sucker fish

Question
i have a male sucker fish that jumped out of my tank, found him in my laundry room not sure how long he spent out of the water but it could,nt have been more than five, ten min. tops..picked him up, put him back in, and he seemed to have been greatful. observed him for days and now noticed his top fin seems to be breaking off alot. he,s eating and swiming around just fine,but i am concerned about his top fin. my question is will it grow back? is he suffering and will it continue to deteriorate??? I want to help him and do,nt know how, please help me and give me an idea whats going on with him so he can get better thank you sincerly catherine......

Answer
Hi Cathie

I don't know how he got into the laundry room, whether he flopped in there on his own, or if you have a cat, dog or small child that might have carried him in there. However, he likely damaged his fin during his out of tank ordeal. It is also not uncommon for Plecos to break/tear their fins in the tank, running into tank decorations, being picked on by other fish etc.

Do a 30% water change, then treat the tank with Pimafix for 7 days, following the directions on the bottle. After treatment, do another 30% water change and replace the carbon in your filter. His fin should grow back.

Make sure your tank is covered where he jumped out and there are no other areas that will allow him to escape. Make sure there are no sharp decorations that can tear his fins and that no other fish are picking on him.

Hope this helps you, good luck!

Richard