Pipefish tail damage

[nastronaut]

Hey there,

I've had my dragonfaced pipefish pair for 24 days now.

Hoping someone might have insight as to how long they take to heal damage to their fins? (Tail)

The male was received with a bit of tail damage, assuming it happened in the wild or due to stress, but I haven't seen any signs of it actively deteriorating since I got them, it hasn't seemed actively infected and the upper part seems to be healing slowly. But I'm noticing that he's definitely putting some wear on the bottom side, he's pretty rough and let's his tail drag on the substrate and all sorts of stuff, but doesn't seem to have any trouble swimming. The female, being fully healed, her tail seems to take the wear no problem.

The female is in mint condition and has shown no signs of ill health. Ironically the male is a much active swimmer and less pick an eater. He doesn't seem unhealthy, I'm just wanting to see his tail completely heal.

Since seeing the bottom is getting a little frayed I've taken a few extra precautions, turned the heater down to 74F, and I've been soaking food, for the other tank inhabitants, with a little bit of garlic/ginger just to decrease the number of potential pathogens, obviously the pipes don't eat this but everyone else goes crazy for it (molly's and clowns).

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Evening,

Great looking fish. I would say right now with no immediate sign of disease or source of aggression it would be an observe situation. Watch for signs of bacterial infection on the fins and be sure he is eating to rule out aggression and hopefully it will regrow on its own. if it has been damaged long enough it may not fully regrow, but not anything to worry about if no other signs.

See if anyone else has some insight on this that may help

 

[fishguy242]

hi,they do use tails to kinda stand on,should see almost daily improvement

 

[nastronaut]

Evening,

Great looking fish. I would say right now with no immediate sign of disease or source of aggression it would be an observe situation. Watch for signs of bacterial infection on the fins and be sure he is eating to rule out aggression and hopefully it will regrow on its own. if it has been damaged long enough it may not fully regrow, but not anything to worry about if no other signs.

See if anyone else has some insight on this that may help

Thanks for insights! He's definitely eating lots of baby brine and pods. He goes nuts for food, meanwhile the female as a little more picky but still eats regularly.

Will keep ya updated!

Pods in the AM:

 

[minus9]

Good call with dropping the temp, higher temps cause issues with DF's and temp swings will cause tail issues as well. Keep the tank clean and stable, and you should be okay. It will take a while before it fully heals. If not, medicated bath for up to 30 minutes could help, but I would wait and see how he progresses.

 

[nastronaut]

Good call with dropping the temp, higher temps cause issues with DF's and temp swings will cause tail issues as well. Keep the tank clean and stable, and you should be okay. It will take a while before it fully heals. If not, medicated bath for up to 30 minutes could help, but I would wait and see how he progresses.

Thanks for input. I'm keeping the temp 74-75 while they heal up. Working on keeping the tank more clean.

I think it may just be part of his original healing process, but definitely keeping an eye on it. He's still eating a ton and it's not getting noticably worse. I've got loads of pods being cultured so just gonna keep boosting the display tank daily to make sure he gets lots of food.

A few updates pictures from today: