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Hey all, when I got home last night I noticed one of my pandas didn't seem right. Unfortunately I didn't get a good look at him before he darted off and hid, but his tail looked funny, like it was torn or something.

Later on, as I was going to bed, I checked the tank and the poor thing was just swimming back and forth in front of the tank and it looked like part of his tail was ripped or bitten off. It had a ragged edge to it and the top part was missing. He wasn't going up to the top for air, but it was as if he couldn't relax. I felt sooo bad for him (or her). I wanted to stroke him and make him feel better, like I do with my cats!

My tank is a 15 gallon, planted with driftwood, fine gravel substrate. Ammonia and nitrite 0, didn't test the nitrates, ph 7.4, temp 75 degrees. I have several different species of cories, two otos and 4 ghost shrimp in with him.

I don't imagine any of them would have bitten his tail, would they? Is it possible he got caught on something in the tank and it ripped his tail? I guess my concern is if anything WOULD have bitten him. I just didn't think any of these would. I debated putting him in my 6 gallon Eclipse with my betta, but didn't know what would stress him more.

I looked for him this morning, worried that he might have died, but he was resting on the heater suction cup and darted off when I approached. Didn't see him again before leaving for work.

I did my regular mid week partial water change last night as well, after I noticed his tail. I figured fresh water might help him heal. Anything else I should have done? I don't have a hospital tank set up right now, although I can dig one out. I thought moving him might stress him more. The eclipse is cycled and he doesn't look sick, as in having an infection of some type, so I don't think putting him in with the betta will be a problem, in terms of infecting him. It's a calm, quiet, planted tank.

What do you think? thanks!

What other fish are there in the tank? Corys don't usually bite each others tails, so it would be another fish if that is the case.

Without seeing the injury and knowing the exact design and layout of the tank, it's very hard to say what may have caused it. It also seems like it's got some other problems - stressed and going to surface for air a lot - this is not typical for a fish that has had basic fin damage, something else is also up.

Sorry that I can't help further.

--
Mats

Corys , otos & ghost shrimp should be fine together with no problems. Are your ghost shrimp definately the right species as some shrimp can be a bit naughty but proper ghost shrimp should be fine?

Is there signs of fin rot or does it look like physical damage? If the latter it should re-grow without problem.

Some of the long-nose corys can be quite brutal in their spawning but i don't think this is the case here.

Probably just physical damage...

Hi guys, thanks. I don't feel it's fin rot - all my fish are very healthy looking and the fin looked like it was bitten or torn. I think he might have gotten caught on one of the decorations. They are very active at times and when the paleatus go into a spawn frenzy, watch out! LOL! Sometimes they get crazy at feeding time too. I try to make sure there are no sharp edges on anything in the tank, especially as I had been keeping bettas, and their fins are easily damaged by sharp objects, but these guys go FLYING into the plants and hiding spots, so I think maybe he got stuck and ripped his fin. I'll try to spot him tonight.

As for what type of shrimp the ones I have are, well, I believe they are ghost shrimp - they're mostly translucent, although one does seem darker than the others and has gotten quite big compared to the others. I'll have to try and get pictures of them. I wish I had taken some video of the panda when he was swimming back and forth. He was NOT going up for air, just "pacing" back and forth. I didn't see him last night when I got home, even at feeding time. I'll get some pix of the shrimp to verify what they are, especially the darker one.

I DID see possibly ANOTHER fry though! This one was mega tiny and I just got a glimpse of it. It shot into the java moss. The other fry is doing quite well and while it's still pretty tiny compared to the others, it's growing.

thanks again guys!

Well, I finally found my little guy and unfortunately he was dead. He was under a big bunch of java fern that's attached to a decoration. He looked like he was just resting, but I noticed the bottom half of his tail fin was now gone as well. When I moved the plants a bit he didn't move, so I used my turkey baster to nudge him and he just fell over. When I got him out of the tank I saw he had a red spot on his underside, near his back end. I sure wish I knew what happened with him, poor guy.

Sorry to hear that If in doubt over the condition of a fish a pic will always help us identify problems. The red batch might indicate a bacterial infection?

sorry about your cory.