Lionfish with broken fins

[Mandy_R]

Hi,

I have had a volitans lionfish for about 6 months and he was thriving until I introduced a Blue Tang about 6 weeks ago. The tang developed Ich and the poor lion got it too. He was looking pretty sore and sorry for a couple of weeks, but is looking much better now. The only problem is, a couple of days ago i noticed he has 2 broken fins: one on each side of his body. i think the Ich must have weakened them. The cartlidge is broken about halfway down and the rest of the fin is just hanging there, moving around with the water current. It doesn't apprear to be causing him discomfort but I'm concerned that it could get infected or something. Any ideas on what I should do? Eg. should the hanging part of the fin be removed?

Any ideas would be much appreciated!!

Cheers,

Mandy

 

[Anonymous]

There is no way I could recommend a hobbyist trying to do anything like cutting a Volitans' fins, if you get stuck it REALLY hurts and some people can have an allergic reaction. Also, you would run the very real risk of doing further damage or harm if you tried to net him up and contain him in order to do something like trimming the broken rays.

At this point you make no mention of water parameters or anything else. My own recommendation is to keep water as pristine as possible and make sure he's got the best diet you can give him. Of course, watch for any signs of deterioration or infection, have pre-mixed water (or filtered natural sea water) on hand, as well as some basic antibiotics and antifungal treatments. Like your medicine cabinet, but for fish.

If he's eating well and a balanced diet he should be able to recover well on his own.

Hopefully Matt or someone who's handled fish for medical treatment will see this and respond with something more helpful.

 

[Anonymous]

Mandy_R, as posted above don't try and handle the lion, the toxins they have in those barbs can be really dangerous. Can't think of anything to add, I totally agree with keeping the water as perfect as possible and feeding the lion well. I have had similar experiences with certain long finned freshwater fish and they seemed to do well as long as other fish didn't pick on them. :lol: I don't think the lion will have that issue.

 

[Mandy_R]

Thanks heaps for the advice, he's eating really well and seems happy so hopefully he'll be ok.
My water is ok:
-pH 8.3
- Ammonia 0
- Nitrite 0
- Nitrates around 35ppm (pretty high i know - i have been finding it difficult to lower! I only got a decent skimmer last week so hopefully that will help gradually)
- Specific Gravity - cant remember right now but i know its in the safe range

Cheers Guys

 

[Anonymous]

Remember, the longer it goes without getting sick, the better its chances. Sounds good at this point! You can hit the tank with a couple of big water changes to bring down that nitrate reading. About 50% consecutively, as long as it's either filtered sea water, or if pre-mixed then allowed to "soften" for about a week or so, using circulation (I don't know why, but freshly mixed sea water can be tough on animals, especially sick ones).

 

[Mandy_R]

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd give you an update on my broken-finned Lion. He is recovering extremely well - the smaller fin that broke has fallen off and a new one is growing in its place. The larger fin is also regenerating but the broken bit is still hanging there. Looks like he will have a double-fin when the new one catches up to the others. He is growing really quickly and gets really excited whenever we go near the tank, so I couldn't be happier!

Thanks again for all your help!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear it!

 

[Anonymous]

Excellent.

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