# TAIL BITE



## [email protected]° (Jun 16, 2004)

I have 5 3+" RBP's in a 45G. I know the tank is too small, I plan to sell a few off.

:back on topic:
My "alpha"/ bigger, meaner of the group suffered a rathe nasty tail bite. The whole upper "corner" of his tail was ripped really bad, there even seemed to be traces of blood around the edges.

So... what do you guys think?? first, will he heal? is there anything I can do to help him heal??

secondly... what should I do to curb the violence?? The rest of the pack get the occasional nips here and there, but nothing bad AT ALL, and they heal within a day or so (I soak my foods in vitamin solution, and garlic juice) I do my water changes once a week, and the water conditions are good. I also re-arange the tank after every water change. They have been pretty good with each other, never have seen any serious injuries until now. Is it time to sell a couple of them? Could it be an isolated incodent??


----------



## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

Put him in a hospital tank with melafix, if you can. The melafix well help him heal faster.


----------



## [email protected]° (Jun 16, 2004)

I don't currently have any other tank, but am going to get one this weekend...

been meaning to do so, but am limmited in space, money, and time.


----------



## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

i hope your other p's dont see him as food before he gets better. good luck


----------



## 0123 (May 18, 2004)

get a divider or something like the breeder nets untill you get your new tank?

btw shouldnt this be in disease, parasite, injury forum?


----------



## [email protected]° (Jun 16, 2004)

This definitely should be moved!! I didn't realize wich forum I was in... sorry, guess I'm still a newb here







hopefully I can earn some respect in the near future









The other guys weren't bothering him, As stated before, he is pretty much the alpha.. he starts trouble with everyone else, and has obviously been sent a mesage by one of the other guys. This is the first time I've had what I consider a "serious injury" and I am a P newb as well... :hangs head:


----------



## DirtyJersey (Apr 28, 2004)

this has happened to two of my P's in the last two weeks, one was the smallest of the group, and one was the largest. the tail grew back within a week. i turned the temp up to 84 and didnt add any salt. i wouldn't worry about it.


----------



## Kamikaze (Apr 5, 2004)

This happened to me also i got a cheap 10gal tank and melafix stuff in there he was back to normal in about month.although me p's whole tail was got...







hes not a mean anymore.


----------



## [email protected]° (Jun 16, 2004)

I have my temp around 80-81, was hoping a cooler temp would cool off the tempers. The weird part is, that they have been really good with eachother since the bite... I'm just worried about the peace crumbling...

Do you guys think that I should get my shoal down to 3, and sell 2 of them??
the largest one is about 3.5-3.75 inches (body only not to tip of tail) and growing a lot taller/thicked, and rounder. It is time??


----------



## T-L-N-E (Dec 24, 2003)

your p's r still young

let them be!

they will have many war games to come. to see who's the leader.

in the tails there is the best food that they can get! it contains all they need

u can add salt to your tank,or u can let him be
it is a promiss he will be better









dont let them be in this small tank for too long!
than some p' will realy die, but not yet 
only as they will be 6" and even more 
so... dont worry, u have enogh time!

good luck!!!


----------



## EnFuego (May 27, 2004)

I'm no expert at this or anything so take this with a grain of salt, but wouldn't rearranging the tank every water change (I'm assuming every week or two) would cause some violence because you are taking away their established territory and everytime you change it they have to establish territory again and again.

As I said, its just a thought.


----------



## [email protected]° (Jun 16, 2004)

I've been told the contrary... that by changing the teritories around it helps keep the violence down.

The plants pretty much stay about where they are, it's just the 2 large pieces of bog wood that move the most... I just lean them together a little differently, or reverse the sides. It does seem to help, cause right after a re-arangment they don't fight AT ALL!! they tend to just troll around, and check out the "new diggs"

I'll be home in a couple hours to check in on them, and see how the wound is doing, plus I am doing a water change tonight (I do nearly 50% a week, sometimes less depending on how high the nitrates are).

A big concern I have is that, I work as a broadcast systems engineer, and am being sent to Boston Monday, or Tuesday to "wire up" for the DNC. It is a bit harrowing to be away from my babys for even a few days. I spend hours watching them every night... I'm gonna miss them







seriously.... I watch my tank more than the TV.


----------



## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

Civic Disobedience said:


> I watch my tank more than the TV.


 I do to







. I am moving this to the injury forum for you civic.


----------



## camotekid (Sep 21, 2003)

you can use a pail or something as a hospital tank and put some bubbler. And watch out on the water quality until the fish heals.


----------

