# Fish with damaged fin



## Nadia (Jan 1, 2013)

So my brother bought this fish (a guppie) and when we arrived home we realized that the fish's fin was damaged. We went away for the weekend and when we came home the fish was dead. It was most probably beacause of the damaged fin.
So I just want to know, if a fish has a damage fin, does it grow back again and repair on its own? Or is that fish "scarred" for life?


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## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

Hello! I had guppies a lot of times in the past. Guppies are a schooling fish, your brother should have bought at least 4 or 5 of them. Also, when your buying your fish you should watch them at the store for a while to see if there are any problems with the fish, and then select the fish that are in best shape (don't buy fish with scars, swimming in a strange way, or that haven't their natural good looking colours). These sinctoms apear to fishes in the stores because lots of times they are kept in really small tanks in huge crowds, transport issues and other problems (most fish stores defenitely don't have the proper conditions for the fishes to live in). So it is a must to pay attention to the fish you buy at the store because that will most likely influence their posterior success at your home tank.


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## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

You should also test your water parameters because that could be the cause of your fishes death... ph, gh, kh, nitrites, nitrates etc


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## Nadia (Jan 1, 2013)

He bought 4 of them. 2 male and 2 female. But ja he probably didn't look to see if he recognise any problems with the fish and this one had this damaged fin.
But I'll tell him about testing the water.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Damaged fins will usually grow back unless its damaged to the meat of the fish. I would say the fish was probably stressed by some underlying issue which caused him to weaken and then the transfer shocked him enough to kill him.


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## Nadia (Jan 1, 2013)

He was swimming around like a mad thing. He swam really fast, all around the place, up and down. Don't know why, but ya.


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## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

Also check the temperature, high temperatures can put fish crazy!


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## Nadia (Jan 1, 2013)

Luckily the temperature is right  All the other fish was swimming normally, just the one with the damaged fin that went crazy.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

it sounds like he went into shock. How was it acclimated to the tank? I would ef. test your water parameters. Most ofthe time, with good water quality and food, a fish's fin will grow back in even just a few days, unless the fin is damaged near the base(torn off etc.)


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## Nadia (Jan 1, 2013)

My brother put the fish on top of the water while their in the bag you buy them in, just so they can get used to the temperature of the tank. And then after a while he slowly release them into the water.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/drip-acclimating-fish-11327.html
This is the proper way to acclimate new fish.


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