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Fin rot or tail nipping?

4K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  chenning 
#1 · (Edited)
So I have had 5 male endlers living peacefully in my tank for a few months now. There has been occassional chasing and posturing, but I have watched them quite closely and it always appeared that no one fish was the victim or the aggressor, they all took it in turns. I have a small (starter, as I hope to upgrade soon when funds allow!) tank of 5 gallons which has until recently been quite heavily planted. I had a bit of a scare recently when I discovered a damselfly larvae which must have hitched in on one of the plants. I saw it sitting on a large piece of driftwood and after a bit of frantic googling, I realised that it was potentially a threat to my little endlers - I realise they mostly eat small fry but my endlers are so small themselves that I didnt want to take any chance with them. I removed the driftwood and left it in a bucket for a few days with some tank water to see if the damselfly would come out with it. Eventually it did, but in the meantime, I rearranged the tank which was looking much emptier without the driftwood and the little tunnel I had made with it. After a couple of days in the emptier tank, I noticed one of the little endlers appears to have a damaged tail. I had assumed this to be tail nipping and as I had managed to catch the damselfly, I returned the wood to the tank hoping it would offer a bit more shelter. That was tonight and I will have to wait and see, but I was doing some reading about tail rot and got worried, as there appeared to be a whiteish tinge around the damaged tail and I couldnt find much evidence to suggest that endlers are very aggressive normally. As their tails are basically transparent, I do not know if this is normal when they rip, to be whiteish... I will try to get a photo and do some water tests tomorrow as it is late now and the tank is sleeping, but my paramters have been absolutely fine every other time I have checked and my routine has not changed. The only difference was the more empty tank and wondered whether I had messed up the territorial order? I love all my tankfriends and I so want them to be happy! Any advice would be appreciated :)
 
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#2 ·
You may want to do a 50% water change and see if it clears up. You may have upset the eco-balance and be having water issues. If atfter 2 days the fish seems better, do another 50% water change. If that doesn't work,I'd put your damaged Endler in a bucket or Rubbermade and use a 1/2 dose of API Melafix. follow the directions and do a 50% water change 1/2 way through treatment. I raised over 5,000 Endlers this summer ad they are tough as nails so don't panic.
 
#3 ·
Thanks

Thanks for replying. I discovered it definitely was tail rot as overnight it went from a hole, to nearly a whole missing tail. I have since removed the guy and have been treating him with phenoxyethanol and sloe vers for stress, which seems to have worked... at least I think, as the tail has not gotten any worse. He is nearly at the end of his 7 day treatment. How will i know if he is ready to rejoin the tank? 5,000 endlers hey? That's amazing! How many tanks do you have? :smile2:
 
#4 ·
I'd let the treated fish where he is for a week and see if the tail is regenerating. If you don't notice a change 4 days after meds stop repeat the medication process and if you haven't already add some solar salt.

I have 40 tanks but raise a lot of Endlers in the summer outdoors. I use 6'x6' Intex kiddie pools. I add 10-16 females and two males I stock in late May and by the end of August have to begin removing young adults. If you work aquabid it pays for itself. In May-July the fish get a lot of extra food from mosquito larva. No worries they eat them all! I feed a regular diet just like I would my tanks. I also add Least Killies to each pool and stock them i April as they can take the cold. I finish with Blue Alleni Crayfish and everyone thrives nicely. If you ca you should give it a try next summer. I 've attached a few photos of my handy work.
 

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#5 ·
That's so cool! The pics are great, thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, I live in a flat at the moment, so not much room for that kind of scale operation and no garden. I think i will work towards it though, I imagine anyone who gets endlers becomes completely hooked (pardon the pun!). Where are you based? I live in the UK, I imagine it is probably too cold at night even in the summer for the outdoor set up.

With regards to Paul, my sick endler, I ended up returning him to the tank about two days after his meds treatment, as his tail had started to grow back. I didnt have a light in the tank as I read when they are sick the light can be stressful, and when I returned him to the main tank i noticed one of his fins had half gone. I kept an eye on him, wondering if I had just missed it when he had been in quarantine, and noticed his other fin was also stricken. He was returned to quarantine and treated again, during which time - and this is why I am now completely confused - his fins got worse, but his tail has regrown and looks great! He also seems to have put on weight, he is swimming happily, eating well etc. So now he has very little fins on either side but still alive and kicking. I am hoping in the next few days I will see them start to regrow, but in the meantime I am happy that he seems ok. I feed him spirulina with garlic every few days to try to keep his immune system up and then mix between new life spectrum and regular fish flakes, with occasional garden peas cut into tiny tiny pieces. I told you i was hooked...! Thanks again for your advice. :)
 
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