Will a caudal (tail) heal on a fancy goldfish?

Question

My small fancy goldfish injured his caudal (tail) and is not using it- Only his side pectoral fins. I have isolated him with minimal movement in the water- Will he regain use of his tail fin??

THE FISH'S FIN IS THERE & INTACT- IT IS JUST INJURED!

The url for the image of the fish:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i289/bonnieerb/fish001-1.jpg

Answer 1

Yes it should heal in a few weeks. Watch him however for a possiable bacterial infection and do not add anything to the water while he is stressed. If you notice reddening around the area becarefull it does not get infected.

Answer 2

It would be hard to predict without knowing how the tail was injured and exactly where the injury occurred.

If the injury was slight, there's a good chance it will heal. If it was a more serious injury (broken spine, nerve damage that prevents muscle contraction) it won't.

Even if this is a permanent injury, it may not affect your fish as much as you might think - maybe just slow him down. I had a tank with two catfish and the female ate the male's tail down to the bone - the tail never regenerated, but he lived for more than a decade after - he just swam a little wobbly. How badly it will affect your fish will depend how close to the tail fin the damage was. Generally the closer to the tail fin, the less the effect will be. He'll be able to compensate by using the other fins, and he just may need some time to adjust to the "new" way he'll have to swim. Turning down the water flow so he doesn't have to struggle with the current was a good idea. Give him a few days to see if he starts using the tail on his own and watch him for other signs of stress. You might want to add a little salt to his water - about 1 tablespoon to every 5 gallons - to help relieve stress. Also, be sure his water quality stays good. If you have sinking food, it may be better to use at this point instead of flakes - he won't have to go so far to eat. If after about a week he hasn't made any effort to use the tail, the damage may be permanent. Try slowly raising the water motion and see how he reacts. You'll need to find a point where you can balance good water movement for filtration with his swimming ability so he doesn't tire too easily. If you reintroduce him back with the other fish, just be careful that he gets enough to eat - he won't be as fast getting to the food as the others if this damage is permanent.

Here's hoping he recovers!

Answer 3

As long as he's a fighter with a will to live, his tail will grow back.

I was young and once made the mistake of buying an aggressive blue African cichlid and put him in with my angel fish at the time... The next day, luckily the angel fish was still alive, but all of its fins were chewed off. Instead of having long fins, it looked more like a triangle.

I bought a tank divider and keep the two separated, the angel fish lived and grew back all its fins to there nice long size.