# Injured Tern pics: bitten by huge piraya



## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

just picked this guy up today. many thanks to "lewdog" for providing me with such a nice fish. i will be recording and documenting his progress for anyone who is interested. here he is today at about 5-5 1/2" in a 10g hospital tank. as you can see he is missing part of his outer gill plate. he was biten by Lewdog's 12" piraya and now i have him:

pt


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Damn-yeah keep us updated!!!!


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## eiji (Sep 16, 2006)

thats one hell of a bite.. luckily it didnt decapitated the guy..


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## Lewdog (Nov 14, 2005)

Well... u dont know till u try i always say and i lost this time.Im sorry for the fish that had to suffer this brutal onslot and i have learned from this mistake.He is in good hands now and hopefully makes a speedy recovery.Thanks again Kevin


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

lewdog said:


> Well... u dont know till u try i always say and i lost this time.Im sorry for the fish that had to suffer this brutal onslot and i have learned for this mistake.He is in good hands now and hopefully makes a speedy recovery.Thanks again Kevin


It happens man!!!!!! Should hopefully make a nice recovery!!!


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

to Disease, Parasite and Injury Forum

Harry


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

he will recover no problem


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

lewdog said:


> Well... u dont know till u try i always say and i lost this time.Im sorry for the fish that had to suffer this brutal onslot and i have learned for this mistake.He is in good hands now and hopefully makes a speedy recovery.Thanks again Kevin


the thanks goes to you. i was more than happy to take this fine specimen...i've never seen a pygo so calm and non-skittish, esp. after being in the tank only for a few hours. he does laps like he's in a 125g and is unafraid of me









i'll try tommorow to get a zoomed in pic of the wound. looks nasty, what i think of when i see it upclose are salmon fillets. sorry to be gross but that's what it reminds me of :/

PT


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

another two, tough to make out the extent of injury unless upclose and in person.


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## 12sec3s (Oct 21, 2005)

show that killer piraya!


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## eiji (Sep 16, 2006)

12sec3s said:


> show that killer piraya!


yeah show the mighty piraya!!!


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

He should heal up good and show us a picture of the suspect.


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## Lewdog (Nov 14, 2005)

View attachment 123870


12sec3s said:


> show that killer piraya!


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

Wow, he could have done much worse. Consider yourself lucky.


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## mr_b401 (Jul 6, 2005)

Very lucky tern.







But I've got a feeling he'll heal up & recover from that.

Keep us updated


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

That looks all the way into the hard gill plate, in which case it will not grow back.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

Ex0dus said:


> That looks all the way into the hard gill plate, in which case it will not grow back.


no? i could see that. basically, when you look up close you see what looks like 3 layers of gills, kinda a bright red...like looking almost like "guts" . it'll be interesting to see how he looks in a few weeks then. scar tissue? he seems fine though considering the extent of it, and i believe he'll be ok in the longrun.

i'm gonna try and get much more detailed photos, tommorow, and every week thereafter.

PT


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

this may sound kinda harsh, you may consider youthinising him man
i agree that the gill plate prob will not grow back.

i now see all of the tails said about the mighty pirayas, canibals to the end
remind me not to get any.......


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

i think that is "jumping the gun" a little. he seems perfectly fine and healthy, even with the bite. he hides most of the day, but that's because he's in a tiny tank by himself with little cover (10g). he gets very active in the evening and swims alot more, esp. overnight. eventually, i would think, that at least some scar tissue will develop...i can't see how his gills would remain exposed like that.

PT


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

here's a pic from today, oct 25th, not a good shot at all to contrast with the original pics from 4 days ago. i'll get more over the weekend, he flips out when i get too close for pics, and bangs the glass...so i'll let him be for a little while.

the pic does show, however, a different angle to examine the wound and clarity not seen in the other pics.

pt


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## tonggi (Sep 5, 2006)

weren't we all commenting a few days ago that his pirarya was way too big for the tern? that piraya is like 12+ inches and the tern is so small


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## Lewdog (Nov 14, 2005)

[quote name='tonggi' date='Oct 25 2006, 04:50 PM' post='1680551']
weren't we all commenting a few days ago that his pirarya was way too big for the tern? that piraya is like 12+ inches and the tern is so small

Yup a-ronn u called it


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

primetime3wise said:


> here's a pic from today, oct 25th, not a good shot at all to contrast with the original pics from 4 days ago. i'll get more over the weekend, he flips out when i get too close for pics, and bangs the glass...so i'll let him be for a little while.
> 
> the pic does show, however, a different angle to examine the wound and clarity not seen in the other pics.
> 
> pt


IMO hes gonna be a solo pygo the rest of his life. Its to ricky to introduce him because his gill rakes (i dont know the technical term for them) are exposed and if those are damaged you can basically kiss him goodbye. The damage is pretty bad. Lets hope it doesnt interfere with him passing water through his gills to breathe (long term).


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

i tossed him in the 55g with the cariba, last night. he's doing fine and seems to be taking on the role of the most dominate fish in the tank...he's a little more than a 1/3 the size of the caribas in the tank. he swims all over and esp. loves the powerhead. the only negative, so far, is he's too shy to eat in front of me...the cariba eat as soon as the food hits the tank.

i figured since they are cariba, he'll have a better chance the sooner he's introduced...before they get too comfortable or nearer his size.

PT


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

little guy is like a foster child...i'm giving him to Draven1, he's in the process of setting up a 125g of pygos. he's simply too big for my tank that has 5 caribe...it's already overcrowded.

hopefully he'll finally have a stable home, lol.

pt


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)




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## Draven1 (Nov 5, 2005)

I've adopted the tern from Primetime and will keep you posted as to his health with pics. I have him in a hospital tank and he's amazingly active and robust I think he's going to be alright. I have already added some melafix to his tank to aide in his recuperation if anyone can think of anyhting else I can do to help him along your advice will be greatly appreciated. I would like to thank Primetime and Lewdog for the opportunity to help this fish have a decent life.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

np. i'm almost certain he'll be fine longterm. as you can tell he seems perfectly fine...alot of spirit. great looking fish too.

i'm glad i got rid of him though because feeding and ESPECIALLY cleaning the poop of a 55g tank from 5 caribe is enough. they eat like pigs, and CRAP like pigs, so keeping the tank clean is a challenge. i def. didn't need to tax their environment anymore.

pt

oh and lewdog, that thing is a f'n beast! i'd love to see, in person, some of these 16-20" piraya i've only heard about so far.

pt


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

just a thought, in the wild, pygos seek out the weaker fish and eat them, even active
fish can be seen as prey. try using primafix along with melafix in equal doses add salt to heal him up.

i hope the best for him, but i still stand he wont be the strongest fish and will in fact get picked on.
arnold had 3 terns, they picked on one and ate his eye, nxt they ate him, he was active
and robust, but the loss of an eye sealed his doom.....keep this in mind


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

assclown said:


> just a thought, in the wild, pygos seek out the weaker fish and eat them, even active
> fish can be seen as prey. try using primafix along with melafix in equal doses add salt to heal him up.
> 
> i hope the best for him, but i still stand he wont be the strongest fish and will in fact get picked on.
> ...


I have a fish w/ basically a missing eye and he has been in his group for over a year now w/o any problems (knock on wood) (this is a serra as well)


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

i guess it all depends on the other fish too


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