Open wounds?

[james s_]

I have a Jeweled eel in my aggressive tank that has an open wound on the end of his tail. I believe he got in a scuffle at some point with my other eels. It has been there for a few weeks and has yet to improve. Is there something I should treat the tank with to help him heal? He has not been eating either since this has happened.

 

[jetchris]

pour beer in the tank for a speedy recovery

 

[dannybradley]

There is only one product I know that actually promotes healing, and that's Melafix. But it will drive a skimmer absolutely bonkers.

I think Hikari came out with one of Koi that you actually apply directly to the fish. It may have just been an antifungal treatment, but I'll see what I can dig up on it.

 

[dannybradley]

Here it is-

http://www.enkoi.com/prod129.html">http://www.enkoi.com/prod129.html</a>

Good luck getting your eel to stay still. And don't get bitten; I have and a moray will draw blood. If you search around you can find a better price than that, but it tells you what it does.

 

[james s_]

Thanks Danny, Ill try the Melafix first since I have some and see if it helps. I dont currently have a skimmer on this tank so that wont be a concern.

I can see myself trying to hold down a 2' eel and administering some treatment. I cant see that going to well.But If it gets to that point I guess I would give it a shot.

 

[dannybradley]

If you have to... Man, there's no good way to do that. They're so slippery you really can't hold them.

I would set them on a large surface, probably the floor on some damp plastic to protect the slime coat, so it can't flop onto the floor. Also set up some walls so it can't flip too far away. Once it settles down you can probably apply some.

It eel, as I've seen in person, can live out of the water for 12 hours. I was told of one that made it 5 days.

 

[dannybradley]

Another one just occured to me, and I wish I had thought of this one first. It's sad too, because I'm such a huge Seachem guy.

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/StressGuard.html">http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/StressGuard.html</a>

Stress Guard is made to cause a fish to produce a slime coat and causes a wound to coagulate and close, while also being an antiseptic to prevent infection. That's proabably the best one.

I would run some carbon for a day and do a water change before you dose this with the Melafix in there. They're probably fine together, especially beacuse the active life of Melafix is only about 24 hours, but better safe than sorry. Certain combinations can prove very dangerous- Mixing Paraguard with copper will almost always prove deadly. Paraguard is a reducing agent will cause copper to release from its bound form, causing a huge spike in the copper level.

 

[james s_]

Well I put some Melafix in the tank and will see how it does for the next few days. Man that stuff is strong it stunk up my whole basement. I remember using it on a tank in the past and it took three weeks before my skimmer would stop overflowing. Thanks for the link on the seachem product.