Mandarin dragonet question

[EDM]

now i have a established tank of 20+ years that me and my mother co work-on

i have a red mandarin dragonet which is doing fine, (been in my tank for a few years now), save that the spike/horn fin on top of head seems to have gone missing, and i havent heard of this or seen this before so im concerned

now im wondering if it will grow back, or should i be worried? i planned to locate a female dragonet as a companion, would this be an issue now that he's missing his male horn fin ?

(yes he is brine shrimp trained, also i have LOTS of copopods )

in tank (150 galleon)

2 square back anthias
2 clown fish mated pair
1 green pastel wrasse
1 desjardin sailfin tang(semi Juvenal)
1 green striped legged hermit crab (full size)
1 engineering goby (Mature)
1 yellow clown goby (small, also known as gumdrop goby)
1 coral branded boxer shrimp (small new one, as my elder one recently passed on)
1 six lined wrasse
1 cleaner wrasse
variety of corals/polyps

 

[Eienna]

I'd bet he ripped the fin on something, or it got bit off. He probably won't have any issues with a female, because if the female thinks it's another female, she's unlikely to fight him. Females usually won't fight each other like males can, especially with that much space.

 

[EDM]

oh good, do you think it can grow back?

 

[Eienna]

Most likely. Damaged fins usually do heal just fine, though it may never look quite as nice again. I've noticed that the Vita-Chem supplement really helps fin regrowth if you care to try it. One caution, though. Keep an eye on it. If it gets a white fluff, redness, or stringyness on the damaged end or starts receding, it may have become infected. That would most likely be bacterial (though it could be fungal), so you'd need to treat that. I don't have any personal experience with treating such infections in marine fish (though my antibiotic of choice for freshwater fish is usually furan-2) so I'm not going to advise you on the specific medication for that.

 

[gacolt]

do you have emrald crabs?the reason i ask is my mandarin was attacked by emrald crabs they ripped off her top dorsal fins and side fins,all the fins grew back but there stubby looks like the nemo of dragonets i have since killed or givin away all the emralds.