's alive. I've encouraged him to move from this spot a couple of times, because it's so close to the surface (sideways fish + water surface =
), but both times he's managed to navigate his way back there and makes no efforts to leave. I figured it was best to leave him there. It did occur to me that he no doubt needs rest and destressing (the light's stayed off, and unfortunetly I don't have the means to put him in a separate tank to heal up at the moment). Basically I'm wondering what the likelyhood of him recovering from this is, as it doesn't look so great at the moment. Also, if there's anything in particular I could do to help, I can't imagine that encouraging him to keep moving is the right thing to do, but seeing him lying sideways on the filter for hours doesn't feel like much of a great alternative either.Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks.
