Hole in watchman goby for 2 months!

[Grebex11]

I have a YWG that has had a hole in his side for 2 months now. It started as a discoloration, then a tiny hole, then the hole got bigger. It has been stagnant and hasn't gotten any bigger or smaller over the last 3 weeks though. My guess is that it was some sort of bacterial infection. He is still active and eating daily. I'm starting to think this just isn't going to go away. He no longer has any discoloration around the hole. I think it's just going to stay there...

He's my only fish in a 14g but I'd like to add a firefish. I'm all for being patient (already waited 2 months) but how long until I just decide the hole is permanent and move on?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Impossible to judge without a picture, and even with one, I might not be able answer your question.

Bacterial lesions typically don’t remain stable for long periods like this, they either get worse or the fish is able to fight off the infection. Could this now just be a scar?

The man criteria for lesions like this is location: is it over muscle, or is it over the body cavity? If the latter, if it develops deeper, peritonitis can develop.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

May be bacterial but as mentioned- pictures are like being there and viewing tank

 

[Grebex11]

Thank you both for the replies. After two more weeks and a total of 3 months he is almost back to normal! The hole has closed but he still has some tissue left to regenerate. He is now very active and cruises around the tank instead of sticking to his hole.

From searching, I know many others had this issue. All I did was weekly water changes, fed frozen twice a week and pellets daily. I also have a cleaner shrimp. I know there's speculation on this potentially helping. I think at one point the cleaner actually injured the fish a little. Looked like potential blood in the wound.

Final thought: he may be starting to transition as well. I believe he is less yellow than when I initially got him. Curious if the start of the transition puts stress on a fish and potentially why he took so long to recover... who knows.

 

[Grebex11]

Impossible to judge without a picture, and even with one, I might not be able answer your question.

Bacterial lesions typically don’t remain stable for long periods like this, they either get worse or the fish is able to fight off the infection. Could this now just be a scar?

The man criteria for lesions like this is location: is it over muscle, or is it over the body cavity? If the latter, if it develops deeper, peritonitis can develop.

Jay

Thanks for the info here Jay. The hole was right between his stomach and dorsal fin. No matter how far his skin detiorated it never looked like it impacted any major organs. I think we got lucky.