Angelfish may lose their fins due to certain illnesses or having their fins nipped by other aggressive tank mates. However, with the correct care, an angelfish can grow its fins back in six weeks, depending on the severity of their condition.
There are many ways in which an angelfish can lose its fins. However, you can also do many things to prevent this from happening in the first place.
The Ability Of Angelfish To Grow Their Fins Back
If an angelfish loses any fins, it will be able to grow them back. But the fish should be in an environment that allows it to recover properly without being at risk of secondary infections or being disturbed by other tank mates.
If kept in the correct setting, an angelfish should be able to grow its fins back in only six weeks.
Why Angelfish May Need To Grow Their Fins Back
Many possible reasons may lead to an angelfish losing its fins. Some of these reasons include angelfish being attacked by more aggressive tank mates, bumping their fins against objects in your aquarium, resulting in their fins being torn off, or possibly contracting an illness or disease such as fin rot.
Aggressive Tank Mates
Angelfish can be quite a territorial species of fish at times, and this may result in them getting into confrontations with some of their fellow tank mates. If their tank mates are also aggressive, they could land up chasing the angelfish around your tank and nipping at their fins until there is little or none left.
To prevent this, you should consider the compatibility of certain fish species as tank mates before getting new fish species and adding them to your tank. In addition, you will want to look for fish with calm temperaments that can happily coexist with your angelfish without having any issues or showing aggression towards one another.
You must know that due to angelfish having a relatively aggressive temperament, they may be the ones who decide to pick on their tank mates and may nibble at their fins. Sometimes, male angelfish may even show aggression towards each other over territorial disputes, despite being of the same species.
Suppose you have more than one male angelfish in the same aquarium. In that case, it is best to have a larger tank so that each male can establish territory without invading the others.
Having a larger tank will also allow the angelfish to avoid one another as much as possible, so there is a lower chance of them displaying aggressive behavior towards one another.
Tearing Fins On Objects In Your Tank
Certain objects and ornaments you decide to put in your tank may have rough or sharp edges. In some cases, angelfish may swim too close to these objects, and their fins may catch onto them while swimming past, causing them to rip.
To prevent this, you should ensure that all the objects and ornaments in their aquarium have smooth edges, even if this possibly means filing down some of the rough parts.
Just because your angelfish has lost its fins doesn’t necessarily mean it will die.
Angelfish are quite a hardy species of fish. They can regrow their fins over time should they be in an otherwise healthy condition and be placed under the proper care to recover properly.
Losing Fins To Fin Rot Disease
Sometimes if the water quality in your aquarium is poor, and a fish has been injured, or other fish have nibbled its fins, bacteria may make its way into your angelfish through its wounds.
If this is the case, they can develop a disease such as fin rot which causes the remainder of the fins on your angelfish to rot away until none are left, and your fish will eventually die.
Treating The Infected Fins Of An Angelfish
Depending on how bad the disease is, you may have to take certain measures such as regularly replacing the water in your tank with clean water, using aquarium salts or other antibiotic medication to treat the infection, and ensuring that you feed your angelfish a healthy, well-balanced diet.
Replacing The Water In Your Aquarium
The water in your tank can be kept clean and free of diseases by ensuring that you do partial water changes regularly in your aquarium.
Periodically replacing the water in your fish tank allows you to remove most of the waste build-up and some bacteria from your tank, which will aid in a quicker recovery for your angelfish and let it stand a better chance of not getting the disease again.
Using Medication To Rid Your Angelfish Of Disease
Once your angelfish has contracted a disease, you may have to visit your local fish shop. They’ll be able to give you the right medication to treat the infection and get rid of it before your angelfish can start to recover and regrow its fins.
You may be advised to treat your fish tank water with aquarium salts to rid your angelfish of acute fin rot conditions. However, you may have to get more potent antibiotics or medication when trying to treat more severe cases of fin rot.
Having A Hospital Tank On Standby
Should your angelfish be suffering from severe fin rot and require you to treat it using stronger medication or antibiotics, it is advised to place your angelfish in a separate tank. Placing your diseased angelfish in a hospital tank allows you to treat it accordingly with medication without interfering with the other fish in your regular fish tank.
Placing your angelfish in isolation in a separate tank causes your fish to be less stressed, which allows it to recover faster and regrow its fins without being harassed by other tankmates.
Feeding Your Angelfish A Proper Diet
A vital part of the recovery process for any living organism is eating a healthy diet with all the nutrients needed to keep the body healthy to boost its recovery.
This also applies to angelfish, so you should ensure to feed your angelfish a well-balanced diet while they recover to keep their bodies healthy and allow them to recover faster.
Angelfish Born With Deformed Fins
Angelfish can grow their fins back after they have been bitten off, ripped, or have suffered an illness such as fin rot.
If you were to cut the fins off a deformed angelfish, although they will be able to grow back, they will not grow back in the same way that one would hope.
Angelfish with deformed fins will not grow them back normally, so the fins that do grow back will still be deformed.
Conclusion
Angelfish may lose their fins in various ways, including getting their fins nibbled off by aggressive tank mates, getting their fins caught on objects in your tank and having them ripped off, or losing their fins to a disease such as fin rot. After an angelfish loses its fins, it can regrow its fins in about six weeks, depending on how severely it is injured and the conditions under which it is kept.
Resources
https://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/archive/index.php/t-23725.html
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/angel-fish-lost-ventral-fin.264240/
https://www.quora.com/Your-angelfish-is-gettin-his-fins-nipped-by-other-fish-how-do-you-help-him
https://animals.mom.com/fishs-tail-fin-regrow-5000.html
https://www.petbarn.com.au/petspot/fish/medical-vet-services-fish/how-to-treat-prevent-fin-rot/