Fin problems?

[lisajean]

I went back home over the weekend, so I left my dorm neighbors in charge of watching Mufasa until I returned. When I came back Monday morning, I noticed Mufasa's tail seemed a bit torn. Today as I changed his water, I took out the fake plant that was originally in there (it seemed a little too sharp) and put in this one you see, because it is much softer. However, I'm worried that it wasn't from the plant. As you can see, his fins look a little messy, and have small pieces ripping off as well as what looks like small dirty holes... I'm just curious as to if it is just a few rips from the old plant, or something more serious, and what actions I should take to keep him healthy.

[BrennaNeubauer]

Well it looks like he might be biting his own tail, as it does not look like fin rot. I can't really see from the picture weather his color is comming off or it's just peices of fin actually comming off. I'm sorry I am really not sure how to stop it if he is biting it.

[lisajean]

His color seems fine, but I'll start monitoring more closely just to make sure. He may have just had a stressful weekend - he wasn't eating at such. But he's seem okay now, so hopefully he'll heal up and be okay. Thank you!

[xgoingdownx]

I am having the same exact problem with my fish! I hope Mufasa heals up nicely and that he stops biting his tail!

[Synthisis]

Honestly remove teh plant all together. I had to do this for my VT male. The plant was soft, but his tail looked like spaghetti... Few weeks with salt baths and some salt in the tank and he was good as new... With live plants lol

[kuklachica]

Is he eating and/or swimming well? He looks a bit bloated...

[lisajean]

At the time I posted this and took the picture, he hadn't been eating. But I can happily say that he is eating regularly now. His fins don't look like they're getting worse, but they don't look better.

[xgoingdownx]

It'll probably take a while to heal- my fish's fins aren't quite back to normal, either. Just try to be patient and keep an eye on him to see if it continues to stay consistent or get worse/better.

[dman]

whoa! same problem! i hope he heals up!