# Gill Curl



## Crest Glide (Jul 19, 2009)

I know it's hard to see, but can you tell if this is gill curl or not?//


----------



## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

Yep....what size is it, and what size tank is it in? I hear they can get it from being in too small of a tank. I was also told the gill can be trimmed, and most times it will grow back, but I've never seen or done the procedure.


----------



## Crest Glide (Jul 19, 2009)

It's like 4 and a half inches and 3 feet long and 18" wide. He likes to flare backwards every now and then when he gets spooked. So I think that might be the cause. With the surgery I heard the fish is really susceptible to diseases and infections after the surgery, and it still might not grow back correctly. I did hear about massaging the gills to help correct them. I would probably have to take him out of the water to do that though.I already added a powerhead with an air bubbler. The temp is 82-83 and the pH is almost 7 on the dot.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I believe the case is purely water quality. Is the tank a 40breeder or a 65gal.
I had the same thing happen to my mac when I neglected the tank for a while.
I caught it early and was still able to do the surgery but if its too far gone and yours looks like it might be even with the bad pics.
Mine did a full recovery and I have never slacked on water quality since.

I posted a thread about it and it might still be around somewhere.
If you think its still worth the surgery please be very careful and use a towel to hold him down so that he doesnt slip when he thrashes


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

It looks like gill curl already effecting the hard membrane which means surgery will be your only real option though you should post some good pics first so it can be verified. You dont have to do anything, but if it worsens it will eventually lead to death. Surgery can be risky, but doing nothing can also be fatal. Sedation is ideal during surgery though its extreamly nerve racking as a sedated fish looks dead or dying. Improved water quality, filtration, currecnt and oxygenation will prevent it from getting worse, but from the bad pics it already looks past the stage where doing these things could correct it.


----------



## Crest Glide (Jul 19, 2009)

I'm actually going to do a write up about trying to cure it myself. I took pics of the gill curl untreated with a better camera. When I find the transfer cable I'll post them. I chased the spilo for about a half hour with my net; not trying to capture it, just to wear him out. By the time he didn't flail anymore after i netted him against the glass of the tank, i took him out of the water, and put him onto a towel that was pre soaked so it wouldn't do as much damage to the slime coat. i then got a wash rag that was also pre soaked (As ****** suggested) to hold him down with while i stroked his gill down to straighten it. I then flipped him and proceeded to do the same on the other side. I then put him back into his tank, turned off the power head, and the lights. It does show significant improvement. After a few hours I will turn the power head back on and further address any more improvement on this form.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

My Aunt Did LSD said:


> I'm actually going to do a write up about trying to cure it myself. I took pics of the gill curl untreated with a better camera. When I find the transfer cable I'll post them. I chased the spilo for about a half hour with my net; not trying to capture it, just to wear him out. By the time he didn't flail anymore after i netted him against the glass of the tank, i took him out of the water, and put him onto a towel that was pre soaked so it wouldn't do as much damage to the slime coat. i then got a wash rag that was also pre soaked (As ****** suggested) to hold him down with while i stroked his gill down to straighten it. I then flipped him and proceeded to do the same on the other side. I then put him back into his tank, turned off the power head, and the lights. It does show significant improvement. After a few hours I will turn the power head back on and further address any more improvement on this form.


 Hope it works, bu i think this is ment for GC of the soft membrane. I doubt it will help with more advanced GC of the hard membrane


----------



## Crest Glide (Jul 19, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> I'm actually going to do a write up about trying to cure it myself. I took pics of the gill curl untreated with a better camera. When I find the transfer cable I'll post them. I chased the spilo for about a half hour with my net; not trying to capture it, just to wear him out. By the time he didn't flail anymore after i netted him against the glass of the tank, i took him out of the water, and put him onto a towel that was pre soaked so it wouldn't do as much damage to the slime coat. i then got a wash rag that was also pre soaked (As ****** suggested) to hold him down with while i stroked his gill down to straighten it. I then flipped him and proceeded to do the same on the other side. I then put him back into his tank, turned off the power head, and the lights. It does show significant improvement. After a few hours I will turn the power head back on and further address any more improvement on this form.


 Hope it works, bu i think this is ment for GC of the soft membrane. I doubt it will help with more advanced GC of the hard membrane
[/quote]
I still can't find the transfer cable so I took another picture with my phone. The top portion is undetectable. The lower portion shows improvement but I think if I just keep up the water quality with the power heads running I'll try again in a few days. Hopefully with one or two more treatments he'll be ok.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

IMO all you're doing is stressing out the fish for nothing, the surgery and maintaining pristine water quality is the only way to correct the problem.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

****** said:


> IMO all you're doing is stressing out the fish for nothing, the surgery and maintaining pristine water quality is the only way to correct the problem.


 Id keep pristine water for now before trying another massage. Get a good pic up in the meantime so we can see how bad the GC actually is.

My assumption is since the gill curl is visible in the bad pics, i would assume its effecting the hard membrane as if it was just the soft membrane effected you probably wouldnt be able to see it in the pics


----------



## Crest Glide (Jul 19, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> IMO all you're doing is stressing out the fish for nothing, the surgery and maintaining pristine water quality is the only way to correct the problem.


 Id keep pristine water for now before trying another massage. Get a good pic up in the meantime so we can see how bad the GC actually is.

My assumption is since the gill curl is visible in the bad pics, i would assume its effecting the hard membrane as if it was just the soft membrane effected you probably wouldnt be able to see it in the pics
[/quote]
I still can't get a better pic but the left gill is fine now. The right gill is still effected by 1/8th of an inch. Is that still the soft membrane or the hard. I noticed the pH crashed to like 4. So I used baking soda and did a 50% water change. I noticed that my bio wheel has the wheel and carbon filter but not a bio mesh.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Post a pic and i can tell you what mebreane(s) are effected. If its the soft membrane the only thing effected will be the outtermost flap of skin on the gill. If the hard membrane is effected then the solid part of the gill will be curving in and not just the soft fleshy part. Your pics were bad and i could still notice it so i would go with the hard membrane being effected based on that alone. If it was the soft membrane, you probably wouldnt notice it in the blurry pics as most people probably wuldnt even notice it on their fish for a bit.


----------



## Crest Glide (Jul 19, 2009)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Post a pic and i can tell you what mebreane(s) are effected. If its the soft membrane the only thing effected will be the outtermost flap of skin on the gill. If the hard membrane is effected then the solid part of the gill will be curving in and not just the soft fleshy part. Your pics were bad and i could still notice it so i would go with the hard membrane being effected based on that alone. If it was the soft membrane, you probably wouldnt notice it in the blurry pics as most people probably wuldnt even notice it on their fish for a bit.


Yeah it got worse, I haven't tried massaging it at all but both gills are constantly exposed. I tried searching the site but only found people mentioning the gill curl. I'm not sure if I should do the surgery or just leave him like he is. He seems alright. It's affecting the hard membrane as well at this point. If I was to go through with it though how far from the curl should i cut?


----------



## Genesis8 (Sep 11, 2009)

I would also like to know how to cure Gill curl because one of the Gill is pretty bad. Anyone?


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Genesis8 said:


> I would also like to know how to cure Gill curl because one of the Gill is pretty bad. Anyone?


 You have to cut the full curl off. If its effecting the hard membrane you should deffintly use some anesthesia as you should have the fish out as hard membranes arnt that easy to cut. There are a bunch of arowanna gill curl sugeries and articles online that can give you a good idea how to do it. Be aware though sugeruy could be risky if you do something wrong either before durign or after it.


----------



## Genesis8 (Sep 11, 2009)

I have read it on the Arowana forums about it but it might be too risky. Anything else besides the surgery?


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

If its effecting the hard gill membrane nothing else is known to cure it though it can be stopped from worsening with good water quality.
If only the slf membrane is effected then good water quality may be able to fix it.


----------

