Bichir Thread #52

Hi.
There is general belief here in Japan that cutting damaged spines can make them regenerate.
It is supposed to only be done (and only work) when the Bichir is a very young Juvi.

I tried it myself long ago, but unfortunately fish died in an unrelated incident before I got a chance to see if it really worked.

I will say it was cut right to the very base, and within a few days a stub had started to grow back a few mm.

But wether it would grow back completely remains to be seen.

Personally I would only recommend doing this on a VERY bad conditioned fish that may not last much longer for what ever reason, and that would be for "research" purposes only.

So who knows! It can work on adult Arowana tails, so there is a chance I guess!

[sixthbrand]

Originally Posted by tokyogasmask

Hi.
There is general belief here in Japan that cutting damaged spines can make them regenerate.
It is supposed to only be done (and only work) when the Bichir is a very young Juvi.

I tried it myself long ago, but unfortunately fish died in an unrelated incident before I got a chance to see if it really worked.

I will say it was cut right to the very base, and within a few days a stub had started to grow back a few mm.

But wether it would grow back completely remains to be seen.

Personally I would only recommend doing this on a VERY bad conditioned fish that may not last much longer for what ever reason, and that would be for "research" purposes only.

So who knows! It can work on adult Arowana tails, so there is a chance I guess!

Is it commonly practiced over at your side?

[TuNA]

Originally Posted by tokyogasmask

Hi.
There is general belief here in Japan that cutting damaged spines can make them regenerate.
It is supposed to only be done (and only work) when the Bichir is a very young Juvi.

I tried it myself long ago, but unfortunately fish died in an unrelated incident before I got a chance to see if it really worked.

I will say it was cut right to the very base, and within a few days a stub had started to grow back a few mm.

But wether it would grow back completely remains to be seen.

Personally I would only recommend doing this on a VERY bad conditioned fish that may not last much longer for what ever reason, and that would be for "research" purposes only.

So who knows! It can work on adult Arowana tails, so there is a chance I guess!

I would suggest to try it on a healthy fish instead.
healthy = less sickness = heals faster

[TRIX]

Originally Posted by tokyogasmask

Hi.
There is general belief here in Japan that cutting damaged spines can make them regenerate.
It is supposed to only be done (and only work) when the Bichir is a very young Juvi.

I tried it myself long ago, but unfortunately fish died in an unrelated incident before I got a chance to see if it really worked.

I will say it was cut right to the very base, and within a few days a stub had started to grow back a few mm.

But wether it would grow back completely remains to be seen.

Personally I would only recommend doing this on a VERY bad conditioned fish that may not last much longer for what ever reason, and that would be for "research" purposes only.

So who knows! It can work on adult Arowana tails, so there is a chance I guess!

Well for me, I will never buy a fish and take chances to do up in the first place. I must be happy with what I see and pretty much leave it alone as it is. Just worry that I may make things worse after touching up..

[sixthbrand]

Originally Posted by TRIX

Well for me, I will never buy a fish and take chances to do up in the first place. I must be happy with what I see and pretty much leave it alone as it is. Just worry that I may make things worse after touching up..

I second this totally

One should only buy fish that they like.

[Schmike]

Originally Posted by tokyogasmask

Hi.
There is general belief here in Japan that cutting damaged spines can make them regenerate.
It is supposed to only be done (and only work) when the Bichir is a very young Juvi.

I tried it myself long ago, but unfortunately fish died in an unrelated incident before I got a chance to see if it really worked.

I will say it was cut right to the very base, and within a few days a stub had started to grow back a few mm.

But wether it would grow back completely remains to be seen.

Personally I would only recommend doing this on a VERY bad conditioned fish that may not last much longer for what ever reason, and that would be for "research" purposes only.

So who knows! It can work on adult Arowana tails, so there is a chance I guess!

For my gar to generate a new "tail" when it's body was cut off due to unforseen circumstances I find it amazing. But it's a very young juvenile.

I understand that most adult fish take a much longer time to regenerate compared to their juvenile stage. I won't say it's totally impossible. But if that person did not do it himself and went to tell someone who is not sure of such stuffs, I don't think it's a right thing to do.

Originally Posted by Schmike

For my gar to generate a new "tail" when it's body was cut off due to unforseen circumstances I find it amazing. But it's a very young juvenile.

I understand that most adult fish take a much longer time to regenerate compared to their juvenile stage. I won't say it's totally impossible. But if that person did not do it himself and went to tell someone who is not sure of such stuffs, I don't think it's a right thing to do.

Yeah, I see your point there.

And yes Trix, I agree.
If you are real concerned about bent fins etc, don't buy that piece!
But then there are times where accidents happen to a perfect fish where is may be understandable.

[Schmike]

Reply from Dr Chua:

Once u remove a section of the fin bone, it will be up to chance if the subsequent growth will be straight or bent. Depends on the angle of cut, cells in that area etc. I guess if already projecting away, it' worth a try.

Fred Chua

More info provided by me with extractions from TGM's post on their parentage previously:

Apparently, the entire spine is slanted from the base not just bending from the middle. From the front view, we can see something like \|/. From the top view it looks like a wave.

The story of these juveniles are that the parents are known to produce fries of such condition. It seems like more of a genetics issue. If it is genetics, What are the chances of them growing back normally?

Someone who heard about the story of the parents of these fishes:
This pair were from a previous breeding group that is staying "anonymous" though I have a pretty good idea who it is.

This group had been trying to breed with this pair for several years, and have spawned MANY times. The juveniles of each time were born with what this group calls "defects". This includes "un-level dorsal spikes, bent and sometimes "REVERSED(wow)" spikes and broken finlets and fins.
These fish were mostly culled or given as "problem" samples.

The group would not put their name to these fish as said group have a certain kind of reputation to uphold.

Adult pair was past on to a breeder in Indonesia, and then past on to another.
This breeder is now MASS producing from this original pair and all broods so far are suffering the same issues, minus "some".

Regards,
Edwin

[TRIX]

Originally Posted by tokyogasmask

Yeah, I see your point there.

And yes Trix, I agree.
If you are real concerned about bent fins etc, don't buy that piece!
But then there are times where accidents happen to a perfect fish where is may be understandable.

Right..if due to not so serious accidents, chances of recovering are always amazing! I'm not so sure if genetically can be corrected.

Example from you mentioning before that some from this batch could have reversed arrangement of dorsal finlets. If we were to trim all the dorsals away for new growth, what will be the outcome?

[sixthbrand]

Originally Posted by Schmike

Reply from Dr Chua:

Once u remove a section of the fin bone, it will be up to chance if the subsequent growth will be straight or bent. Depends on the angle of cut, cells in that area etc. I guess if already projecting away, it' worth a try.

So it's up the the skill of the person operating on the bichir, the anatomy of the bichir and the rest is up to luck?