Tank mate attack

[Rach]

My axy was looking sad floating on the top of the tank this morning i thought he was dead! When i looked closer he has a stump where his arm was and the gills on one side of his head are gone!! he has just re grown his other leg after my other axy ate it! Which i thought was just a freak accident as they have been in together well over a year now with no issues. Why has it done this? I don't want to put them back together now and i can't have two tanks i don't have the space or money for another one....

[Jennewt]

You could consider a tank divider. If that's not possible, then consider adding lots of additional hiding places, plants, and general "complexity" to the tank. Beyond that, you may be looking at rehoming one of them.

In the immediate future, keep the injured one in a tub with daily water change until it heals.

[Rach]

thanks i have put him in a small tank that we had in storage bu it is too small for the long term. i visited a local pet store to ask advice and was confused by what she told me (considering she keeps them with gravel and i have seen one baby in there with a stomach full before!!). she said that if it lost all its gills it would be ok? that it doesnt breathe using them, to put them back together and just feed them more? i curently feed them 2 blocks of blood worm every other day. i have tried feeding them everyday but it just gets wasted as they generally wont eat till they have had a poop? any views on what she has told me??

thanks

[HodgeaPodge]

It will not die from the limb losses. Eventually they will grow back, although they may not grow back to 100% of their previous size.