Wtf? My Mono PB has a huge gash - PLEASE HELP

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ukgoffer

ukgoffer

Candiru
MFK Member
Aug 3, 2012
388
80
46
Westport, CT
I was away three days and was shocked when I returned to see a huge wound on one of my pbass. Sorry I can't get a clearer picture but to put it in perspective, this guy is just over 15". The skin and scales are gone in an area the size of a quarter. Flesh exposed. I can't see anything in the tank that would cut him. Big piece of driftwood. Some silk plants and an amazon sword. Tank mates are oddballs but not aggressive especially compared to him - a 12" sailfin plec, a 5" African leaf fish/spotted gourami and 4" banjo cat. The tank he is in is holding tank, only 50 gallon breeder. I plan to move him into a 240 gallon next Saturday. He has been in this tank a little longer than expected due to weather delays but I do WCs 2x a week of 50% or more. PH is 6.8. For the first time I have an ammonia reading of 0.25 - 0.50 ppm - never before so I don't know whether it is a sign of stress or not but doing WCs to bring that down. His appetite, breathing, gulping (PB thing!) - all good.
Is this wound survivable or should I euthanize him? I use aquarium salt in my FW tanks. In my cabinet I have maracyn oxy and prazi pro - should I dose with them as a preventative for anything? Thankfully he is pellet trained so I don't worry about parasites from goldfish or other live foods. The water is a little warmer than I would like but will come down if I close the shades. Any tips? What am I missing? If you notices the damaged scales on the stripe just before the wound, it really suggests to me that somehow there was trauma - that this isn't disease or fungal related but I don't want the wound to turn into something.


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Something spooked him, and he gashed himself on the driftwood.

Keep his water very clean, add a little salt, and he'll be fine.

In the photo, you can literally see where the driftwood could have done it right there.
 
I've never heard of an aggressive Pleco before but I guess - the Pleco has changed where he hangs in the tank now which is kind of odd. There is also some slate in the tank. If the PB got aggressive and went after the banjo he could have I guess maybe injured himself on the slate. He hits hard.(I get soaked every time I feed them!)
 
No - this happens - just clean water, a little salt, obviously you shouldn't have jagged / sharp slate in there.
 
ukgoffer said:
I've never heard of an aggressive Pleco before but I guess - the Pleco has changed where he hangs in the tank now which is kind of odd. There is also some slate in the tank. If the PB got aggressive and went after the banjo he could have I guess maybe injured himself on the slate. He hits hard.(I get soaked every time I feed them!)
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plecos can be very aggressive, but they need to be provoked in most cases. i have a female jag and a sail fin in my 90, she takes to missen with him he goes on the attack and will chase her down. after she gets the message he goes back to rasping. and life back to normal.
 
back to fish dmg, as i do with any fish wounds water change(fin level) and dose with melafix and pimafix, keep the water pristine and dosed till healed.
 
This wound is defiantly survivable.

I agree with the above suggestions, clean water, very clean water ie daily 50% water changes will be key. In addition to the above dose with 1 table spoon of salt per 10 gallons of water. To help prevent any secondary infection or fungus you can use Methylene Blue as a topical treatment by placing a drop or two directly on the wound to facilitate healing.
 
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