Arowana Injury Healing Period

[Alvin Koh]

Hi all,

Arowanas are by nature great leapers and often sustain injuries. Common injuries include:

1) Scraped skin (gill plates, head)
2) Dropped scales
3) Torn/broken finnages & tail
4) Broken barbels

Healing times vary greatly according to age, seriousness of injury and also the health of the fish. Here are some of the complete recover times I noticed. Feel free to comment as these are observations and it may vary.


1) Scrapped skin - usually seen on the gill plates due to decorations within the tank like driftwood or powerheads. Very often a thin layer of skin is srapped off exposing a white undersurface.

Healing time: aprx. 1 weeks - 1 month for various ages.
(If the fish is of substaintial age and has coloration on it's gills, to retain it's coloration may take a lot longer, e.g. 2 months or more)


2) Dropped scales - caused by heavy impact knocks of its body against a surface, usually when the fish is in a state of panic. The fish may be reacting strongly to sudden changes of water parameters or surroundings and swims rapidly knocking on decorations or in more serious cases, it leaps out of the water surface and knocks itself on to the tank hood. This is usually accompanied by aftershock restlessness of the fish at the bottom of the tank.

Healing times:
Young fish (6-10 inches): aprx. 1.5 to 2 months.
Mid-size (11-16 inches): aprx. 2-3 months.
Mid to Adult (> 16 inches): aprx. 3-6 months.
(These figures include regaining of coloration. For adult fishes, sometimes they never really get back the original density of color. In some cases, it may take more than a year)


3.1) Frayed finnages/tail - May be disease-induced (fin rot) or due to biting by tank mates. When the problem is tackled, the healing can be quite fast.

Healing times: (If the fin rays are intact and only the thin membrane between the rays are torn. If the fin rays had eroded or are broken, refer to broken finnages below)

Young fish: 3 days to 1 week
Medium: 1 week-2 weeks
Adult: 1 week to 3 weeks


3.2) Broken finnages/tail - Usually caused by more serious injuries like heavy knocks or bad fights. In extreme cases, the fish leaps out of the tank and lands on the floor and breaks its finnages while struggling. More common problem in asian golden varieties like crossback. Eroded fin rays may be caused by severe cases of fin rot.

Healing times:
Young fish: 0.5-2 months
Mid-size fish: 1-3 months
Adult fish: 1-6 months
(depending on how much of the tail is broken/eroded off. the time range above represents the extremes, 10% to 90% of the tail lost)

*For pectorial finnages (esp adults), if broken, the full recovery times are on the extreme end. Sometimes, they never grow back fully leaving one pectorial fin crooked and slightly shorter.


4) Broken barbels - Causes are quite similiar to both broken finnages and broken scales - caused by physical impact. It can be induced at the tip, mid or extreme cases, at the root/mouth tip. When it occurs at the root/mouth, it can sometimes lead to permanent loss of barbel(s).

Healing times:
Young fish: 1-3 months
Mid-size fish: 1.5-2 months
Adult fish: 2-3 months

*Barbels may not grow perfectly straight and may cross over to the next barbel. It is recommended by some to make the tank significantly darker so that the arowana relies more heavily on it's barbels as sensors and thus possibly a straighter growth.


i) Improving healing rates:
The most important thing is preventing infection of the problem area or wound in bad cases. Although it is not very common for such to occur, keeping the water clean is important. High amounts of salt is not necessary. Use it moderately at the right dosages, e.g. 0.5%.

I have heard this many times, but have yet to prove it. Some owners reported singnificantly improved healing speeds when the temperature of the water in the tank is increased (30 DegC). It may be due to an increased metabolism that the body of the fish repairs itself more quickly and also tends to eat more.

- Alvin Koh

Disclaimer: The above information is provided as a guideline and not medical instructions/truths. In doubt, always consult your local veterinarian for a proper diagnosis.

Nice bit of info Alvin. sure it'll come in handy considering how common traumatic injuries r. Cheers bro!

yeah, let me confirm that temperature is a major factor affecting healing rates. It's been shown without doubt that fish reared in warmer waters heal much faster simply because of the increased metabolism....but, these fishes were in such temps to start with..i.e the temp was NOT increased after trauma, but were different to start with...

I guess it might b beneficial to increase the temp slightly, say a degree or 2. but it's not the most important thing with regards to the water. Other parameters such as nitrites might slow the healing process n predispose to secondary infections.

that's why u should always do a water change when your fish is injured. Raising the temp too much too fast can cause more problems.

http://www.koivet.com/coolstuff/melafix/index.htm

[Alvin Koh]

Isna,

Thank you. The list is still a very rough estimate.

So to add on, it would be best to perform small frequent water changes after a comfortable time has lapsed (e.g. 1-2 days) since the occurance of the problem.

P.S. Kudos to the extensive knowledge you have.

Alvin.