Injured Puffer - Please Help!!

[intranet]

My spotted puffer got caught in the powerhead intake for my protein skimmer ( he is rather small, and its a large powerhead ) . Sadly it took me a couple of minutes to figure out he was gone, once I saw the powerhead wasn't working I figured it out and got him out.

My first questions is: Is it ok to cover the bottom of the powerhead intake with nylon material to avoid this kind of problem in the future?

Now on to the fish:

His side was all "dented" because of the shape of the intake last night, there was blood visible down the side of his mouth. I put the recommended dosage of Melafix in the tank last night. This morning his side is looking normal, but there is still blood visible on the side of his mouth down . It isnt pooled at the bottom or anything, just appears to have been some internal bleeding from his mouth. My question is, will melafix help that? I don't like using it any more than necessary, and he appears to be fit on the outside.

Also are there signs I should be looking for? He has always sifted through the sand for food rather than eating bloodworms or krill offered to the other fish, and he appears to be sifting again. This btw is considered a dwarf puffer i think, as it is normally a brackish water fish that I aclimated to marine to allow him to live in the large tank.

I think that him becoming a sand sifter has to do with his beak, I have noticed him "biting" rocks in the tank, perhaps to wear it a bit.

Anyway, are there signs I should be looking for? Should I get more Melafix and continue using it?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[reefrunner69]

I would be on the look out for signs of parasitic infestation and bacterial infection. If you see inflamation, red streaking from the injury etc, you should remove the fish to a hospital tank and treat with an anti biotic or hyposalinity depending on bacterial or parasitic.

As for the intake, there are screens you can buy to cover the intake of your powerhead.