Glofish accident...pls help

[fishbie]

Hi all
I ve got a 10 gallon tank with 4 glofish and 2 female platys..One of my friends gave one gigantic plastic plant standing on a bed of bushes on a pebble stone stand when i was looking for decorations for my tank. She had used it once in her 50 gallon tank,but had to dispose it when she took it down.. It was a bit big,so i had to cut down 2 or 3 tall branches for it to fit(i did not know they had wire-like things inside the stem,had a hard time cutting!),washed it properly(coz she had washed it already,no point in looking for remaining good bacteria!) and kept it in a corner even before i filled my tank..
My nitrogen cycle was perfect a few weeks after i had the tank running,but i did a big mistake..i did a 30% pwc twice a week regularly,vacuuming the whole gravel everytime and fed my fish twice daily (u can see i was pretty excited with my new tank ) The petsmart helper told me i had been constantly disturbing the nitrogen cycle by doing those things! My amm levels were between 0.5 and 1 ppm the day before yday
I did a immediate 30% pwc with prime. I was also asked to wait until next month to do the next 30%.

Well,here is the problem- one of my glofish was missing yday afternoon when i checked the tank! I searched all over and took out the decors one by one only to find that the little one had been stuck in a small hole between one of the bushes in the plastic plant i was talking about I had last checked on him the night before,and did not feed yday morning (petsmart guy's idea to feed once a day) so i m kicking myself for not checking ,dont know how long he had been like that! He was not moving at all when i took the plant out but as soon as i moved the bushes to check on him,he jumped into the tank!
I threw the plant away immediately (i have another small plastic plant,2 small caves and a bridge) I was so angry with myself to have not thought about this before!
After that,he looked like struggling to swim for a while,but was atleast swimming. He was the most active and smartest among the others(knows when i m going to feed and when i m just looking ) but he was not that active yday he looks thinner and his scales looked kinda dry yday(looks better today,tho his usual shine is missing)
and when i tried to feed him,he did not come up like he used to neither did he even try to eat the flakes that sinked down near him. He was just swimming slowly this way and that. I called petsmart and they said things that scared me like hell! They said he may live only for a while now and not to let others pick on him until then. If he does survive the next day,they asked me to add a few drops of prime for soothening effect.
Well,today is the next day..i got up real early and was so happy to see his tail was still shaking,so he was alive,but was sleeping with eyes open..one other of my glofish was also sleeping,so i was not much worried..my prob now is that he is still sleeping,except the occasional swim about for 2 to 3 seconds,he comes back to the same place (top middle of tank) and sleeps.
I Ve got a few questions now-
1) Is there any medication to cure him? or should i just let him heal by himself??
2) My amm levels were ok after i did a pwc day before yday but should i be worried that i had disturbed my nitrogen cycle again now that i took that large plant out? (have other decors too which can have bact)
3)I did add a few drops of prime to the tank yday to soothe him like they said in petsmart,can i do that again today?
I dont have any other tank to qt him(cannot afford) but i dont want my little one to die..i would be very thankful if anyone can pls answer this asap...pls help...

Update- He is swimming slowly now,he even came up and ate a little when i fed them now,but i m shocked and upset to find that his tail fin looks very short (half the size of others) I was relieved yday only coz all his fins seemed intact..now that he started moving slowly,i looked him closely and almost cried Nobody picked on him yday until last i checked,could he be just shedding? Will it grow back??
I may sound silly,but i m desperate now..
Pls help immediately...pls dont say he will die
PS- I VE ATTACHED PICS AS OF YDAY WHEN HE HAD NICE FINS AND TODAY WITH SHORTER FINS-pls note his tail fins..(named him rachel thinking he was a female coz he had rounded belly)

[BettaGuy]

To me it looks like the other fish might have nibbed his fins. But I have no experience to tell you what to do, sorry. I hope someone else will be able to help.

[emc7]

Fins shrinking can happen from 3 things. Other fish nipping them and you won't always see it happen, really bad water such as high ammonia or low pH,pr one of several diseases known as "fin-rot".

This is where a hospital tank is very useful. You isolate the fish in clean water and if the fins keep shrinking, then you medicate. If they don't, you wait until they grow back, keeping the fish alone in clean water in the meantime. If the first med doesn't work, you change water and try something else.

Fish are worse bullies than grade-schoolers. Any that show weakness can be picked to death.

Tanks don't have to be a glass rectangle. For a single fish a plastic shoe box or a gallon glass jar can do the job. But the smaller the container, the more you have to be on top of water quality.

[fishbie]

Originally Posted by BettaGuy To me it looks like the other fish might have nibbed his fins. But I have no experience to tell you what to do, sorry. I hope someone else will be able to help.

thank u anyway

[fishbie]

Originally Posted by emc7 Fins shrinking can happen from 3 things. Other fish nipping them and you won't always see it happen, really bad water such as high ammonia or low pH,pr one of several diseases known as "fin-rot". This is where a hospital tank is very useful. You isolate the fish in clean water and if the fins keep shrinking, then you medicate. If they don't, you wait until they grow back, keeping the fish alone in clean water in the meantime. If the first med doesn't work, you change water and try something else. Fish are worse bullies than grade-schoolers. Any that show weakness can be picked to death. Tanks don't have to be a glass rectangle. For a single fish a plastic shoe box or a gallon glass jar can do the job. But the smaller the container, the more you have to be on top of water quality.

Thank u for all the info..i guess it could be fin rot since he had gone under severe stress recently..my amm levels are not helping either,0.5 ppm yday..i did a 30% pwc today and will do another tom..i have the day off tom so will closely look for fin-nipping too,will try n isolate him if possible. thanks again