Fish Stung By Green Scat

[Mxracer3651]

Does anyone know if a Green scat has enough venom in its dorsil fins to kill another fish. My lab cichlid was stung by the scat earlier and his lips are swollen... funny looking but probably hurt.. Please help..

 

[WILDER]

Not sure to be honest, I would ask in the right part of the forum.
All you can do is keep a close eye on the fish to make sure the swelling goes down.

 

[Colin_T]

scats have venom in little sacs under their dorsal spines. It can cause inflammation and a great deal of pain to people so I gather it would cause some discomfort to fish. If people get stung in the neck, face or chest area the inflammation can restrict breathing and medical treatment will be required.

The venom is protien based and breaks down quicker in warm conditions. If you are stung you immerse the affected area in hot water, (not too hot otherwise you burn yourself) and leave the stung area there for as long as possible, (an hour or two helps).

However, fish have evolved to eat each other and they should have some tolerance to the venom from poisonous fishes.

If the cichlid was stung more than 24 hours ago and it is still alive now it should be fine. If it only just happened try incresing the temp a couple of degrees (but don't make the tank warmer than 30C). And increase aeration.

 

[CFC]

Why are they even in the same tank? Scats are brackish and the Cichlid isn't.

 

[Mxracer3651]

Why are they even in the same tank? Scats are brackish and the Cichlid isn't.

The yellow lab cichlid is the last cichlid i have( after trying a few differnet ones and all fighting too much) I switched to brackish fish but i couldnt get rid of him. I have a mono argentus and a green spotted puffer and the scat and they all do fine. I have more salt in the tank than the recommended for regular tropical fish but somewhat less than brackish.. They have been doing fine like that for 5 months. The swelling seems to be going down on the mouth a little too. I wasnt sure if the cichlid was stung by running into his fins or something else because everyone else is healthy..

 

[Colin_T]

the scat and the cichlids probably just had a little bit of biffo and the cichlid came out worse off. Good to hear it is getting better.