Can a fish break it's fin?

fishoholic · #1 11-21-2011, 01:05 PM

Ya I'm not sure if it's broken or if that's what happens when they start to die. I have had him for awhile, got him around Aug. 2009.

peasofme · #2 11-21-2011, 01:55 PM

could be stress, picked on, attacked, stung, malnutrition, disease, injured, water quality, not getting enough of his natural diet of pods or something else, etc

fishoholic · #3 11-21-2011, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peasofme

could be stress, picked on, attacked, stung, malnutrition, disease, injured, water quality, not getting enough of his natural diet of pods or something else, etc

I still see the odd pod at night in my display (230g) and he eats pe mysis like a pig so doubtful it's diet, I have a lot of fish and no sign of disease ATM so doubt it's disease related, nitrates are a bit high but not to bad so I don't think it's water quality. I do have a RBTA that he could of got stung on but there is no marks showing a sting. My red corris wrasse used to pick on him but I haven't seen him do so in a very long time so I don't know.

Nano · #4 11-21-2011, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishoholic

I still see the odd pod at night in my display (230g) and he eats pe mysis like a pig so doubtful it's diet, I have a lot of fish and no sign of disease ATM so doubt it's disease related, nitrates are a bit high but not to bad so I don't think it's water quality. I do have a RBTA that he could of got stung on but there is no marks showing a sting. My red corris wrasse used to pick on him but I haven't seen him do so in a very long time so I don't know.

I know your tank is saltwater, but in my 100 gallon cichlid tank about 3 years ago I had two fish get in a fight, and one has a bum fin now so Its definitely possible just watch him he's not super old, so I doubt its that, but if he's not able to be as mobile, he will have a hard time catching food

ALang · #5 11-21-2011, 03:37 PM

Could just be age related, Laurie?
We just don't know how old these fishes are when we get them from LFS.
Love them. They are one of my favorites.

peasofme · #6 11-21-2011, 03:40 PM

a fish dying of old age would look old and weathered for a long time. fish can live 20 years.

fishoholic · #7 11-21-2011, 06:52 PM

Ya I'm not sure if it's age related or not. Didn't think he was that old but it's hard to say. It seems in captivity that mandrains and scotters only live 5-6 years

fishoholic · #8 11-29-2011, 01:13 PM

So apparently a fish can break/hurt it's fin. My scooter spent a few days barely moving, then started moving around a little bit and now he's moving around a lot more. Tried spot feeding him when he was hurt but it didn't look like he ate. He's a bit skinnier then normal so I hope he starts finding food again and will be ok and fatten up.