cichlid victim help

[sarahh]

hey there, i need help urgently.

i noticed that my female blue zeb was hiding today, and have been checking up every hour or so.

just noticed that she's bruised, beaten and bloody, laying on the bottom of the tank. i have her out of the tank, i have a hospital tank, but i have no idea what to do for her at this stage of injury. is there anything i CAN do? poor little mite..

 

[hn1]

Do a good water change. Clean water is your best bet.

What is the stocking of the tank? Any likely perps?

 

[hhughes]

Clean water +1.

There is a medication I used to help my oscar when her eye got mangled.... I think it's called Rid Fungus or Fungus out.... anyway, petsmart has it, it's in a hanging box, look for ingredient "nitrofurazone".

Basically this will keep her from getting an infection/fungus growth (which is what often kills fish that survive the actual wounds).

Now.... I was crazy about my oscars... when Gabrielle injured her eye, I flipped out. It was fairly obvious she was going to lose the eye. I got this stuff, but I didn't follow the instructions. I treated every single day, and changed 50% water every other day before the treatment. I also bought the antibiotic food that petsmart sells -- and yes, it was too small for oscars, so they got it stuffed into shrimp.

Gabrielle recovered, though she did lose the eye. It healed over and once all sign of redness was gone and the skin looked good, I stopped the treatments. She lived for a couple years more, completely blind; I fed her by hand, and her mate actually would nudge her toward food and away from "threats" (he deemed submerged hands, heaters, and the big pleco to be threatening...lol)

Anyway, after that, I swear by the stuff when there's an actual injury.

 

[sarahh]

yep, prime candidate is her boyfriend. Followed by any number of the other fish picking at her.
it's a 125 gallon with about 15 fish in it, all adult cichlids. Mix of acei, labs and zebras with 2 male johanni. All fish are 3+ inches.
i went ahead and put her in a QT just in case, with lots of caves to hide in. stress from a move, yes, but anywhere in the 125 is open to aggression, so she's locked up tight in the dark in the same (ish) water.

i haven't added salts as yet, i just wanted to let her breathe a bit.
she IS attempting to swim, and history tells me she's a feisty sort, i think she tried to bully the male and he's a good inch longer than her
fingers crossed

Edit: thank you hhuges, i have some antibiotic feed, and i will make sure she gets some. i will head to petsmart tomorrow (hopefully she makes it overnight )

 

[hn1]

Keep her water pristine and she'll recover fine assuming no more injuries are sustained. Clean water and good food equals strong fish.

I tend to opt for simple. I've seen preventive meds do more harm than good. so clean water is simpler for me.

That tropheus of yours is gorgeous btw.

 

[brian carter]

i agree clean water and let here be no poking to see if she is ok or not let her rest but, probley was boyfriend they can get a little rough