Lima bashed its snout

street cypher · Post by **street cypher** » 01 Apr 2005, 10:39

Hi all,

My aro sometimes lunges at my lima shovelnose. I guess this time it freaked out the lima bad and it busted its snout on the glass.

Its in a 20g Q-tank/hospital for now with about 5 teaspoons of salt. Any input is appreciated.

TIA

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 01 Apr 2005, 16:33

ditch that Arowana!

in a 20G your lima will grow a "bent nose" something that looks very ugly and is often seen when people keep lima's in a small tank.

eventually you have to move it back to a big tank, then the "lunging" starts all over again.

the salt-treatment is fine (good hunch!), but you might think about adding anti-biotics or a broadband smedication to avoid a tragidy.

poor lima.

luckily despite their fragile looks, these cats can be quite hardy.

but I would kick out the arowana and get 2-3 more lima's; much more interresting, and unlike many big Pims; lima's are quite social and like company of their own.

street cypher · Post by **street cypher** » 01 Apr 2005, 22:19

Well, the aro is staying.

I was thinking of adding 2 more limas to desperse the aros aggression, but i can't find them in large sizes here. The only ones available are 3-4 inches.

So, i'm setting up another tank in the summer, maybe a 4 X 2 X 2, but more likely a 4 X 18" X 2 or something along those lines, so i'll separate the aro and lima then.

PlecoCrazy · Post by **PlecoCrazy** » 07 Apr 2005, 04:55

What do you mean "so i'll separate the aro and lima then". Your 20 Gallon tank is not big enough to keep any of the fish in that you have. Yes they may physically fit inside the tank but that is about as far as it goes. Either move all of the fish into the larger tank, get rid of the arrwona, or buy two larger tanks instead of one.

street cypher · Post by **street cypher** » 07 Apr 2005, 05:55

What do you mean "so i'll separate the aro and lima then". Your 20 Gallon tank is not big enough to keep any of the fish in that you have. Yes they may physically fit inside the tank but that is about as far as it goes. Either move all of the fish into the larger tank, get rid of the arrwona, or buy two larger tanks instead of one.

I'm not intending to keep the lima in the 20g for long (its a Q-tank/hospital in case you missed that). Its staying in there until its treatment is done and it heals all the way. Until then its going to have to sit tight and suck it up (i do have a 4 X 1 X 18" but no filter for it, so until i get a filter for it its staying in the 20g). But, if you read my previous post properly it says that i'm getting another tank that the lima can go into. BTW, my summer starts after finals, which is in one week.

fishmadbarry · Post by **fishmadbarry** » 19 Apr 2005, 20:47

What do you plan to do when your arowana is 2.5 foot long and is to big for either the 4x2x2 let alone the 4x1.5x1?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 20 Apr 2005, 08:01

checked the pic again, and that is definitely NOT a "bashed nosewound" but a genuine honest-to-god BITE.
it's exactly the kind of cut the sharp bony jaw of an Arowana would make.

Arowana's have bony ridges in their mouths to crack and cut fish and hardshelled insects (they jump to treebranches for large insects).

you can forget about putting these 2 ever again; the same will happen 100%

street cypher · Post by **street cypher** » 20 Apr 2005, 10:47

What do you plan to do when your arowana is 2.5 foot long and is to big for either the 4x2x2 let alone the 4x1.5x1?

Just to clarify, the aro is in a 6X2X2 <---(not a 4X2x2, and the 4X2X2 was intended for the lima anywasy) and is staying there for life. Asians rarely grow past 2', one of the smallest species of aros.

checked the pic again, and that is definitely NOT a "bashed nosewound" but a genuine honest-to-god BITE.
it's exactly the kind of cut the sharp bony jaw of an Arowana would make.

Arowana's have bony ridges in their mouths to crack and cut fish and hardshelled insects (they jump to treebranches for large insects).

you can forget about putting these 2 ever again; the same will happen 100%

I'm positive its a bash. I've seen it and heard it. BUT, i'm not going to rule out a bite, it is possible

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 20 Apr 2005, 10:58

street cypher wrote:
What do you plan to do when your arowana is 2.5 foot long and is to big for either the 4x2x2 let alone the 4x1.5x1?
Just to clarify, the aro is in a 6X2X2 <---(not a 4X2x2, and the 4X2X2 was intended for the lima anywasy) and is staying there for life. Asians rarely grow past 2', one of the smallest species of aros.

A 6x2x2 tank is really only suitable for fish up to about a foot long, maybe a bit longer. If your fish actually gets 2 foot long, I would suggest that you need a tank that is at the very least 3 foot on the shortest side. But admittedly, you don't need to worry about that until it grows to that size. The recommended size of a tank is 4Lx2Lx2L, where L is the length of the fish.

SidGuppy wrote:checked the pic again, and that is definitely NOT a "bashed nosewound" but a genuine honest-to-god BITE.
it's exactly the kind of cut the sharp bony jaw of an Arowana would make.

Arowana's have bony ridges in their mouths to crack and cut fish and hardshelled insects (they jump to treebranches for large insects).

you can forget about putting these 2 ever again; the same will happen 100%
I'm positive its a bash. I've seen it and heard it.

Are you sure the bash wasn't a reaction to having it's snout bitten? If you didn't actually see the events BEFORE the bashing, but rather turned your head when you heard the bash, then I'd wouldn't say so sure that it's not a bite-related injury. When I look at the picture (after reading Sidguppy's post), I would consider the marks on the snout consistant with a bite. But I wasn't there, I didn't see anything other than your photos.

--
Mats

street cypher · Post by **street cypher** » 20 Apr 2005, 11:07

A 6x2x2 tank is really only suitable for fish up to about a foot long, maybe a bit longer. If your fish actually gets 2 foot long, I would suggest that you need a tank that is at the very least 3 foot on the shortest side. But admittedly, you don't need to worry about that until it grows to that size. The recommended size of a tank is 4Lx2Lx2L, where L is the length of the fish.

It would be nice for the aro to be in a 8X4X4, but thats not happening. Honestly, i'm not as conservative a fish keeper as a lot of people, makes it harder that i keep large fish.

Giving my fish a "perfect environment" is not my goal. They are there for my viewing pleasure. Don't get me wrong, i take good care of my fish. But if i wanted my fish to have a good life they should be put back in their natural habitat and not in a home aquaria.

dancingdryad · Post by **dancingdryad** » 28 Apr 2005, 12:23

No one is saying that you have to provide your fish with the perfect environment, that would be beyond the realms of anyone short of an Amazonian land owner. What people are saying is that to get the best out of your fish you should CONSIDER eventually providing them with a bigger tank. If your arro gets to 2' and your tank is 2' wide then even though arros are very supple and will be able to turn it's not going to bring out the best in the fish when it is fully grown. If you already know the answer that you want to hear then why bother asking anyone else for advice if you're not prepared to take it on board because it isn't what you wanted to hear?

Anyway just in case you haven't thought of this: would the filter on the hospital tank be adequate for your other 4' tank? If so maybe move the filter to that along with the decor and water in the hospital tank, the water conditions would be more stable in the larger tank and that would aid the recovery of the lima and give it more space to lessen the chances of it reinjuring its nose. If it's being jumpy maybe temporarily covering the front, back and sides of the tank to make it feel secure and dimming the lights would help too? When it's healed up and recovered view it as usual.

LimaShovel · Post by **LimaShovel** » 05 May 2005, 21:30

to me it looks like he got bitten to.He probly got bit and ran in the glass like he said.