New discus with serious fin damage

[Amazon Sword]

Hello everyone, a few days ago I got my hands on 3 new heckels to add to my grow out tank with other wild discus and altums. The other 2 guys came in pretty well, but this poor dude came in terrible shape with very serious fin damage ( I can only assume something went seriously wrong during shipping). I've had other discus with burnt fins and they grew back just fine , even though it took some time, but I'm kinda worried this guy's fins have gone through damage that's gone all the way down to the hard rays. In any case, I will be given another heckel to ''compensate'' for this one's bad arrival,but that's not really the point... It looks like a very nice fish and I'd like everyone else's opinion on whether the damage is irreparable or not... Sorry for the bad quality of the photos IMG_20190913_080839.jpgIMG_20190912_181442.jpgIMG_20190913_080935.jpgIMG_20190913_144003.jpgIMG_20190913_163519.jpg

[Mando]

Poor guy! I believe Al had a nice thread where he cut the fins at a certain point for an even regrowth. He went pretty LOW. Unfortunately for this guy, it looks like the lowest point is very low but you may want to look at that thread. I hope Al shimes in and I hope this fish can recuperate.

[jeep]

Here's Al's experiment http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ghlight=Heckel

I would wait for Al or someone else with experience to post before attempting this...

[Amazon Sword]

Yes, I recall seeing that thread a while ago, though I'd rather not do anything of the sort... I assume you don't think there's any possibility of them regrowing ''normally'' on their own ? I'm really curious what happened within that shipping bag... If those are ammonia burns, then I can't imagine how much of it was in the bag with the poor thing

[jeep]

It sure looks like ammonia burns, but if that were the case I would think the gills would have been burned so badly it would have killed it, but I really have no experience with this issue.

As far as growing back on their own, i seriously doubt it. The damage is way too far into the hard rays for it to repair itself. Just my opinion, but I think the fish will continue to decline unless some action is taken. If you don't want to trim it, I wonder if possibly applying 33% hydrogen peroxide may be an option. HP that strong may oxidize and remove the dead tissue and stop it from spreading. Just a thought and I'm not positive on that...

It's a shame because it really is a nice discus.

[Amazon Sword]

Yeah, it's quite a beautiful fish, and also decent sized for what I tend to get them around here... I don't mind doing the trimming, I'm just very afraid of doing it wrong, that's all. Do you think that after the trimming , despite the deep damage, they'll grow back to their full/normal ''height"? In any case, I'm just letting the poor thing rest for a few days and then see what I'll do, I don't want to stress him too much

[jeep]

Unfortunately, with the damage so far into the hard rays, all you can do is try to stop it from progressing but it won't fully recover. Clean water and a little salt may ward off fungus or infection until you make a move, but I think it may progress until then.

[Chicago Discus]

What a shame! I have seen a lot of shipping damage in my time, but nothing that bad. There may have been something going on before shipping, like fin rot. I suggest you hold off on trimming until the fins grow out a bit. In the meantime, daily large water changes and something to treat/prevent possible fin rot, like Furan2. Once you see them growing out, and you are sure there is nothing else going on, then you can trim off the ragged edges. The hard rays may recover somewhat... the bone does not appear damaged, just the soft tissue covering them. Although I have had success trimming dorsal, anal and tail fins, I have not had the same success with pectoral fins. You may want to just let the pectorals grow out. ... Miranda

[Amazon Sword]

Thank you for chiming in Miranda. I too have the same idea, let them grow out on their own for the meantime and see how it progresses. One of my favourite fish in the same aquarium, around 5 months ago, somehow cut off a serious chunk off its pelvic fins that seemed to go deep into the tissue and he looked like Captain Hook for a while . A few weeks ago, the tip started to grow again and now he looks normal , so I still have hope. Another one of my guys came in with what appeared like a huge chunk missing from his top rays , and that too has healed over time. I managed to take another photo a few minutes ago now that the poor thing is actually not as terrified and is swimming about, the damage I think is not as bad as initially seemed (dare I say looking a bit better than yesterday?) I've added a bunch of katappa and ketapang leaves in the filter to get out some of the supposedly beneficial and healing substances out of them, so let's hope all goes well...IMG_20190913_190018.jpg

As a positive side note, here's some nice shots of some of the other beauties

Ex Captain Hook
IMG_20190909_223359.jpg
My pretty pair
IMG_20190911_152911.jpg
A young heckel looking fancy
IMG_20190909_223432.jpg
This guy came in with the heckels a few days ago, look at how gorgeous he looks already
IMG_20190913_165334.jpg
And finally, the little dude that came in looking like a half eaten donut , his fins have completely healed
IMG_20190902_225433.jpg

Also excuse the altums photobombing, they just love the camera !

[Chicago Discus]

How are those fins coming along? Have they grown back? Have you trimmed them?