Fire fish got attacked missing chunk of flesh and fin

[JosephM]

I purchased a Dracula and pistol combo on Tuesday. Since introduced my fire fish has been super reclusive when he used to come out for feeding. The pistol ended up digging to the back where my fire fish resided. Today I went to feed them and my fire fish was sitting on the sand in the corner and he’s not eating. I thought it was ich at first because only my blues were on but I turned the whites on and half his back fin is gone and some flesh is gone too. I can only think to blame the Dracula or pistol. Should I let nature take its course or what should I do? I have a spare 5 gal, heater, marine land 150 & 250 filter and I have matrix in my sump I can pull to cycle the tank. I didn’t think gobies got aggressive like that. Here’s a couple pics so y’all can help confirm and visualize it.

 

[dimitrinivo]

fire fish are very skittish and peaceful, they can easily be bullied. Mine hid all day when i had him in a 40 gallon community reef, then i moved him to a 10 gallon with a clown goby and he became way more bold. I would temporarily put him in the 5 gallon then upgrade and give him his own 10 gallon.

 

[JosephM]

fire fish are very skittish and peaceful, they can easily be bullied. Mine hid all day when i had him in a 40 gallon community reef, then i moved him to a 10 gallon with a clown goby and he became way more bold. I would temporarily put him in the 5 gallon then upgrade and give him his own 10 gallon.

How do I set it up for an instant cycle without hurting my tank. I have a liter of matrix in my sump. I’ve never set up a fish tank like that

 

[terraincognita]

You don’t need to instant cycle:

same concept as a QT. Just watch the ammonia and do WC’s.

however if you threw him in a 5Gallon with some established live rock from your DT and fed lightly and just checked for ammonia that would work as well.

adding a bacto boost wouldn’t hurt either.

How do I set it up for an instant cycle without hurting my tank. I have a liter of matrix in my sump. I’ve never set up a fish tank like that

 

[JosephM]

You don’t need to instant cycle:

same concept as a QT. Just watch the ammonia and do WC’s.

however if you threw him in a 5Gallon with some established live rock from your DT and fed lightly and just checked for ammonia that would work as well.

adding a bacto boost wouldn’t hurt either.

Okay. I have a small maybe 2 lb piece I can steal from under my hammers. Would taking half of my matrix harm my tank? And then I have MB7 I can add. This is all until I have time to make a trip to LFS to pick up more live rock. Can i just stick a sea chem ammonia alert? I have API for ammonia as well

 

[JosephM]

Should I buy antibiotics since he has an open wound?

 

[JosephM]

I got it set up. Took half of the matrix from my establish tank and half new matrix. I ended up using the 250 because my 150 wasn’t working. Got the heater up and running. I’ll have to buy a light and power head and I should be set for now. Any recommendations on antibiotics?

 

[javisaman]

Should I buy antibiotics since he has an open wound?

I wouldn't put antibiotics just yet, especially in a smaller 5gal QT tank. The fish likely needs time to heal and the antibiotics might cut O2 or suppress appetite too much. I would still set up the QT, but I would also do either a dip/bath like ruby reef rally OR methylene blue before placing in QT

 

[JosephM]

I wouldn't put antibiotics just yet, especially in a smaller 5gal QT tank. The fish likely needs time to heal and the antibiotics might cut O2 or suppress appetite too much. I would still set up the QT, but I would also do either a dip/bath like ruby reef rally OR methylene blue before placing in QT

Is a power head and lights necessary. If I’m being honest I have no plan of keeping a 5 gal up and running. I prefer bigger set ups where I can have better filtration.

 

[javisaman]

Powerhead definitely necessary for circulation/aeration unless you're using something like an airstone or bubble filter. If you have enough ambient light you probably don't need a separate one.

 

[JosephM]

Powerhead definitely necessary for circulation/aeration unless you're using something like an airstone or bubble filter. If you have enough ambient light you probably don't need a separate one.

200 gph filter isn’t enough? If not what’s a small power head for a 5 gal tank?

 

[javisaman]

200 gph filter is plenty. You just need something to break the water's surface repeatedly.

 

[JosephM]

200 gph filter is plenty. You just need something to break the water's surface repeatedly.

I have the waterline like 3 inches below the rim and it’s creating ripples but not splashing. That’d be considered breaking the water right?

 

[JosephM]

Welp. Racing back home from work because I forgot I had an oversized heater on max. I have a small preset heater to 76° will that be okay? Short term or long term? I don’t have time to tinker with the other one so it’ll have to do until I get back home from work tonight but it’d be nice to be able to use just that one for peace of mind

 

[javisaman]

I have the waterline like 3 inches below the rim and it’s creating ripples but not splashing. That’d be considered breaking the water right?

Should be fine. If you are adding medication then you'd as much surface agitation as possible.

Welp. Racing back home from work because I forgot I had an oversized heater on max. I have a small preset heater to 76° will that be okay? Short term or long term? I don’t have time to tinker with the other one so it’ll have to do until I get back home from work tonight but it’d be nice to be able to use just that one for peace of mind

Should be fine both short-term and long term to keep the fish at 76. You should acclimate the fish from the tank to the new water.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Saltwater have the given ability to heal and quickly on their own. Identify the aggressor and remove to sump or place in an acclimation box.

 

[Pkunk35]

Sorry to hear!
fwiw my firefish lost almost their tail fin to repeated nipping from a blenny. Once I removed the blenny the tail slowly regrew back in about 8 weeks or so. I fed a lot of frozen food soaked in Selcon and vitamins multiple times a day.

 

[JosephM]

Should be fine. If you are adding medication then you'd as much surface agitation as possible.

Should be fine both short-term and long term to keep the fish at 76. You should acclimate the fish from the tank to the new water.

okay sweet. Thank you

Saltwater have the given ability to heal and quickly on their own. Identify the aggressor and remove to sump or place in an acclimation box.

Well it’s either the Dracula goby or pistol shrimp and I don’t really want to remove them due to difficulty, price, and I like them. I’m hoping it was a one time thing and I’ll no longer keep fire fish. From the reading I’ve done Dracula gobies are on the more peaceful side of watchmen goby spectrum but it’s hard to find much on them

 

[JosephM]

Sorry to hear!
fwiw my firefish lost almost their tail fin to repeated nipping a from a blenny. Once I removed the blenny the tail slowly regrew back in about 8 weeks or so. I fed a lot of frozen food soaked in Selcon and vitamins multiple times a day.

What kind of vitamins do you use? I plan on picking up some selcon soon. I’m hoping to heal him up and sell/give him away. I want to get a midas blenny soon and I read they’ll sometimes get aggressive so I guess it’s time for him to go

 

[Pkunk35]

okay sweet. Thank you

Well it’s either the Dracula goby or pistol shrimp and I don’t really want to remove them due to difficulty, price, and I like them. I’m hoping it was a one time thing and I’ll no longer keep fire fish. From the reading I’ve done Dracula gobies are on the more peaceful side of watchmen goby spectrum but it’s hard to find much on them

I have a feeling the shrimp and goby and firefish got in the same cave/hole or something at night since firefish sleep only in caves at lights out

I used brightwell brand Vitamins. I literally use 4 drops on top of the food and let it soak a good while.