Fighting Fish Has Gouges Out Of His Head?

[Mr Melt]

Allright lads.

As I was going to feed my fish in the big tank I noticed a sudden discoloration on my fighting fish, Pompey.

I discovered 2 massive gouge marks on his upper body, about 12-15mm apart. These do not look like any fish bites or anything. Although he is a new addition to the tank I have yet to see aggression from his tankmates.

In fact, the space between the injuries suggests he was in fact partially sucked into my filter intake pipe (which of course does not have an intake strainer). The intake pipe is also roughly the same diameter as the injuries.....

So it is my belief that it was the filter which caused the injuries (as they are lacerations, not bites or nips). I'll add pictures to help explain how serious they are.

He seems to be swimming about normally, but as a precaution I immediately added 25ml of Melafix to the tank (Juwel Rio 180). Furthermore I have ordered a new filter strainer on Ebay to cover up the filter pipe.

Now I come to my main point: do I euthanise him or will he be able to make a full recovery? His injuries are very deep.... =/

 

[lowthy76]

i would never euthanise a fish that had even the slightest chance of living, to me its a no brainer

 

[Mr Melt]

And here are those photos:

As you can see the cuts are very deep indeed; luckily the lacerations are only on one side of the body: his opposite side is relatively unscathed.

i would never euthanise a fish that had even the slightest chance of living, to me its a no brainer

If he is in certain agony then would it not be prudent to end his suffering rather than let him die of infection and prolong his pain?

I've added Melafix to prevent infection and hopefully soothe his pain: I just hope I don't need to kill him =/

 

[lowthy76]

And here are those photos:

As you can see the cuts are very deep indeed; luckily the lacerations are only on one side of the body: his opposite side is relatively unscathed.

i would never euthanise a fish that had even the slightest chance of living, to me its a no brainer

If he is in certain agony then would it not be prudent to end his suffering rather than let him die of infection and prolong his pain?

I've added Melafix to prevent infection and hopefully soothe his pain: I just hope I don't need to kill him =/

but you did say he seems to be swimming about normally, so i would at least give it time to see if it heals

 

[Mr Melt]

And here are those photos:

As you can see the cuts are very deep indeed; luckily the lacerations are only on one side of the body: his opposite side is relatively unscathed.

i would never euthanise a fish that had even the slightest chance of living, to me its a no brainer

If he is in certain agony then would it not be prudent to end his suffering rather than let him die of infection and prolong his pain?

I've added Melafix to prevent infection and hopefully soothe his pain: I just hope I don't need to kill him =/

but you did say he seems to be swimming about normally, so i would at least give it time to see if it heals

I'll do that: I just hope he isnt in too much pain =/

 

[Mr Melt]

Update - as of Day 2 I have added another 25ml Melafix and he still seems to be swimming quite normally.

Is there any products or anything else I can add to make him more comfortable (and speed up the healing process)?

 

[sausagewinkle]

I would make sure the water is kept 100% clean aswell. This will speed the healing process and help stop any infections

can you move him to his own tank until he is healed??

 

[ZoddyZod]

what else is in the tank?

 

[colleen0309]

If it was me, I'd move him to a hospital tank and do daily water changes to speed up his recovery. Pretty betta.

 

[Mr Melt]

I can't relocate him; unfortunately my other smaller tank also happens to contain a rather big male betta called Caesar =P

As for the stocklist in the big tank:

6 Congo Tetras, 1 Red Rainbowfish, 1 Boesemani Rainbowfish, 2 Longfin Angelfish, 1 Paradise Gourami and 1 Big Snowball Pleco (LDA33). Then theres the betta. I know those others can get quite big, but they don't touch him (even my gourami, who was originally curious but now ignores him entirely). As I said before those injuries are too neat to be fish bites, so thats why I've excluded them as the culprits.

I was considering aquarium salts, but I don't wanna risk upsetting my water chemistry drastically (as it took me bloody ages to get it right) =P

 

[sausagewinkle]

Just a idea, but its worked for me in the past when i have had lake of space.
I float a tub in my main tank (6Litre tub) and put the fish in their, that way its isolated and you can do daily water changes to keep the water 100% clean.
Also the water will be kept at the right temperature...

 

[ZoddyZod]

Hmmmm, is a Paradise Gourami a Paradise Fish? (not heard it called that before). If so it is a fairly aggressive Anabantoid that is well known to not tolerate conspecifics (fish that look the same as itself). I would strongly recommend not keeping the two fish in the same tank.

Although you have observed no aggression.....you can't watch the tank 24hrs a day.

 

[Mr Melt]

Hmmmm, is a Paradise Gourami a Paradise Fish? (not heard it called that before). If so it is a fairly aggressive Anabantoid that is well known to not tolerate conspecifics (fish that look the same as itself). I would strongly recommend not keeping the two fish in the same tank.

Although you have observed no aggression.....you can't watch the tank 24hrs a day.

Both are the same aye.

And if he's meant to be an aggressive fish then he's a poor example of one: he's the most curious fish in the tank (always swims upto me when I come near the tank and follows me where I walk) but he shows absolutely ZERO aggression to the fighting fish (although sometimes he will chase my Rainbows for like a split second) =P

As none of the other fish have injuries or anything I can conclude that he isn't aggressive (yet, at any rate).

Heres my Gourami here:

 

[ZoddyZod]

As I just stated, Paradise Fish are known to be aggressive to conspecifics. Your Betta is a conspecific and he may see him as a threat. No damage to your other fish does not mean that he is not the culprit.

Even if he has not inflicted the wound on your Betta, I would still not recommend that the two fish are housed in the same tank.

 

[Mr Melt]

As I just stated, Paradise Fish are known to be aggressive to conspecifics. Your Betta is a conspecific and he may see him as a threat. No damage to your other fish does not mean that he is not the culprit.

Even if he has not inflicted the wound on your Betta, I would still not recommend that the two fish are housed in the same tank.

Although both species are meant to be aggressive to each other I see no signs of aggression at present.

However if I catch them fighting (or see clear signs of it) then I will relocate one or the other - is that acceptable?