Clamped fin or..?

[fishyMcDoodle]

Hey everybody,

I have a 5.5 gal, filtered, heated, cycled tank and all water parameters for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are good according to my api liquid kit. I feed him live daphnia twice a week and another flake and bloodworm dried mix.

Well I've done some extensive research and I'm confused as to how I should be treating my fish, given that it has clamped fin without symptoms of disease.

It is active, eats properly and is responsive. However, he has torn fins from some decorations in his temporary tank and on top of that, the last third portion of his tail fin and anal fin look like they've been clamped together. As a result, he doesn't look 100% healthy now that he's in his 5.5 gal although he has full colors, often extends his ventral and dorsal fins and exhibits no signs of bacterial, fungal or parasitic infections (ie ich, velvet etc) upon close inspection. Over the past two days I've also come to the conclusion that his 'tattered' look is due to the poorly selected decoration and not fin rot - he simply doesn't have the symptoms for fin rot.

It's been a week since I've moved him into his new tank and I've already done two 50% PWCs while adding a small amount of aquarium salt and necessary conditioner. His anal fin has fanned out where it's closer to his body, but I cannot seem to help him get both ends of his fins back to normal.

Assuming that the temporary tank had subpar water conditions and lack of heating, I'm assuming that the clamped fin will heal as long as I keep up with water changes in his new 5.5 gal.

Does anyone know of any other contributing factors to clamped fins? I've heard PH can contribute to fin curling which he has a bit of, but at a hardness of 7.4, i don't think the hard water is the only factor involved.

Thanks in advance!

[veggiegirl]

Hey there,

Hmm sounds like a bit of a mystery, As long at the water conditions are good includng temperature then I cannot see that it is anything that you are doing is causing this. All I can suggest is keep up the regular water changes and ensure there is nothing in his tank that can cause further fin damage (decorations etc). I once rescued a metalic melano halfmoon from a petshop, he was sick with flukes as well as various bacterial diseases. It sounds weird but his fins were hard and rigid and they had broken away to stumps. I tried many different meds and he was a critically sick fish. He ended up pulling through but his fins never repaired no matter what I did. He stilled lived a happy enough life with an average lifespan of 3 years. Sometimes I think if previous damage has been to extensive it cannot be repaired, however in saying that don't give up, I have seen some pretty meraculis (sorry bout spelling) fin recoveries. Good luck and let us know how he goes Sometimes tiny cut up peices of raw prawn can be fed, not only do they love it but it can be good for fin repair.

[Tikibirds]

Can you get a picture?

[fishyMcDoodle]

The closest pic I could find online is here, which is pretty much identical to how my VT looks right now ->

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...cture10048.jpg

You guys know what? I've been using AquaPlus as a conditioner but I'm almost convinced that it does not actually get rid of chloramines. I just read on another site the AquaPlus is unreliable for chloramine removal.. During the summer I did not get any ammonia readings from my tap water, but now there have been, even after I've dosed with AquaPlus - this leads me to believe that my city is using chloramines in the water supply and the AquaPlus is unable to eliminate it. I will definitely invest in a different conditioner later today and do a PWC again.

EDIT: I should do a 100% Water Change with the new conditioner and not add aquarium salt just to keep the contributing factors to a minimum. What do you guys think?

[Perry the platypus]

I've read that clamped fins can be a sign of stress; I don't know.

[fishyMcDoodle]

Originally Posted by Perry the platypus

I've read that clamped fins can be a sign of stress; I don't know.

You might be right, I haven't really noticed due to the dim lighting in my room but when he wakes up from naps I can see what look like stress bands on the side of his body They usually disappear after a few minutes of being awake..

Unless this is normal, I have no idea what could be stressing him...