Wounded Paradise fish...

[physicsdude]

Hi- I have a grown 4" paradise fish that seems to have sufferred an assault from some of the "peaceful" keyhole cichlids I keep.

The paradise fish has two wounds on him: the largest one is below the lower jaw, where the scales have been torn off and pale red flesh is exposed. This one is kinda deep, like a gash really. You can easily see where it is from the side. The second wound is on its side, near the pelvic fin- it is the smalles and not too serious. The fish has lost his color; he is now a white with a few hints of blue. The spectacular red on his tail is gone too. He is kinda listless, more or less kind amaintaining one spot near the surface.

I can set-up a 2.5 gallon hospital tank for him. With these injuries, would a treatment of meth blue or formalin help? I can get other meds, but those 2 are what I have on-hand. Or, would it be in his best interest to quickly kill him?

I really liked this fish; he was VERY colorful ever since I got him as a fry and up until yesterday he was quite a handsome animal.

Thanks for the help.

 

[severum mama]

I would move him into QT and treat with Melafix or Pimafix and see if that works. Keep the water really clean to assist with healing. I've seen some fish survive some pretty nasty injuries so hopefully he will be ok. Grab some filter media or gravel out of your display tank and stick it in there- Mela/Pima won't affect the bio filter.

 

[rich311k]

I moved this to unhealthy fish.

I would certainly QT him to avoid new attacks and give him a chance to heal.