Hurt bichir

[Nim Dibbley]

So this sucks. I fed the fish yesterday before work and after i finished i heard a commotion from my tank. a piece of driftwood was banging around with one of my ornates stuck inside. I think she went in there to retrieve a pellet but the hole was a little too small for her. I let her struggle a bit to see if she could get out on her own, but after a bit it became apparent she was trapped and I had to break the driftwood apart to get her out. I had just done a water change the day before and i added salt to the tank after the incident. im planning another mid week water change (which doubles my regular routine,) and ill add more salt at that time. i just got home from work and she looks pretty bad. Is there anything else I should do for her? Here is a pic

 

[jaws7777]

Im sure the others will chime in but if it were me at the very least i would keep the water as clean as can be. Reduce feedings and do every other day wc's. Also remember to add the salt you remove with the wc's

 

[jaws7777]

Forgot to ask how the heck did you break the dw apart without injuring the fish ? Good job

 

[Owens]

Salt, more water changes, start melafix, should heal up in a week or so, shouldn't be too big a deal, bichirs are pretty tough, looks just to be a flesh wound.

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Great save with breaking the driftwood and impeccable timing for u to be there when ornate was in trouble. It looks bad visually but should make a full recovery with routine clean water and salt treatment.

 

[Dr.B]

Like everyone has said salt, clean water, and anti bacterial. Should be fine in a couple of days.

 

[Nim Dibbley]

Thanks for the replies. I've had the driftwood in there since 2011 so it's been slowly breaking down for five years. It kinda just came apart when I pulled on it which released the fish. I was surprised how easily it came apart..

I was sitting there for a while holding the driftwood trying to figure out what to do next. I was about to go grab a saw when I decided to see if I could just pull it apart.

 

[Nim Dibbley]

So melafix is a good option For bichirs to prevent infection? I've never used it before and I'm always hesitant to add anything to my tank.

 

[Dr.B]

Yeah it's fine, I use it all the time when treating for bacterial problems and even just as a preventative. I'm not sure what else you have in the tank so you might want to check that it's good for the other fish to

 

[Nim Dibbley]

update: the bichir is recovering well. I never added any meds, but the salt and extra water changes def helped. thanks for the input!