Gemtang

[rmaiolo]

I purchased a gem tang off someone who was absolutely Beaten by other fish his tail is almost all gone the top and bottom fins are gone, I put him in the tank he swims and been eating a lot, will they grow back ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I purchased a gem tang off someone who was absolutely Beaten by other fish his tail is almost all gone the top and bottom fins are gone, I put him in the tank he swims and been eating a lot, will they grow back ?

To a degree yes depending on severity but tails and pectoral are generally full, upper dorsal May or may be restored

 

[Weeb]

Fins are slow to heal and grow. Losing an actual tail (not just fin but tail flesh) will not grow back.

Help the fish by improving its immunity and ability to heal wounds by adding supplements for an ill fish to its diet as recommended in the Fish Health Rough Proper Nutrition post. Use especially Beta-1,3/1,6-D-Glucan.

 

[Dave1993]

did you know it was in that state i like my fish in tip top condition

 

[Weeb]

Looks like the tail is actually still present. The tail fin will heal.

 

[rmaiolo]

Fins are slow to heal and grow. Losing an actual tail (not just fin but tail flesh) will not grow back.

Help the fish by improving its immunity and ability to heal wounds by adding supplements for an ill fish to its diet as recommended in the Fish Health Rough Proper Nutrition post. Use especially Beta-1,3/1,6-D-Glucan.

Are you able to see from the picture if it will heal?

 

[rmaiolo]

Poor

To a degree yes depending on severity but tails and pectoral are generally full, upper dorsal May or may be rest

To a degree yes depending on severity but tails and pectoral are generally full, upper dorsal May or may be restored

I really hope it gets a full recovery

 

[Weeb]

Are you able to see from the picture if it will heal?

Since the fish has some tail fin there, it will heal. It will take a long time. Be sure to supplement feedings with Vita-Chem and the aforementioned Beta Glucan.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Seeing the fish now on a large screen, the tail will come back some as will caudal. The top fin will be little to no growth and this is NOT a nutritional issue but an aggression issue and whoever caused the aggression will have to be isolated from the fish. Fish is lucky to have survived this trauma

 

[rmaiolo]

Seeing the fish now on a large screen, the tail will come back some as will caudal. The top fin will be little to no growth and this is NOT a nutritional issue but an aggression issue and whoever caused the aggression will have to be isolated from the fish. Fish is lucky to have survived this trauma

Ya it was an aggression issue and I took it off someone, he could’ve took it out earlier I don’t no why he waited to this point, so you don’t think the dorsal fin and the bottom will grow back ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ya it was an aggression issue and I took it off someone, he could’ve took it out earlier I don’t no why he waited to this point, so you don’t think the dorsal fin and the bottom will grow back ?

Percenrage chance of growing back even a little, Maybe 10%

 

[bakbay]

That's sad - hope it will survive. Look at the bright side, you may possess one of the rarest Gem Tangs out there - "Finless Madagascar Gem Tang"?

 

[MnFish1]

I would feed it well ( I'm not sure about some of the specific recommendations here) - keep it in a low stress environment. Not sure anyone can predict the percent chance it will recover. I would say - though - that this is not something that happened overnight...... You need to watch especially carefully when adding fish for any such damage. Hopefully it will recover - there is no percentage IMHO

 

[rmaiolo]

Percenrage chance of growing back even a little, Maybe 10%

Wow that’s not a number I wanted to see what can you do I guess

 

[rmaiolo]

That's sad - hope it will survive. Look at the bright side, you may possess one of the rarest Gem Tangs out there - "Finless Madagascar Gem Tang"?

Lolllll

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wow that’s not a number I wanted to see what can you do I guess

A comment was made that its hard to predict which is true, but my experience with tangs which is lengthy- the dorsal rarely recovers likely due to the missing bone structure associated with the fin and is also used as a steering wheel for turning and stabilizing itself in the water

 

[jmichaelh7]

Oh my goodness who would allow this to go on.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I purchased a gem tang off someone who was absolutely Beaten by other fish his tail is almost all gone the top and bottom fins are gone, I put him in the tank he swims and been eating a lot, will they grow back ?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I’m going to put another idea out there. Let’s say the owner was incorrect about the cause of the fin damage? What else could it be?

Zebrasoma tangs show head and lateral line erosion very differently than other tangs - they develop eroded/missing fins. This is a chronic issue. It’s possible the original owner saw some aggression against this fish due to the HLLE damage, but I think that was secondary. If that is the case, the fins won’t regrow, but the fish can live for some time in this condition.

Jay