Ventral Fin: Discus

[Luke78]

I have a couple questions regarding this part of the fish, and i was hoping some of the discus experts/keepers or others might have some answers for me.Just today while doing some maintaince in the aquarium, i noticed one of my wild discus(the biggest and leader of the pack) had a shorter ventral fin one side of his body.Looked to see if there was any other bumps,bruises,cuts or what not on the body and everything is fine.All other fins are clear,straight,intact.He's active,eating and swimming about.Ive noticed the length has been shortened by a few cm's , and what looks like new growth coming in.Is this normal ? i assumed he hit something or got caught on something. All water perimeters were tested and i got normal readings throughout.Anywhere from 50-75% is changed weekly, all other discus and company seem fine.Will this grow back ? or stay the same? Other than the water changes, i feed a varied and high quality diet, keep temps where they should be,and provide proper filtration.

I guess it just bothers me a bit to see this, one side being smaller than the other.Both of his ventral fins were even length before.There isnt any fighting happening that i have seen, and i keep eyes on the aquarium most of the day, just the occasional chasing away of one another.I didnt put this in the hospital section cause the fish aint sick or showing signs of sickness, so any ideas,thoughts, recommendations i leave open to all of you.

Thanks, Luke

[discuspaul]

Sounds like he damaged/tore one of those fins somehow. I'd be surprised if it didn't heal/grow back in to it's former length in no time. Don't worry about it.

[Luke78]

Emile,

Thanks for your response.Ive seen my bunch get scratched up on the driftwood i have(manzanita branch/stubs) and iam always amazed how they heal themselves up in no time.Just this part is near the bottom of their body, so thin and somewhat fragile that i have my concerns.I will keep eyes on it.

Thanks

Sounds like he damaged/tore one of those fins somehow. I'd be surprised if it didn't heal/grow back in to it's former length in no time. Don't worry about it.

[josephl]

Ventral fins shouldn't be a problem and as you were saying, they grow back, they just look a little goofy as they are growing back. I see that with my domestic discus every once in a way, I'll look at them in the morning and for some reason, over night, they lose part or all of a fin. Its never been a problem.

Not with discus but with an angelfish, I actually have one with only one ventral fin and it has done just fine

[Chappy]

^ what he said!!!!

Yes - my goofy wilds bash themselves around and get scraped and banged up a bit, and occasionally their ventrical fins end up shortened....sometimes quite a bit. They have always grown back except for a Solomon I used to have. He came with one shorter ventrical fin which never grew back. Could have just been that way naturally. I wouldn't worry about it too much
Shelley

[Luke78]

Thanks for the reinsurance (Shelly/Joseph) , for the time being i thought i was the only one whom went through this problem.This bumping everything and anything drives me crazy when they see a shadow, if i or someone they dont know walks into the front of their tank, or bright light.This is one thing i toned done, less light and just enough for the low light plants i got in there.Should have done this from the start , looking into LED lighting as well.

[josephl]

Not sure about wilds but at least with my domestics, they figure anyone coming close to the tank must be coming to feed them so they call congregate at the surface....the beauty of keeping dumb pretty domestic discus

[gklaw]

I found with my discus tanks is: when you get more of them, they will not be scared. With my 55g, I have to reach over 12 in the tank before they all get comfortable. Before that, one got startled and the rest went wild - good thing that was a bare tank.

[Luke78]

Gordon,

Thats actually a good point , thought about this as well.Did have six in the group, one passed on a few months back.Would love to add a few more wilds, but thats gonna have to wait for the moment.

I found with my discus tanks is: when you get more of them, they will not be scared. With my 55g, I have to reach over 12 in the tank before they all get comfortable. Before that, one got startled and the rest went wild - good thing that was a bare tank.