My Daughters Fish Is All Scraped Up

[JennyM]

Request Help

One of the black-skirt tetras in our tank was stuck in one of holes in the rock in our tank. When my daughter tried to free it, it broke free, but now has lacerations. A large chunk of skin is missing off the top of the head in front of the top fin. It's bottom "skirt" fin is much shorter than it was. There appears to be blood on it's lower half. It's movements are jerky, not smooth. It looks stressed and is not eating. Is there any way to help this fish recover from it's wounds? Do I need to isolate it? What medication, if any, can I give it to help it heal?

Tank size: 20gal
pH: ?
ammonia:?
nitrite:?
nitrate:?
kH:?
gH:?
tank temp:84 if thermometer is accurate



Volume and Frequency of water changes:We set up the tank about 3 months ago and did not change the water until one of our kids dumped a ton of food in the tank--then we changed the whole thing (about 2 weeks ago).

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants: 3 black-skirt tetras, 5 neons, and 5 zebra-fish

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):NA

Exposure to chemicals:NA


Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[LauraFrog]

Firstly, did you cycle the tank before you put fish in it (or add fish one or two at a time over some weeks) or did you put them all in at once? Are you using any form of water treatment?

Sometimes fish that are ill or dying will end up stuck in holes and the most unlikely places but it could easily be an accident. The tankmates are likely to stress the fish more so it might be a good idea to isolate it if you can. I have set up large see through plastic tubs as hospital tanks before. If you can buy a cheap plastic plant, bark tunnel and air driven filter that should be enough to give the fish some shelter but in an emergency you can use half a styrofoam drinking cup weighted with a rock, just so the fish has somewhere to hide.

Chlorine will kill the beneficial bacteria that will help it heal and will also stress it more so if you're using tap water you need to treat it. Since the fish has been injured I'd recommend API stress coat if you can get it.

Cooking salt in the water (at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon) will help until you can get some medication. It prevents infection. Usually you would use more but for a tetra the usual dose is pushing it. If the cooking salt contains iodine or anything else do not use it. If you can get near the fish shop, Melafix might help - follow the directions on the bottle. There is no point treating with antibiotics unless an infection develops - keep a close eye on the fish.

About the blood on the lower half - have a good look and see if there's any chance that it might be coming from the anus as this could indicate an internal infection. A recently set up tank that has not had water changes, and then suddenly had all the water changed at once, is probably not cycled.

Basically, fish excrete ammonia. Ammonia is also created by rotting plant material and uneaten food. Ammonia is very toxic to fish, and the real purpose of filtering water is not removing particles but breaking down this organic waste. Bacteria grow in the filter that turn ammonia into less toxic substances, and then regular small water changes keep these diluted to a safe level. Most tap water contains chlorine (if you are on any sort of municipal water supply, it will almost certainly contain chlorine) which retards the growth of these bacteria. Usually you artificially add ammonia to a tank for a few weeks before you put fish in it (this is fishless cycling) to help the bacteria colony grow, or else put fish in very slowly - one or two at a time for several weeks. Otherwise the ammonia in your tank can build up to toxic levels. The tank is not overstocked, but it contains enough fish that you should really be doing a 15-20% water change every week.

There is a chance that the black skirt will not pull through, but if it's going to die of stress, shock or blood loss you will probably lose it within the first day. If it survives that long, treating with Melafix may save it if you can get it to eat again. Good luck!