Angel named stompy

[Mrs.JP]

Because I wasn't paying close enough attention I brought home a gold angel without any front feeler fins(sorry can't think of the right name). If they were damaged will they grow back?
I am leaning towards damage because when I picked him he was in a tank with another Angel with a brocken dorsil fin and I told the girl not the one with the brocken dorsil my bad for not looking closer. They were about the size of a dime, so small. I did get another one that was in a tank alone this one is alittle bigger maybe a nickel and he has all his fins and he is gold too.
I will try and get some pics soon, the light blew in the tank and it turns out that the bulb is a discontinued size, I might have to get a new top for the 72gl tank.:mad:

[Shelley]

It all depends. If the fins were damaged, there is always a good chance they will regrow. Its a fairly commen defect in angels. If they were born without the "feelers" and its genetic they will not regrow, and the fish should not be bred as the traight will be passed along to their offspring.

[happy_pitbull]

I remember reading somewhere that if they were damaged, or missing only a short section of these fins, that they would regrow, but that if too much was missing, they would not regrow, but I am not 100% sure on that.

I do know though, that for bent/deformed dorsal fins, this can be fixed, if you can stomach doing it. I read on an angel forum that you can do this by: you sedate the angel, and/or place it on a damp cloth then fold the cloth over it so it cannot move around, and leave the damaged dorsal exposed. Take a clean sharp pair of scizzors and snip off the portion that is damaged, and then place him/her back in the tank. With good clean water conditions the dorsal fin will regrow nice and new and straight ! ;)

Just research it yourself on angel forums, I have read it, and people says it does work ;)


Min

[Melody]

:wideeyed: I know you mean well, but I wouldn't suggest a procedure like that. Scissors would tear unless they were surgical, it could easily get infected/fin rot, sedation is always risky because we can't dose according to fish size.... just not a good idea all around. And I mean really, who would we do that for? Certainly not for the fish.

The way I see it anyway.

[happy_pitbull]

:wideeyed: I know you mean well, but I wouldn't suggest a procedure like that. Scissors would tear unless they were surgical, it could easily get infected/fin rot, sedation is always risky because we can't dose according to fish size.... just not a good idea all around. And I mean really, who would we do that for? Certainly not for the fish.

The way I see it anyway.

Well I did say if you could stomach it ;) I probably could not do it myself.


Here is a quote from a angelfish forum on the topic
http://www.angelfish.net/yabbse/index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=13235;st art=msg122284#msg122284


These are fish that are around 4 weeks old, so they may have to be young for this to work.


I decided to see if I could repair the damage. Over the next few evenings I did repairs on all of them. and within a couple of weeks the fins regrew and they all looked perfect.

Here is what I did.

I bought a new pair of manicure scissors. (They had sharp edges to cleanly snip off, not tear, damaged fin tissue.)

I had a supply of Q tips on hand.

I would net a damaged fry, and take note of which fins were damaged before I took it out of the water. Then I would placed it between folds of a wet paper towel so that I could fold the towel back to expose fins, leaving the face covered.

Then, I used a wet Q-tip to gently spread the fragile little fins out as needed, and would make a clean snip to remove the bent portion of the fin.

And, I kept that tank immaculately clean, added a little aquarium salt and melafix. It was highly successful.

The only caution I have is that if you are repairing ventrals, do not snip into or too close to the thicker bony part of the ventral that is close to the body, as the fin will not regenerate once you are into that tissue.

I was not saying to just go do it, I was just saying it is possible, and extra care has to be taken if done. Thats all ;)


Min

[Melody]

I understand that and I'm sure you were just trying to help. I couldn't leave it as is though, because we have youngsters and novices here. Even as an experienced fish-keeper I wouldn't do it. Nothing to do with stomach, its just unnecessary and risky. If I did everything that someone suggested in a fish forum, I'd have a lot of dead fish....lol.

We appreciate all views and information, we just have to be certain that people understand that it isn't just a simple thing that anyone and everyone can do and there are risks involved. If someone really didn't like the finnage on their fish they could simply give it to someone or whatever, and buy something that was perfect enough for them.

As Shelly mentioned, if its a genetic thing they shouldn't be bred or sold as perfect anyway.:smile: