Emergency: fish in bad shape.       8/28/19
Hello, i hope everything's well.
<Hello Roberto,>
I'll get to the point this time.
<Sure thing!>
My 4 year old yellow acara jumped out of the tank and stayed out of the tank for what i assume 20... 25 min? The tank has a lid but it somehow busted out of it. When i found him i thought he was dead, parts of him dry. I put him in water because i always have hope and surprisingly started breathing. He also fell from a considerable height (one a half meters) . This was yesterday.
<Yikes!>
Right now he is very weak. He responds to stimuli but has trouble keeping himself balanced, a lot of the scales on one of his sides have peeled off, the tips of his fins are falling apart. I assume this is due the dryness his body underwent. What can one do in these situations? Photos are in links. I fear if i dont do something he wont recover.
<If her survives the next couple hours, you may be lucky. The dry skin will almost certainly be damaged, and Finrot and/or Fungus are both very real possibilities. You won't hear me say this very often, but this is one of those situations where a product aimed at preventing infections would be worthwhile, such as API Stress Coat or even Melafix. Adding a very small amount of salt to the water, perhaps 1-2 gram/litre, can also be useful. Either way, optimal water conditions, lots of oxygen, and no further stress (e.g., turn the lights off) will be essential. Long term, if the fish is still alive a day after the accident, he will probably live, so long as Finrot or Fungus doesn't set in. Good luck, Neale.>
Re: Emergency: fish in bad shape.       8/28/19
Follow up. I put him in an 8 gal with ample oxygen, Methylene blue and complete darkness.
<Not sure I'd have moved him into such a small tank, but I understand your thinking. The problem is that a small tank is stressful, and unless the filter system there is mature, you'd be exposing him to worse water quality than in the main aquarium. Always remember, a hospital tank is worthless UNLESS it has better water quality than the main tank.>
Besides hoping he would make the night, nothing else i thought i could do. He didn't make it.
<Oh dear. Sorry to hear this.>
After the fall he was stressed but swam normally. Next day he had problems with balance and low response to stimuli. Bacteria infected overnight in a highly stressed, open wounded fish perhaps? Should have separated earlier...
<Quite possibly what happened. Hard to say. Sorry. Cheers, Neale.>

Fish shock, FW... hlth. 08/18/2008 I recently added 3 new fish to my tropical tank, two are the exact same specie and the third is another variety of the same species. When I attempted to do my weekly gravel cleaning and water change I was removing decorations from the tank. The new fish swam quickly from the other side of the tank towards the decoration I was removing and slammed into it. Then he floated around the tank for about 20 min.s barely breathing before he fully recovered. I was wondering what I could do to reduce his stress, I wasn't moving fast while removing decorations. Should I get another fish of the same species, I know the pet store has one. I also noticed my female guppy changes colour when my tank light is out, she becomes pale but when the light comes back on she regains her colour. I've tested ammonia and nitrites and there are none. Is this normal for guppies to do, my other female doesn't seem to do this though. <No, it's not normal. You should certainly be doing everything you can to reduce stress on your fish while performing maintenance. There's no reason to remove all the ornaments and plants from a tank when cleaning it, assuming you're maintaining the tank in a sensible way. If you do 25-50% water changes per week (the correct amount/frequency) all you need to do is stir the gravel a bit with your fingers and suck up any detritus with the siphon as the water is taken out. The filter will handle everything else, assuming it's adequate to the tank (I recommend choosing filters that offer four times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour). Tanks only become dirty if they are too small for the fish concerned, massively overstocked, or completely under-maintained in terms of filtration and water changes. Take care that any water added to the tank is identical in chemistry and temperature to any water removed. Guppies do not like dramatic changes in pH, and the use of marine salt mix (rather than "tonic salt") at a low dose of around 3-6 grammes per litre will help here by adding buffering capacity to the water. Generally livebearers appreciate the addition of marine salt mix, but other types of tropical fish do not, so review any tankmates carefully before doing this. Do remember that Guppies need a tank at least 90 litres/20 gallons in size, with a proper filter. Males are aggressive towards one another and pester females, and in smaller tanks this aggression causes serious problems. So consider the size of the tank, as well as the availability of hiding places, particularly floating plants, before adding any more fish. You should always have twice as many females (at least) than males if you want to

African spotted leaf fish; "lock-jaw"     11/12/13
Hi I have had my fish for about three weeks now and it seems like he overextended his top lip and can not retract it back. He wasn't eating when it happened so I'm not sure how it happened. I also have another African spotted leaf fish that I have had him for 4 months and he is doing excellent. If you can help me with how I can fix his mouth or what I can do that would be great.
<Mmm, such "stuck open mouths" on these fish and others are most often due to physical traumas (overextensions, or getting "something" stuck in them)... perhaps more allowed by nutritional deficiency over time. You can try, make that could try rearticulating the jaw mechanism with a dull wood toothpick, or a Q-tip with the cotton removed; but there is a risk of further injury. A few folks that have written to us over the years have had success doing this op. w/ their goldfish... You might find relief in reading their accounts, searched on WWM. Bob Fenner>
Re: African spotted leaf fish     11/12/13
Thank you so much this is very helpful. I tried looking on the website for it but I didn't know what kind of keywords to put in. I will check again.
Thank you again
<Ah good; and I've asked Neale to respond independently. BobF>