Possibly urgent- normal injury progression on damselfish, or sore?

[Tired]

I noticed this yesterday, and assumed it was a scrape. There's a spot in this temporary tank where it could have shoved its head into a gap between two shells, gotten stuck, and hurt itself yanking back out, which would explain the raised scales.



Is this what we would expect a scrape to look like the next day? The fish doesn't seem to be in any distress, but since it's a damsel, I'm concerned about uronema.

 

[Tired]

#fishmedic hoping this tag is OK to use here. I'm reasonably certain this is a minor wound that just needs clean water, but on the off chance that it's not, I want to get on top of it as soon as possible.

 

[vetteguy53081]

#fishmedic hoping this tag is OK to use here. I'm reasonably certain this is a minor wound that just needs clean water, but on the off chance that it's not, I want to get on top of it as soon as possible.

As mentioned injury but great you found the source and then it would proceed to go back in??
Based on the sore and progression, Recommended would be Isolation in a quarantine tank and treatment using either maracyn 2 or seachem Kanaplex.
Provide added aeration with air stone and monitor/maintain good water quality and mainly watch ammonia level

 

[Tired]

Ah, I was thinking this was an inflammatory response and loss of scales, not re-injury, as I thought it would be smart enough not to get stuck again. You think it tried to go back in and hurt itself worse?

Right, I'll pick up some antibiotics for the poor idiot. Though, given that this is (I'm hoping) a relatively minor injury, are there any non-antibiotic alternatives that might work well? Failing that, is there something I can put in the water change water to neutralize or destroy the antibiotics? Antibiotic resistance being what it is and all.

 

[MnFish1]

Ah, I was thinking this was an inflammatory response and loss of scales, not re-injury, as I thought it would be smart enough not to get stuck again. You think it tried to go back in and hurt itself worse?

Right, I'll pick up some antibiotics for the poor idiot. Though, given that this is (I'm hoping) a relatively minor injury, are there any non-antibiotic alternatives that might work well? Failing that, is there something I can put in the water change water to neutralize or destroy the antibiotics? Antibiotic resistance being what it is and all.

I agree with @vetteguy53081 it is an injury - with (as you said) loss of scales and probably secondary infection. You cannot really do much about antibiotic resistance (as the bacteria in your tank will be resistant) - as far as removing the antibiotic rather than discarding it - use activated carbon - it will be rapidly removed.

 

[Tired]

Well, I have to put him in a separate tank anyway- I can just sterilize it afterward, like any QT. I'll get some Kanaplex and treat the poor guy. Too bad I can't give him any sort of pain relief, that has to ache.

Ah, right, activated carbon. Useful stuff.

 

[Tired]

The redness around the edges has lessened today, and the wound overall looks cleaner. I think some bits of slime coat and scale and whatnot came off. I'll still be treating him (the meds should be coming in the mail today), just in case, but his system does seem to be handling things.

This is the first Starcki damsel I've ever kept, and so far I'm really liking the little guy, bad decisions aside. Gorgeous little thing, lots of personality. He's actually acting as sort of a dither fish for the dottyback; it's started coming out of hiding way more since I added him to the temporary tank. Even though he keeps... "lunging" is too strong of a word. If it comes within several inches of his face, he heads towards it with intent for about half a second, it moves away, and then they go back to ignoring each other. Funny to watch- it's the least aggressive aggression I've ever seen.

I'm still going to add him to the tank last, just in case. Everything else will get a little while to establish territory, post-quarantine, with him hanging out in a (cycled, with hiding places) holding tank, then he can go in and figure himself out.

Not really on topic, but how fast do these guys grow? He's about an inch and 3/4 right now, and I'm excited for him to get big; I haven't had a fish anything near his adult size in years. Granted, he's only going to get to three or four inches long, but that's still a heck of a lot bigger than a betta, guppy, or pico goby. Last fish I had this size was a freshwater sunfish.

 

[MnFish1]

They can get to be about 3.5 inches - it depends on the type of foods and the quantity. The average damselfish lifespan is 5 years - in captivity reportedly they can live to 15 years old.

 

[Tired]

Oh, 15 years is solid. It always impresses me how long some little bitty saltwater fish can live.

How long do they tend to take to get to full size? Couple years?