Severly Injured Fish - Any way to save him?

[Hungriee]

Tonight when I was feeding my fish I noticed I was missing my sailfin tang because he's usually the most active one during feeding. So I started my search for him all around my rockwork, powerheads and overflow box.

Finally in the deep crevices of my rockwork against my backwall of my tank I've found him wedged in the corner of the tank walls and a large piece of live rock. I looked at him thinking he was dead and the PH blew him there, but then I noticed his back tail was wagging and his gills were still moving - He's ALIVE!

I tried to grab him out with my net, but he was too deep in so I tore down my scape to get him out :sad: and grabbed him out of the tank because noticed some snails started to pile up on one other side of his body.

His whole left side was torn up from rubbing against the rock all day probably to get himself out. His top fin was shredded and his left fin was bent so he couldn't move it. (basically he lost his arm), his face was red and wounded from the rubbing - but at least its alive. His entire side body lost its stripes due to the wounds and some areas can see the blood part.

I grabbed him out and put him into my sump right now to separate him from all other animals and to monitor him closely with nothing around it so its easily taken out if he doesn't survive.

What can I do to cure his wound? and help him recover faster, he's losing equilibrium and cannot swim - basically he's laying down flat still breathing.

He's a pic before I decided to take him out of the display. [ sorry pic taken with iphone - details are hard to see]

 

[SevTT]

I'd remove the fish and put him in a fuge or QT/recovery tank, if you have one. Make sure it's well-fed with whatever its favorite foods are. Fish usually heal from trauma pretty rapidly, or die, at least in my experience.

 

[cheapreef]

Well the best thing you did was remove him from the main tank, Fish can heal themselves in time. Although this depends on whether he is sick, attacked by another fish or just got stuck. I don't think a PH blew him though. If you have Hospital Tank put him in there and let him be try getting some cajeput oil.

Sorry to see him like that I Hope he recovers quickly!
Tony

 

[Hungriee]

RIP Sailfin.

Just did a water change after finding him dead in the fuge this morning.

 

[REEF ADDICT]

Ahhh that sucks sorry for your loss...

 

[thesauce]

Sorry to hear about that. I had something similar happen about a year ago and its painful to see. It sounds like you did everything you could. I always keep some antibiotics on hand as well in case of incidents like these.

 

[frank arriaga]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[cheapreef]

Sorry the link explaining cajeput oil.Was removed too I don't know if there is a no link rule but pointing to some good information was always a good thing what is it with the mods in here?
Anyway If you want more info on how good cajeput oil is (sorry I do not sell this) I guess you will have to do a search here is a little about it

The present invention is directed to the therapeutic and prophylactic treatment of aquatic animals and more particularly, to the treatment of fish and other aquatic animals with cajeput oil.

Fish diseases
and injuries are not only detrimental to the physiological well being of live fish, but also can adversely affect the physical appearance of otherwise viable fish. The prevention, control and treatment of fish diseases and fish injuries is particularly important for fish that are kept in artificial or confined environments such as aquariums or ponds, such as ornamental ponds or aquaculture ponds.

Fish that are netted, handled or otherwise placed in stressful situations, e.g., under low oxygen, high carbon dioxide, contaminated water or fluctuating temperature conditions, become more vulnerable to disease, such as those of bacterial or fungal origin. When fish are transported in high concentrations and/or in small volumes of water, they are often subject to trauma or injury such as being scraped, lacerated, bitten and otherwise wounded. Such shipping conditions may also expose fish to contaminated water, e.g., from natural waste products of fish and from decaying food and dead fish. Contaminated water is also an environment favoring the growth of pathogens that cause fish diseases.

The term "fish diseases" and other similar terms as used herein are intended to cover not only fish diseases of bacterial or fungal origin, but also fish suffering from, damaged by, or afflicted with trauma or injuries such as wounds, e.g., lacerations, tears and bites, as well as scrapes, abrasions, burns or the like. Rapid healing of such injuries is often slowed, delayed or precluded by the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in the water environment harboring the fish or in the injured skin, tissue or other like part of the fish.

Fish disease therapies that avoid the use of potent drugs or chemicals with adverse side effects or that avoid the necessity for precise dosing requirements are desirable for fish in confined environments. While isolation and treatment only of the specific diseased or injured fish is preferred, as a practical matter, such isolated treatment is not often possible, resulting also in exposure of healthy fish to the treatment. Consequently, treatment of individual diseased fish usually entails exposure of healthy fish and all other beneficial organisms in the environment to the active ingredient as well. For this reason, therapeutic treatments for diseased fish that utilize naturally derived substances which are not injurious to other aquatic animals or plants also present in the water are particularly preferred.

The present invention is based on the unexpected discovery that cajeput is highly efficacious in the therapeutic treatment of fish and other aquatic animals. Cajeput oil, obtainable from leaves of the tree Melaleuca cajuputi, M. leucadendron and other species of Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) contains a large number of components, most of which are terpenoids and one major component being 1,8-cineole (about 39%). Although cajeput oil is known for its therapeutic properties in treating humans (see, e.g., Cuong et al., "Antibacterial Properties of Vietnamese Cajuput Oil," J. Essent. Oil. Res., 6, pp. 63-67 (January 1994)), its use in treating fish has not previously been
reported or suggested.

 

[marrone]

I think you're talking about Melafix, which is an antibacterial product made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

 

[jrobbins]

you copied this info from API. passing off a companies marketing info as solid advice is without divulging the source is misleading and often incorrect. not saying that this is good advice or bad, but if you are going to shill for a company you should at least let people know this upfront.

to avoid plagarism and help inform the community as to the source of your information, here is the link you copied from.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP0861032.html

 

[cheapreef]

you copied this info from API. passing off a companies marketing info as solid advice is without divulging the source is misleading and often incorrect. not saying that this is good advice or bad, but if you are going to shill for a company you should at least let people know this upfront.

to avoid plagarism and help inform the community as to the source of your information, here is the link you copied from.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP0861032.html

That is a good one "shill for a company" I don't own stock in this stuff I have used it for over 12 years with 100 % satisfaction. What is it with this place? You all act like everyone comes on here to sell stuff I ain't selling noting but free advice I have an opinion like everyone else And yes that was the link I posted explaining what the product did and that was removed by someone.

 

[jrobbins]

Because when a new member comes on the site, touts the virtues of a product, and then simply regurgitates the marketing info for that same product it makes people a little suspicious. if you used it and it worked for you great.

But, if you are going to tell people that it is so great, there should be more behind it than just copying and pasting from a manufacturers website. we know the manufacturer thinks they make great stuff...

 

[cheapreef]

Because when a new member comes on the site, touts the virtues of a product, and then simply regurgitates the marketing info for that same product it makes people a little suspicious. if you used it and it worked for you great.

But, if you are going to tell people that it is so great, there should be more behind it than just copying and pasting from a manufacturers website. we know the manufacturer thinks they make great stuff...

jrobbins Maybe you didn't get it The Link I Posted Original Was Deleted By Someone That very Link that you show where I got the info from Was removed and the comment I made about the link were also removed. So your saying something without knowing the facts.

 

[2slo4me]

I think you're talking about Melafix, which is an antibacterial product made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

+ 1 ive used this product and have actually seen results ... also try mixing in some garlic . good luck!

 

[basiab]

I have also used it but can not tell well it was of any use. Recently my gramma had a gash in his head, probably ran into a rock at night, and it healed very nicely with no intervention from me.

The people at WetWebMedia, many who are experts in this hobby, consider it worthless but it won't hurt.

 

[xlotus123x]

I hate losing fish. Sorry for your loss. :givebeer: