# Emperor Tetra attacked?? AQ salt ok?



## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Gah! I just found one of my emperor tetras lying on the bottom of the tank with most of his tail fin gone. I suspect my Pleco who is getting too damn big for the tank. I fed the Pleco a piece of zucchini last night and he prolly got aggressive when the emperor came by to check it out??. 

Total guess but I can't think of anything else.

I'm setting up the hospital tank right now. Should I add a little AQ salt to help his tail? I don't know if they're sensitive to it or not.

Mr. Pleco will be taking a trip to the lfs today. I hate to do it but.....


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I personally do not use salt on Tetra's, only on livebearers and some cichlids. I would think an antibacterial medication is in order, and a Q tank necessary. Whatever you do, do not use anything copper based, as the copper could make things worse at this point. 

Honestly, when it comes to situations with a single fish and this serious of damage, you might be best to euthanize the fish and replace it.

By the way, this is a great learning experience. The common pleco has no place in a freshwater community. They only gaze on algae when very small and will become extremely aggressive as they grow. They also place an unbelievable strain on the biological filtration of a system.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Pasfur said:


> I personally do not use salt on Tetra's, only on livebearers and some cichlids. I would think an antibacterial medication is in order, and a Q tank necessary. Whatever you do, do not use anything copper based, as the copper could make things worse at this point.
> 
> Honestly, when it comes to situations with a single fish and this serious of damage, you might be best to euthanize the fish and replace it.
> 
> By the way, this is a great learning experience. The common pleco has no place in a freshwater community. They only gaze on algae when very small and will become extremely aggressive as they grow. They also place an unbelievable strain on the biological filtration of a system.


Thanks Pasfur,

He's in the hospital tank now. Reason I didn't euthanize right away is because he looks undamaged (no wounds anyway) except for the tail fin. I'll try some meds. and give him a little time to see if he's going to have a shot at recovery. 

I've known for a bit that my Pleco was going back to the lfs but I wish they'd told me how damn big he would get in the first place. They are such awesome fish but agree that they have no place in a peaceful freshwater tank. I custom built him a slate cave so that's prolly saved some aggression up to this point as it's his domain.

Crossing fingers


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

I'd not use salt on them guys at all. Try low dose of Malafix for the tail.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

No salt used. I used a very low dose of the Maracyn combo. He was laying on the bottom of the hospital tank when I first put him in but hes now swimming around a bit. Kinda vertically but he's not struggling at all that I can tell. Poor lil guy might have a chance. I'll just have to do what I can and wait it out.

Thanks Angel. Getting ready to scoop out Algae-non (Pleco's name). If anyonre remembers high school literature, you'll get the name


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

*Would you euthanize at this point??*

So my emperor tetra has been basically laying on the bottom of the hospital tank for the whole week. Other than the tail fin damage, he looks perfectly fine. All other fins intact, bright coloring and clear eyes, no signs of real distress.

He's not eating.

When we turn the room lights on, he zips around the tank (weirdly) for about 10 - 15 seconds then it's back to the bottom of the tank. 

At this rate, I'm not sure if he'll starve to death before enough of his tail fin grows back. I'm using low doses of Maracyn every other day and changing out 50% of the water each time.

I'm not even sure if enough of the tail fin is gone to make him behave this way. Maybe he had some kind of stroke?? Gah!!

So what would you do?


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