Blue Mandarin Injury

[Dog Whiskey]

My blue mandarin (captive bred, Biota) has been in my tank since late May. She is doing great -- eating a variety of foods, growing, etc. However, about three weeks ago she went into a crevice in the rocks where the tuxedo urchin was and I think got nicked by its spines on her left side by her fin. It's not growing, and it doesn't seem to bother her at all. No signs of distress, no heavy breathing. But it also hasn't gone away yet.

Sometimes, like today, it looks more "fuzzy" but I think that's sand that gets stuck to her mucus coat. Other times it's just a white spot.

The urchin was the latest addition to the tank (June 3rd). The tank is a FOWLR. Aside from a mystery fish death in early June, there have been no other issues.

Is there anything I should do?

Gravity: 1.0024
High range PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Temperature: 78 F

Other inhabitants:
Designer ocellaris clownfish -2
Blue-green chromis - 2
Starry goby - 1
Court Jester goby - 1
Coral Beauty angelfish - 1
Killifish - 1
Peppermint shrimp - 2
Mithras crabs - 2 (I think -- I've only seen one at a time for about a month)
Hermit crabs - ~12
Various snails

 

[Uncle99]

I’d guess your looking at about 6 weeks to heal.
Do nothing unless that worsens, could get infected.
Fish deal with that kinda stuff quite regularly.
Looks like a mouth bite, but is fuzz in the pic on my end.

 

[Jekyl]

#fishmedic

 

[Dog Whiskey]

I’d guess your looking at about 6 weeks to heal.
Do nothing unless that worsens, could get infected.
Fish deal with that kinda stuff quite regularly.
Looks like a mouth bite, but is fuzz in the pic on my end.

Thank you! I've been trying to be patient I just want to make sure that I'm not *not* supporting her properly.

It could be a bite... The killifish is an ******* and he was recently reintroduced into the tank after being on time out in the 'fuge. But he really just terrorizes the chromis that I've seen. I'm trying to catch him to banish him to another tank but he's very crafty....

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like this may be developing a bacterial infection. These guys are touchy when it comes to meds. I would go with ruby rally pro or seachem neoplex in quarantine although rally can be used in display tank

 

[Dog Whiskey]

Looks like this may be developing a bacterial infection. These guys are touchy when it comes to meds. I would go with ruby rally pro or seachem neoplex in quarantine although rally can be used in display tank

Thank you! The spot looks less "fuzzy" sometimes, so I'm not really sure if it's bacteria or dust, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Since she's eating and otherwise doing well in the big tank, I'm kind of tempted to keep her there just to diminish the stress. Would there be anything I'd need to worry about in terms of it impacting snails, worms, and other inverts?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you! The spot looks less "fuzzy" sometimes, so I'm not really sure if it's bacteria or dust, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Since she's eating and otherwise doing well in the big tank, I'm kind of tempted to keep her there just to diminish the stress. Would there be anything I'd need to worry about in terms of it impacting snails, worms, and other inverts?

With this, fish tend to pick at it without warning and being a bottom dweller, shrimp and crabs may find that injury

 

[Dog Whiskey]

With this, fish tend to pick at it without warning and being a bottom dweller, shrimp and crabs may find that injury

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant the Rally. As I said, I had the mystery death in early June and it could be useful to just treat the whole tank in case it was something related to disease. No one else is showing any symptoms of anything that I can see.

 

[Dog Whiskey]

Ok, so this is her this am. As I mentioned above, I think sometimes stuff gets caught on the white spot so it looks more "fuzzy" -- today it seems pretty clear of fuzz, but still white.
I have Ruby Reef Rally Pro on order to arrive tomorrow. Does it seem like that's the best bet? Or does this look like it would need to be/could be treated by something else?

#fishmedic

 

[Dog Whiskey]

Ok, so this is her this am. As I mentioned above, I think sometimes stuff gets caught on the white spot so it looks more "fuzzy" -- today it seems pretty clear of fuzz, but still white.
I have Ruby Reef Rally Pro on order to arrive tomorrow. Does it seem like that's the best bet? Or does this look like it would need to be/could be treated by something else?

#fishmedic

One more question here: I see that there is formalin in Ruby Rally Pro -- has anyone tried this with mandarins? I had though that they weren't supposed to be exposed to formalin.

Love anyone from the #fishmedic squad to jump in -- thanks!

 

[threebuoys]

One more question here: I see that there is formalin in Ruby Rally Pro -- has anyone tried this with mandarins? I had though that they weren't supposed to be exposed to formalin.

Love anyone from the #fishmedic squad to jump in -- thanks!

According to a response from the mfg ruby rally pro does not contain a measurable amount of formalin unlike the original ruby rally which did contain formalin. I asked this question of the mfg several months ago. The primary ingredient is acriflavine.

 

[Dog Whiskey]

Update!

I did three days of Rally treatment in the DT. Everyone survived and the spot on the mandarin is looking better (a little smaller and more defined edges, not fuzzy) but hasn't gone away. I haven't been able to get pictures because she's being camera shy. As reminder, there was a mystery death earlier and it just felt safer to proactively treat everyone.

So, I'm wondering what to do next with the mandarin.

1. Leave her in the DT and observe with the plan to move her and treat if there are any changes. She's eating and seems content at this point (the sore has never seemed to bother her). This saves stress because I don't have to catch her, but there are rocks that she can brush against (potentially irritating the sore) plus all the inhabitants who may act out. I still am not entirely sure how she got hurt -- I still think she got stabbed by an urchin spine because of the timing of when the injury showed up, but there is also a mithras crab who waves his claws when someone gets too close and a killifish who has a Napoleon complex in the DT, so there are other suspects.
2. Put her in the fuge until the spot fully heals. There is some sand there, macroalgae, and a healthy population of copepods plus I think some random adult brine shrimp who didn't get eaten when added to the tank. It has lower flow and gives her a quiet place to heal. I will have to catch her and move her, so there will be some stress, but because it's part of the same system I think the stress will be minimal. Plus she'll be able to actively hunt.
3. Put her in a QT and do another round of Rally just for her. She's captive bred and is fairly good about eating prepared foods but seems to prefer either canned pods (which I have and can feed her) or live pods and brine shrimp. I have a live baby brine shrimp "factory" so I know I can feed her live food. But this seems most stressful as she'll be in an entirely new tank. I also worry because mandarins are sensitive to meds and I don't want to stress her system with a second round of treatment.

Which seems like the best plan? I'm kind of leaning toward #2 with doing a QT/2nd Rally round only if things get worse. Thanks in advance for the advice.

#fishmedic

 

[Crustaceon]

If the mandarin is eating and zooming around as normal, don't do anything!

 

[Dog Whiskey]

I wanted to post a quick update on the mandarin. The Ruby Rally Pro worked great and as of today her injury is almost completely gone. She's been hunting as normal throughout the treatment. There is still a tiny bit of discoloration but it's been fading every day.

Thank your #fishmedic for the advice. It worked perfectly and she never had to leave the DT.