Lion has ripped a hole in fin

[ashleigh234]

My Fuzzy Dwarf Lion has been perching himself on the rocks as usual, but sometimes goes a little bit further in, maybe its comfier??
But tonight I noticed he has ripped his fin, I cant get a decent photo, but its his big fins that he corners prey in with etc, not sure of the name.
Its his left one and at the top, its kind of ripped half way in from the edge, and then a little bit down further its ripped nearly the whole way, but its more of a hole.
He seems to be swimming a little wonky because of it.
Will this heal on its own? And is there anything I need to do?

 

[cranberry]

That's his pectoral fins. Yes, they will heal without intervention, but I'm concerned as to what caused it in the first place. How's your water quality? Who's his roommates?

 

[ashleigh234]

Great to know it will heal on its own.
Forgot to put in the post that i think he may have just torn it on rocks as he has been perching in the rocks rather than on them sometimes, he moves around a few places in the tank throughout the day and the spot in the rocks is just one of them, but i think its probably the cause.
He has been in the tank for the last 6mths plus with:
Foxface
Coral Beauty
Goby
Clown
2 Damsels
It definately just looks ripped and not bitten or anything, and none of the tankmates bother him at all.
Have only just noticed it so turned the lights out to see if he is ok with swimming, as he doesnt swim much with the lights on, and he seems to be getting the hang of it, is a little bit wonky but suppose thats just because he has a hole in his fin.

 

[ashleigh234]

Oh and water quality is fine, only thing is nitrates on 10, but they have reduced down from 20 since addition of new skimmer.

 

[cranberry]

I doubt he tore it on the rocks. Hanging in the crevices is what they were made to do.... there's something else going on, IMO. I've had lions with torn fins but it has never affected their swimming.
No chance of a video, is there?

 

[ashleigh234]

Nah sorry videos are just as bad as photos. I will be trying to get my hands on a camera to borrow this week hopefully anyway.
The only thing other than ripping it on the rocks could be one of the damsels
The damsel has been digging out the sand in the corner of the tank for the last couple of days, not sure why, but could he perhaps have attacked the lion if he went too close?
I will keep an eye on everyones behaviour, but they all seemed normal tonight, I have been watching them all swim around as normal for the last 2 hours and no one seems to be chasing each other. Wasnt until I got up to turn off the lights and stopped to have a good look as normal that i noticed his fin, definately happened today though as I was watching him this morning.

 

[ashleigh234]

Or the coral banded shrimp? hes quite big, so perhaps the lion got too close to him?

 

[cranberry]

Could be.... our CBS was a brute.

 

[ashleigh234]

I will keep an eye out for any further torn fins, better not happen again or i will be angry with Mr Shrimp lol.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by Ashleigh234
http:///forum/post/3184171
I will keep an eye out for any further torn fins, better not happen again or i will be angry with Mr Shrimp lol.
Don't rule out the damsels; they are mean little monsters that can and will rush in and nip at anything. They love slow moving fins; maybe the lion will get big enough to lunch on them soon, lions grow very fast.

 

[cranberry]

How is he doing nutritionally? It can also be a sign he's not getting what he needs. What is he currently on?

 

[ashleigh234]

I brought him some prawns so he had those a couple of times, but the remainder died before I could feed them to him, so I got him some nice yummy looking feeder fish, and he ate those. I am due to go out tonight to buy some more food for him as the shop only had a couple of feeder fish left so got those but now have to go get some more.
I dont have a tank set up for keeping them alive, just an airstone in a little fishbowl, so if they make it, great, if they dont, i just buy more.

 

[cranberry]

That's all I have for a setup too. A 5g with an corner filter. What are the feeder fish again? SW or FW? I think I remember to saying a name I didn't recognize.
When I buy the shrimp I keep some and then feed the rest with different foods and freeze them. It's an easy conversion tool. If they take the live, sometimes they take to the dead pretty well and then on to other things.

 

[ashleigh234]

The ones I got last time were fresh water unfortunately as they were the only ones I could get my hands on, but the prawns i fed him were brackish.
Had a few dramas at work yesterday so being a monday all the lfs arent open late so by the time i got home they were all shut. grrr. hes getting hungry now lol.
But as I couldnt get him any live food, I saw at the supermarket in the fresh seafood section that they had baby octopus ... so i brought $1 worth and cut one of the tentacles off and dangled it in front of him ... sure got his attention, he was really eyeing it up, I think I may be able to get him to eat it, sadly it dropped to the bottom so he didnt get to it in time need to hold it better lol. Fingers crossed, will give it another go tonight, i think as hes getting hungry he may jsut take it if i dangle it in front of him enough.