Iridescent Shark Injury Treatment HELP

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chazwood918

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 4, 2012
59
4
38
CT
Hey guys, I've had an established community tank at 150g. And I plan on jumping to a 300 by Christmas time because my fish have all been doing so well and obviously continue to grow. I have had the majority of my current fish for 2 1/2 years and have upgraded the tank size twice with no issues. My newest additions were 2 small iridescent sharks, which I've had for approximately 3 months. I consider myself to be an experienced and knowledgeable fish keeper but I've had no experience with diseases or injuries. My point being; my water temperature is around 76 degrees, my PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are all perfect, I have a strong current created using bubble wands, and I have filters that pump out more than double the suggested output of water per minute. Anywayyyy, one of the fish has been swimming around with a pretty significant injury to its face right between the eyes. At first it didn't concern me much because I know that they are notorious for having horrible vision and panicking, resulting in ramming into decorations. However, it's been about 2 weeks and I'm not noticing improvement and the other one has developed a circular mark on one side that looks very similar (NOTE- my pics are of both fish). Even stranger is that I have literally never seen either of these fish panic and fly around the tank, they seem to enjoy swimming back and fourth leisurely with my school of bala's...... I know that the best treatment for flesh injuries is a raised temperature and the addition of aquatic salt (2 teaspoons per gallon). But should I be concerned based on the pics, that there's a developing infection or is there a better way to treat them?

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I'd stick to keeping the water parameters in check and the salt treatment. Also looks like he got a nipped tail.... Possibly baker fish picking on him..... Injury will take longer to heal if fish is stressed.... Looks like he may have scraped against something.... Give him a week or so.... Hopefully the red starts to fade in color and healing process begins. Best of luck! And I'm sure you already know, but these guys get big! Even the smallest of the pangs, iridescent sharks, can hit over 4 feet in length.


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Thank you for responding! It's been very difficult to find help elsewhere on the internet. I am aware of their monster growth potential and their behavior in the home aquarium. He is the smallest fish in my tank but its a great community tank that I've had for awhile. As of now my tiger botia is definitely the culprit of the fin nipping, he's been getting a little aggressive lately but nothing too bad. My guess is that the iridescents camped out near his cave a little too long and got chased around for it. Regardless I've kept a close eye on everything since and actually decided to move them into a 10 gallon nursing tank. I went with only 1 tablespoon per gallon and have the temp at about 77-78. The wounds do appear to be turning white which is promising (rather than the red), but they're both getting rather lethargic.... Do you think I should worry or is this simply due to their adjustment to different water parameters? NOTE- I filled the tank with water from the 150g so that it wasn't a complete shock, and raised the temperature once they were already acclimated to the new setup for a day, the aquarium salt however was already in it and dissolved.
 
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