Clamped fins: what I have learned....

Mmathis

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Clamped fins.... A sign that your fish is under stress, and is telling you that it doesn't feel well. At this point, it's not an automatic death sentence, but a WARNING to you to look for a cause.


Could be from its environment (ammonia level elevated).... Could be from illness....

Before you act, react, or overact, look at the whole picture and ask yourself some questions:
  • How are the other fish acting? Are they doing the same thing or are they acting normal?
  • Is it showing an interest in food?
  • Check your water quality.
  • Have there been any recent changes or additions to the pond -- new fish, new plants, new water products....?
  • Isolate the fish and have it where you can observe it closely: how is its behavior compared to normal? Is it swimming normally? Look for abnormalities on its body &'fins. How does it react to stimuli? IOW, HOW if any is it acting different from the ordinary?
A fish. with CLAMPED FINS is basically telling you that "I don't feel well."
From that point on, it's up to us to figure it out and treat the fish based on our findings.

=========================================

I'm not learned yet on fish diseases & medicating, so mostly my treatment plan for my fish was isolate and observe.

Last week I had a fairly new Wakin that was about 2 weeks past quarantine that presented with clamped fins, lethargy, and his color was off. First thought: ammonia level. But water tested perfect. None of the other fish seemed affected. I put him in QT again and did a scraping that I guess was neg.(newbie on the scope). Otherwise, he looked normal, except that when he went after food it was like he wanted to eat but couldn't open his mouth. I was going to sedate him and look for a foreign object in his mouth but never got that far. He perked up and was acting WNL after about the 3rd or 4th day. Only treatments were to move him to QT, give him a salt dip, then raise the salt level in the QT. Never did know what was wrong with him, but I suspect either a piece of gravel that he was able to work out on his own, or maybe just an injury to his mouth.

Or maybe he just wanted a little TLC..... May be that we'll never know.

But my point is that we need to stay calm and THINK IT THROUGH without jumping to conclusions. Don't rush into treatments until you've taken the time to LOOK AT THE WHOLE PICTURE!!!
 

Mmathis

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So did you figure out what was wrong with the fish?

Nope, never did for sure, but because it was having issues with opening its mouth, I can only assume that it either got something stuck in there or injured it some way. Then, if the poor little thing couldn't eat, it would surely show signs of distress, such as the symptoms of clamped fins, lethargy, and color loss.

I just sat beside the aquarium one night and watched his every move, trying to figure out WHAT was different that would cause him to show signs of distress. I knew the water he'd been in was OK. And he LOOKED OK [except for the obvious]. Then I started noticing that he wasn't opening & closing his mouth, though his gills seemed to be working fine. Dropped in a bit of food -- he went after it, but then turned away as if he'd been electrocuted or something. Light bulb moment, so I took it from there......

Here's my original post, a week or so ago
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/thr...y-other-than-water-quality.14718/#post-228171
 
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You missed something from your initial list TurtleMommy smell :confused: ok so you have a sense of smell yes then why not use it , pond water will let you know if there is a problem because it starts to smell normally it doesnt.
So this ties in with your clamped fins because bad water will cause your fish to clamp their fins.
This idea goes years back it works but must be used in conjunction with a water test kit , I remember reading it in a book called Goldfish and Koi by Frank W Orme on page 53 he mentions smell, "signs of water pollution" strong unpleasant smell amd milkyness of water so as you see we are using smell as a weapon .
The other thing you missed was routine make it a routine every day to give you fish a once over as they come in to feed i;e fins, body, and eyes.

Otherwise well put together and well thought out :)

Dave;)
 

j.w

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@NewMummy2FishBoos
 

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